reohn2 wrote:Vorpal wrote:I hope the family don't read this. I think it's sad that someone can read about a tragic accident like this and make Darwin comments.
She wasn't stupid. She wasn't even doing anything wrong. She *may* have made a mistake, or hit a pothole or a rough bit of road when she had only one hand on the handlebars. We don't even know what actually happened; we only have the limited details reported by her family.
Her family have tragically lost a daughter, mother, wife, and people have also lost a friend. How would you feel if it was someone close to you?
RIP Carmen Greenway.
+1
There's enough crass and hurtful comments on this tragedy for moderators to remove them or event the whole thread IMHO.
I disagree. The family turned a private tragedy into a subject of discussion by choosing to use it to campaign for a helmet law.
No helmet campaign then speculation and criticism of the deceased is in bad taste and inconsiderate. Use a death to try and bring in a law that would adversely affect me - then within reason it's all fair comment.
As for whether her actions contributed to the crash. Her husband said
He said: "[Carmen] had been taking some selfies on the main road, she did that regularly and was media savvy. She was not taking it at the moment of the accident.
"She was 100 metres from our house, one hand on the bars, quite relaxed, and probably had had a drink.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 45691.html
So it wasn't a one off. She regularly cycled one handed taking pics. On this occasion she had probably been drinking. Stacking up the risk further. The more frequently you take small risks the more chance it goes wrong. Doing it while riding at night when bad road surfaces are harder to see. Another increase in the risk.
I can see plenty things to try before going for a helmet law. A crash that doesn't happen is injury free. riders with helmets sometimes still have fatal head injuries in rider only accidents.