tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post6656360778502093151..comments2024-01-01T16:01:35.711+00:00Comments on Dick Puddlecote: The Liddites Are ComingDick Puddlecotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-37504421264398881562011-02-06T10:55:33.138+00:002011-02-06T10:55:33.138+00:00XX Bicyclists XX
WTF!?
Are they members of some ...XX Bicyclists XX<br /><br />WTF!?<br /><br />Are they members of some "Cult" now then?Furor Teutonicushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13856575077967523322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-10355548514404052162011-02-02T08:09:04.140+00:002011-02-02T08:09:04.140+00:00Passing a law..a LAW about cycle helmets indicates...Passing a law..a LAW about cycle helmets indicates to me two thngs:<br /><br />1. The NI assembly is chock full of a combination of authoritarian do-gooders and those ignorant of the Rule of Law and common sense.<br /><br />2. The NI Assembly clearly has WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON ITS HANDS<br /><br />Isn't there something tricky to sort out like Mental Health, elderly care, you know, important things?<br /><br />Helmets...sums it up really.Roger Thornhillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591327286533118901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-12602525215340959322011-02-01T15:53:19.520+00:002011-02-01T15:53:19.520+00:00Some good points by Large Melot Please...
Great p...Some good points by Large Melot Please...<br /><br />Great post DP and it's depressingly familiar where a piece of legislation, in complete contradiciton to the way we humans behave and work best, is being forced upon us again, all for the purpose of generating yet another revenue stream.<br /><br />I think I did a <a href="http://inotify.blogspot.com/2010/05/oi-you-look-like-alien-mate.html" rel="nofollow">post</a> on this last May, DP.<br /><br />It is about being aware of risk and being responsible for your own observations, your own actions and being very aware of the other road users.<br /><br />The crocodile line of kids on cycles today clad in the safety armor is so staged and peculiar. Whole roads are closed while the kids wobble back and forth - I wonder how many of them develop the skills of being an aware and cautious cyclist or whether they automatically assume the attitude that the whole world rotates around themselves for their benefit?Beware of Geeks bearing GIFshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01593142105719207212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-38024517479294173422011-02-01T15:23:55.887+00:002011-02-01T15:23:55.887+00:00If a cyclist is wearing a helmet he is likely to b...If a cyclist is wearing a helmet he is likely to behave more aggressively toward pedestrians, both on the footpath and off.<br /><br />I think Boris is very much against compulsory helmets.<br /><br />Won't such a law be difficult to enforce? The police are the only ones able to first catch someone and then tell him to remove the mask from his face. I don't see much chance of being caught. I walk through Manchester town centre twice every day and I have never seen a cyclist booked for riding through red lights or on the footpath.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-68353087233451099612011-02-01T10:04:06.741+00:002011-02-01T10:04:06.741+00:00Thanks for that link, AE. This part says it all re...Thanks for that link, AE. This part says it all really. <br /><br /><i>"Removing the mandate to use a helmet is just another way that Mexico City is encouraging more people to take up cycling."</i><br /><br />Meanwhile in NI, they've just voted to discourage cycling by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12330639" rel="nofollow">passing the Bill</a>! Idiots.Dick Puddlecotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-31220951993729594592011-02-01T09:34:05.917+00:002011-02-01T09:34:05.917+00:00Here is a post tempting providence. As someone who...Here is a post tempting providence. As someone who has 27 years no claims bonus, but 2 bans for speeding, and has amassed 36 points in 32 years of driving (clean now,) as someone who is a car driver, motorcyclist and bicycle rider I think I am able to comment. <br /><br />If you want to be a better driver, buy a motorbike, but beware you are 50x more likely to be killed on a bike than in a car. However it teaches you road sense, how dangerous wet roads are and to drive very cautiously and defensively. Most importantly you learn to look behind you when changing lane turning right etc, rather than relying upon your mirrors. The amount of accidents I have avoided based on that is incalculable. <br /><br />Which brings us back to cycling and helmets. I did wear a helmet when cycling as I always wore a crash helmet on my motorbike. Major tempting of providence here.<br /><br />Because looking behind is such as instinctive thing for me to do in all the years I cycled to work I cannot think of one incident where I was threatened. I assume the taxi/white van man was going to cut me up, I assumed the lorries were out to run me over and acted accordingly. However the people I feared most were male Volvo drivers (complacent comfort zone drivers) and women on the school run, who spend most of their on the mobile phone, applying make up and shouting at the kids. I assumed they had a death wish for me. I was quite happy for example on a road if I saw the articulated variety dismount and push my bike along the pavement or cycle along it.