Bike safety

[KO]

A helmet saved my life. One Friday after work, I took my mountain bike out to the BMX track at Bigfoot Park for some jumping (in reality I'm a middle aged lawyer but in my mind I'm a teenage X-gamer). On the last jump of my last trip around the track before going home, I hit the jump as fast as I could, got as high as I could, and had a terrible crash, landing on my head and shoulder. My helmet had six large cracks. At the ER, after x-raying my broken collarbone, the doc inspected my helmet and said it saved my life. He told me the helmet is stronger than the human skull. He said my brains would be splattered at Bigfoot if I hadn't been wearing a helmet. Maybe he was B.S.-ing me but I'm a believer: ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET.

Here's a re-enactment of my wreck:

[Hayduke]

Well duh. I was talking about commuting. If you're going to do something like that a helmet is a must. On the other hand, if you hadn't had the lid on maybe you wouldn't have tried that stunt and risked a paralyzing spine injury that no safety gear can protect you from.

[KO]

Well duh. I was talking about commuting.

I wear a bike helmet at all times--when commuting, in the shower, during sex, you name it.

[spinetingler]

The Chas city council tonight is considering an amendment to the local laws that would allow bikes to be ridden on sidewalks (sidewalks of a certain width and wider).

This is insanity. Bikes are vehicles and belong on the streets.

[Mykhailo]

This is insanity. Bikes are vehicles and belong on the streets.

Cause it's so much less crazy to ride on Kingston Pike from Concord -> Western Plaza than it is to ride on the sidewalk.

[Hayduke]

The Chas city council tonight is considering an amendment to the local laws that would allow bikes to be ridden on sidewalks (sidewalks of a certain width and wider).

This is insanity. Bikes are vehicles and belong on the streets.

The danger is that people will choose that option thinking it's safer, not realizing that drivers entering the road tend to drive onto the curb cut (and into the cyclist) before looking left & right. I wouldn't say it's never OK to ride on the sidewalk, but it's not the sort of thing you want to encourage.

[Randall]

<rant>What about Lance Armstrong wanna-be's on greenways who suddenly appear behind decent walkin' folk in a high-speed six-pack, perhaps casually mentioning -- once they are inches away -- "On your left." Is there a three-feet rule about that?</rant>

[Hayduke]

Cause it's so much less crazy to ride on Kingston Pike from Concord -> Western Plaza than it is to ride on the sidewalk.

Yeah, I'm guilty of that one, realizing that it's my responsibility to yield to pedestrians and look out for any car that might enter or exit a driveway/curb cut. The real answer is better bike infrastructure, but venturing into the land of the unrepentant vehicleans can require some rock & a hard place decisions.

[crooked-finger]

A helmet saved my life.

Did it? Would you have attempted that move if you weren't wearing a helmet? How about if your mind(teenaged x-gamer) was attuned to reality(you're a 30 year old lawyer)? This constant marketing department driven divergence between reality and fiction irritates me to no end. Watch this video:http://shaunwhite.com/projectx/?fbid...oublebackrodeo

Now, how many kids out there realize that Mr. White has the entire corporate marketing/engineering department of Red Bull "protecting" him while he tries to learn a new trick? Not many would be my guess. From a Darwinian perspective, I'm fine with it, but from a fiction vs. reality perspective, I think a lot of people need to check their premises. Oh and by the way, when S. White wins the gold medals in Vancouver(because he has the most corporate funding) will everyone's stock portfolio increase? I sure hope so. It sure would be a shame if someone won a medal who wasn't pimping some bullshit products to our illiterate masses. What a waste. To achieve and NOT sell at the same time....


oops. sorry for the redundancy...

Well duh. I was talking about commuting. If you're going to do something like that a helmet is a must. On the other hand, if you hadn't had the lid on maybe you wouldn't have tried that stunt and risked a paralyzing spine injury that no safety gear can protect you from.

[spinetingler]

Cause it's so much less crazy to ride on Kingston Pike from Concord -> Western Plaza than it is to ride on the sidewalk.

We're talking about downtown Charleston here.