Mandatory Helmets and hi-vis to be considered in government eview

[mjr]

Today here in Birmingham we had 6 people die because of speeding and recklessness (yes you may say do not speculate but the damage shows it is clear).

But the BBC TV news this morning said clearly it was an accident!

ah best not let anyone think drivers are to blame eh ?

Like amazing when they report car flips over, as if no human interaction and it is these form of words that HAVE to change

Exactly! These poor drivers are as much victims of errant cars and vans as any people that they hit. At least people outside the car might be able to run out of the way - the drivers were clearly trapped and helpless, at the mercy of their vehicles, as far as I can tell from the reports.

[Pastychomper]

Similar to the religion 'argument'! Religionists calling people 'militant atheists' when there is no such thing, and, no 'organisation', just normal people!! How can disinterest/disbelief be defined in militant terms?

Apparently there was such a thing in Soviet Russia, at least until Stalin felt the need to garner support from religious parts of the population. I don't think we've quite reached the stage of having leading pro-helmet-compulsion campaigners executed yet, though.

[mjr]

Similar to the religion 'argument'! Religionists calling people 'militant atheists' when there is no such thing, and, no 'organisation', just normal people!! How can disinterest/disbelief be defined in militant terms?

Apparently there was such a thing in Soviet Russia, at least until Stalin felt the need to garner support from religious parts of the population. I don't think we've quite reached the stage of having leading pro-helmet-compulsion campaigners executed yet, though.

I would say that we could just wait for Darwin to work, but I suspect some of them don't cycle much if at all.

[ianrobo]

But the BBC TV news this morning said clearly it was an accident!

ah best not let anyone think drivers are to blame eh ?

Like amazing when they report car flips over, as if no human interaction and it is these form of words that HAVE to change

Exactly! These poor drivers are as much victims of errant cars and vans as any people that they hit. At least people outside the car might be able to run out of the way - the drivers were clearly trapped and helpless, at the mercy of their vehicles, as far as I can tell from the reports.

trying not to comment directly on the accident as such but speed had to be a part and the car can not be blamed for that. Does anyone have any figures as to how much speed contributes to deaths per year ?

[pjclinch]

trying not to comment directly on the accident as such but speed had to be a part and the car can not be blamed for that. Does anyone have any figures as to how much speed contributes to deaths per year ?

Stopping power, or rather how much kinetic energy is lost when things stop in a big hurry, is what tends to get people dead.

KE = 1/2 x mass x (velocity squared), so as you get faster speed becomes very significantly more dangerous. That's before we worry about stuff like reaction times etc.

Pete.

[[XAP]Bob]

Similar to the religion 'argument'! Religionists calling people 'militant atheists' when there is no such thing, and, no 'organisation', just normal people!! How can disinterest/disbelief be defined in militant terms?

Apathetic atheists are not militant, but militant atheists do have a faith based belief system - theybfervent beliece that there is no God, despite a complete lack of evidence...

[Cunobelin]

ah best not let anyone think drivers are to blame eh ?

Like amazing when they report car flips over, as if no human interaction and it is these form of words that HAVE to change

Exactly! These poor drivers are as much victims of errant cars and vans as any people that they hit. At least people outside the car might be able to run out of the way - the drivers were clearly trapped and helpless, at the mercy of their vehicles, as far as I can tell from the reports.

trying not to comment directly on the accident as such but speed had to be a part and the car can not be blamed for that. Does anyone have any figures as to how much speed contributes to deaths per year ?

Not quite that easy.

There was an argument that drivers who sped are also likely to exhibit other bad driving behaviour such as tail gating, failure to give way at junctions, close passes etc. There was also evidence that a driver with a speeding ticket was (IIRC) twice as likely to be involved in an injury accident in teh next 12 months than a driver without

[Cunobelin]

ah best not let anyone think drivers are to blame eh ?

Like amazing when they report car flips over, as if no human interaction and it is these form of words that HAVE to change

Exactly! These poor drivers are as much victims of errant cars and vans as any people that they hit. At least people outside the car might be able to run out of the way - the drivers were clearly trapped and helpless, at the mercy of their vehicles, as far as I can tell from the reports.

trying not to comment directly on the accident as such but speed had to be a part and the car can not be blamed for that. Does anyone have any figures as to how much speed contributes to deaths per year ?

Not quite that easy.

There was an argument that drivers who sped are also likely to exhibit other bad driving behaviour such as tail gating, failure to give way at junctions, close passes etc. There was also evidence that a driver with a speeding ticket was (IIRC) twice as likely to be involved in an injury accident in teh next 12 months than a driver without

[ianrobo]

Exactly! These poor drivers are as much victims of errant cars and vans as any people that they hit. At least people outside the car might be able to run out of the way - the drivers were clearly trapped and helpless, at the mercy of their vehicles, as far as I can tell from the reports.

trying not to comment directly on the accident as such but speed had to be a part and the car can not be blamed for that. Does anyone have any figures as to how much speed contributes to deaths per year ?

Not quite that easy.

There was an argument that drivers who sped are also likely to exhibit other bad driving behaviour such as tail gating, failure to give way at junctions, close passes etc. There was also evidence that a driver with a speeding ticket was (IIRC) twice as likely to be involved in an injury accident in teh next 12 months than a driver without

and of course on top WMP have seen a direct correlation in bad driving, no insurance, tax etc ... now if only you could have a DB that manages all of these hmmmm

[fastpedaller]

I had a conversation with a guy last week, which went :-
Guy "I wear a helmet, do you?"
Me 'No, I don't believe it would make it safer for me to wear one'
Guy "But the helmet will protect your head"
Me' There's no evidence to give me that belief, furthermore if you believe it will protect you, do you think a motorist would maybe think the same?'
Guy "yes of course he would"
Me ' so if motorist thinks you are protected, maybe he'll take a chance when he overtakes you (with helmet on) that he wouldn't take if you didn't have a helmet'

He contemplated for a few seconds, and conceded that I may have a point, and then stated that sometimes the government needs to protect the population

[Phil Fouracre]

Blimey! Faith in the government protecting the population! Whatever next??

[The utility cyclist]

Blimey! Faith in the government protecting the population! Whatever next??

If you mean by banning helmets/hi-vis completely you would be correct, encouraging helmets would not protect as we've seen countless times.