<br /><br />In the meantime safe driving.Large Melot Pleasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03791208850153972310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-60164190841040302992011-02-01T06:42:46.110+00:002011-02-01T06:42:46.110+00:00I blogged on the bike share schemes at the end of ...I blogged on the bike share schemes at the end of last November from the POV of a non-cycling naturalised Melburnian. Boiling it down there are three things about bike share schemes with compulsory helmet laws that harm the scheme. First, all the people I know who own bike helmets also own bikes, and since you can't ride two bikes simultaneously those people are not big users of Melbourne's bike share scheme. Second, all the people I know who do not already have bikes don't own helmets either, so they're not going to use the bikes over, say, the fairly extensive tram network. Third, tourists might be bike owners but will have to have discovered they need to pack their helmets before they come here, otherwise they're more likely to use the trams as well.<br /><br />And guess what? I've never seen a bike share rack less than half full, and more often they've only got maybe half a dozen bikes out. Dublin's bike share scheme gets more than 3000 uses per day from its 450 or so bikes. Melbourne gets less than 200 from the same number of bikes. Dublin lets you choose to wear a helmet. Melbourne fines you $146, which is more than 90 quid at the moment. And the fucktroons here are still claiming that the reason why Dublin bikes are used half a dozen times a day each while the Melbourne ones get one use every 2-3 days is the weather we had last winter.<br /><br />Ha! Have they ever even been to Dublin?<br /><br />By the way, DP, a minor correction about Mexico City. They saw sense and repealed their helmet law (<a href="http://ecf.com/misc/filePush.php?mimeType=application/pdf&fullPath=http://www.ecf.com/files/2/Mexico_City_Repeal_of_the_helmet_law.pdf" rel="nofollow">PDF download</a>). We're still waiting here but it had all-party support and even the cycling community, while conceding it hurts the share scheme, mostly can't imagine it being left to personal choice. So I'm not holding my breath.Angry Exilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02491082312193274360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-51423825958282773762011-02-01T06:22:52.812+00:002011-02-01T06:22:52.812+00:00Some interesting research on this matter here:-
h...Some interesting research on this matter here:-<br /><br />http://www.cyclehelmets.org/<br /><br /><br />From personal experience, in the last 10 years I've been knocked of my bike 3 times an suffered a broken ankle, skinned knees and a cut on the shin. I don't wear a helmet as I find them very uncomfortable and the wind rush makes it difficult to hear traffic from behind.Ashtrayheadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-65939969678870803782011-01-31T23:58:22.235+00:002011-01-31T23:58:22.235+00:00Let's face it - it's long overdue that ped...Let's face it - it's long overdue that pedestrians had some safety features installed... and they are responsible for 85% of the accidents involving cars and pedestrians after all.<br /><br />I vote for fluorescent inflatable sumo suits - with <a rel="nofollow">a hat</a> of course = job done...Gordon the Fence Post Tortoisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04426735271858751220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-41493989633251740372011-01-31T23:26:46.940+00:002011-01-31T23:26:46.940+00:00The safer you attempt to make anything, the safer ...The safer you attempt to make anything, the safer you have to make it. That applies to all safety matters. Removing one hazard always creates another.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-29349384813586447062011-01-31T22:15:19.484+00:002011-01-31T22:15:19.484+00:00£50 for not wearing a helmet? They've all gone...£50 for not wearing a helmet? They've all gone soft up there.<br /><br />Crucifixion!<br />Firing Squad!<br />10 B&H!<br /><br />Not wearing a helmet? Death is too good for some buggers.Snowolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11945365872261323520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-39950773119995059402011-01-31T22:05:08.800+00:002011-01-31T22:05:08.800+00:00Reading posts like this is depressing because peop...Reading posts like this is depressing because people just do not seem to care about things like "facts" and "evidence" in favour of a pure emotional reaction.<br /><br />I can just imagine trying to tell someone "You are provably reducing the number of cyclists and increasing the risk of brain damage for those who remain" and having them just not give a damn.Richard Allannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-63425970824755159582011-01-31T21:47:34.468+00:002011-01-31T21:47:34.468+00:00Needless to say the BBC have been trying to pave t...Needless to say the BBC have been trying to pave the way for this nannyist nonsense for years, so it's sure to be arriving on these shores soon.<br /><br />This was my response to what I think was their most recent babbling on the subject: <a href="http://ciarang.com/posts/dear-bbc-cycle-helmets" rel="nofollow">http://ciarang.com/posts/dear-bbc-cycle-helmets</a>Ciaranhttp://ciarang.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-60412162292089107012011-01-31T21:28:31.735+00:002011-01-31T21:28:31.735+00:00Choice is the key, John. :)Choice is the key, John. :)Dick Puddlecotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-64834021554547725192011-01-31T20:56:58.986+00:002011-01-31T20:56:58.986+00:00Interesting post.
I cycle a lot - usually I avera...Interesting post.<br /><br />I cycle a lot - usually I average over 10 miles a day on the roads, and have cycled all around the country. I almost always wear a helmet (though not, technically a cycling helmet), and I have several friends who's lives have been saved by helmets, though notably not in vehicle collisions.<br /><br />I am also massively opposed to it being illegal not to.<br /><br />I hold this as true of anything else - I will not drive a car with passengers not wearing seatbelts, this is my choice in my car. It should not be illegal for people to not wear seatbelts, if they so choose.johnlinfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07721596897723364204noreply@blogger.com