Bike safety

[Hayduke]

Not sure if this chart makes a good case against bike helmets, or just against riding in the US:

• National bicycle fatality rates vary inversely with helmet use.
• Fatality rates vary inversely with bicycle use.
• Bicycle use varies inversely with helmet use.

The cause-effect pointers criss-cross all over all three of those relationships. People don't use helmets where it's safe to ride? Helmet laws or promotion lower bike fatality rates by discouraging bike use, and that reduction in bike useage makes it more dangerous for the remaining cyclists? That's pretty much what happened with Australia's mandatory helmet law.

Of course there are certainly accidents (and risky things you can do on a bike) where a helmet would prevent a severe bump on the noggin. OTOH, there's a "risk compensation" effect where it's been shown that cars drive closer to helmeted riders. The guy on the racing bike in the Lycra super hero costumer and space alien lid knows what he's doing and I don't need to worry about him, while the nut job in the fedora wobbling along on a weird little bike is liable to do most anything and I'd best steer clear.

Part of it is the psychological oddity where drivers, bicyclist and pedestrians have an innate disrespect for each other and wish they could have the road to themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if that effect is magnified in a bike-hostile place like East Tennessee. The bicyclist in the weird clothing is more "other" than the "guy on a bike" in street clothes.

Thoughts? rants?

[Raincrow]

The bicyclist in the weird clothing is more "other" than the "guy on a bike" in street clothes. Thoughts? rants?

Oh, come on. You gotta admit, some a them fellers is jist axkting fer it...

[crooked-finger]

You need some Asian statistics. Btw, my bikes are safe, because I don't ride them much anymore because I live in Knoxville.

Not sure if this chart makes a good case against bike helmets, or just against riding in the US.

I don't think helmets are the factor in that study. Helmets are helpful when you crash. You wear helmets in Europe when you race, because you know you're going to crash. Helmets don't help that much when you get run over by a truck. You're more likely to get killed regardless of a helmet in America because in the USA, it's well known that bikes are unwelcome.

[Randall]

I don't appreciate the inference about fedora wearers.

[Hayduke]

You need some Asian statistics.

I expect it would break down between countries where bike as transportation stayed the norm long into the automobile age and may still be the most common way to get around and and the places (Singapore?) where any bike culture was pushed to the side in a modernization push. Availability of statistical data probably varies inversely with bicycle transportation in those areas. But I'm guessing. Anyone have numbers?

[Hayduke]

I don't appreciate the inference about fedora wearers.

As a fedora-wearing nut job myself, I've found that passing cars generally don't get anywhere near me, frequently crossing the center line to steer clear. If it looks like they're going to pass me in a tight spot I induce a little wobble (not hard on the clown bike) to discourage a close shave.

[Raincrow]

You need some Asian statistics.

Yes, you do.

[Hayduke]

I don't think helmets are the factor in that study. Helmets are helpful when you crash. You wear helmets in Europe when you race, because you know you're going to crash. Helmets don't help that much when you get run over by a truck. You're more likely to get killed regardless of a helmet in America because in the USA, it's well known that bikes are unwelcome.

Automobile altercations account for 90% of bike fatalities, but I'm sure there's still some statistical advantage to having a helmet on in the event of the wreck. Some accidents will send a head into a hard object hard enough to benefit from the helmet, but not enough to overwhelm it. Pretty small range for that given the forces at work. Most of that level of impact is taken by reflexive guarding by the hands and arms. I broke a little bone in my hand a year or so ago low-fiving Gay St. in an accident that would have been a face-plant had I been armless. No hospital visit, so no statistical data point (which would have also checked the boxes for pothole repair, really small wheels and high-speed stop sign-running in the absence of traffic).

Anyway, the key to bike safety seems to be staying the hell away from cars. North and East Knox seem to be best for that because you can ride through the neighborhoods and pretty much avoid major roads. West works great if you're close to the greenway and not well at all if you aren't. The terrain and street layout south of the river make it pretty tough to navigate that way AFAICT.

A lot of the rosy statistics in the European north come from bike infrastructure (and that from rider density) that keeps cars away from bikes. Amsterdam has separate paths for cars, trams, pedestrians and bikes (the red color of the bike pavement a reminder of what will happen to anyone walking across the lane without looking).

Another tidbit: the British Medical Association came out against helmet laws citing the negative impact on ridership against the health advantages of riding outweighing the accident risks 20 - 1.

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. ~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

[binR Bishop]

The terrain and street layout south of the river make it pretty tough to navigate that way AFAICT.

You need to talk to Ned. He knows how to get around south Knoxville (and most of the rest of Knox County) by bike.

BTW, ask Edens about the value of bike helmets.

[Hayduke]

You need to talk to Ned. He knows how to get around south Knoxville (and most of the rest of Knox County) by bike.

The only places I've tried to go are Ijams/greenway and the Vestival. May have done a short hell ride down Chapman to the Book Eddy. It would be nice to ride to the smokies or something if there was a safe way to go, but 20 miles in a day is about all I can enjoy on my current bike.

BTW, ask Edens about the value of bike helmets.

Yeah, that was scary. The anecdotal evidence is clear that once you go over the handlebars it's better to have a helmet on, but it's a lot harder to factor in accidents that didn't happen. We know that drivers edge closer to helmeted riders and that helmeted riders take more chances, but not how important those factors are overall. Safety-educated riders are bound to be safer, and I suspect most of them wear helmets, but how would you set up a control study?

Riding without a helmet is "safer" (given the health benefits) than not riding. Most places.