Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: floo on March 21, 2018, 02:30:32 PM
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As I mentioned on a number of occasions some of the crazy things I have done in my life, and still do, which could have ended in my demise.
I guess kicking around a live grenade I found in our attic, when I was 10, was the most dangerous thing I have done, although other things have come close.
I am sure other posters have tales to tell.
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Being the Tarzanogram for a hen night in Airdrie.
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Being the Tarzanogram for a hen night in Airdrie.
That's brave!
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Asking a Glasgow barman for a gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, not too much ice.
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Asking a Glasgow barman for a gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, not too much ice.
Not brave, foolhardy.
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Being the Tarzanogram for a hen night in Airdrie.
Me Tarzan, you Sane.
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Asking a Glasgow barman for a gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, not too much ice.
See, if you were to do that now the only danger would be dropping the list of boutique gins on your foot.
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Me Tarzan, you Sane.
Applause. That night was very not Sane, and I Nearly didn't make it out
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We once drank some illegal alcohol in Goa. Their local stuff is called "Cashew Feni". Firewater of the most despicable sort. This was a relatives illegal brew. We were fine except for a sore stomach for a couple of days.
However during our stay there was an article in the local papers about how some illegal brews were making people go blind.
I didn't do that again. :-[
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If you ever make it to Glasgow, Trent, I have a jar of moonshine that some guests from Texas brought me. It's hidden at the back of the drinks cabinet.
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Asking a Glasgow barman for a gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, not too much ice.
I don't get that one?
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If you ever make it to Glasgow, Trent, I have a jar of moonshine that some guests from Texas brought me. It's hidden at the back of the drinks cabinet.
Still trying to tempt me up into wet weather and impenetrable accents, eh? And don't forget the scary second cousins!
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Being the Tarzanogram for a hen night in Airdrie.
Could be made worse though - by confessing you came from Coatbridge.
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Still trying to tempt me up into wet weather and impenetrable accents, eh? And don't forget the scary second cousins!
if you make it, and join the two Gs and me then the accents are fine for at least the first three pints.
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Could be made worse though - by confessing you came from Coatbridge.
There was much asking about what foot did Tarzan kick with.
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There was much asking about what foot did Tarzan kick with.
Gonnagle will surely know the answer to that conundrum.
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Gonnagle will surely know the answer to that conundrum.
As I remember one of the comments, expletives removed for the sake of avoiding repetitive strain injury, was 'Of course Tarzan's a Pape, he was brought up by monkeys'
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As I mentioned on a number of occasions some of the crazy things I have done in my life, and still do, which could have ended in my demise.
I guess kicking around a live grenade I found in our attic, when I was 10, was the most dangerous thing I have done, although other things have come close.
I am sure other posters have tales to tell.
I disagree with my wife once, talk about walking the line..
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I disagree with my wife once, talk about walking the line..
;D
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For my 60th birthday in 2010 I wanted to swim with sharks at an aquarium not too far from us, which has that facility. My darling family were concerned I might give the poor sharks indigestion! ;D My doctor scuppered the idea as I have a problem with my left ear, which would not be helped by swimming under water.
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Remember as a young idiot (rather than being in my present state of middle-aged idiocy) when undertaking a walking tour of the Isles, drinking what purported to be whisky - but wasn't - from the hand of an elder of the Free Kirk - on Lewis on the Sabbath. I then realised the Lewisian Sabbath had surprisingly little to do with the religious concept of rst, and more the secular concept of comatose with a dendancy to vomit.
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Grace,
I disagree with my wife once, talk about walking the line.
Ah, the old philosophical conundrum: If a man alone in a forest contradicts his wife, is he still wrong?
Welcome to this mb by the way.
Floo - re trying to order a G&T: Try Frankie Boyle's joke about the Englishman in Glasgow trying to order a lager and lime and receiving the dusty reply, "We dinnae do cocktails..."
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...just as they don't do poached eggs in Liverpool!
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I disagree with my wife once, talk about walking the line..
Well Grace, now I know you're not a woman! I thought you were when I looked in earlier. Not to worry, people thought I was a bloke when I joined R&E a year ago.
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Well Grace, now I know you're not a woman! I thought you were when I looked in earlier. Not to worry, people thought I was a bloke when I joined R&E a year ago.
Well you did have a blokie type name., which you have since modified.
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Not complaining LR, it was funny at the time (I almost grew a beard). No-one would think 'Little Roses' was a man (tho' u never know...).
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Not complaining LR, it was funny at the time (I almost grew a beard). No-one would think 'Little Roses' was a man (tho' u never know...).
If I am a man, I am the first one in history to get pregnant and produce three children. ;D
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;D
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A few years ago I was walking down the lane by our previous property and picked up a snake, which was in middle of the road. I didn't want it to get run over. It wasn't a bit grateful, it started to bite my shoe when I put it down. It was sometime later I realised it was an adder, WHOOPS! :o
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Many years ago, while still in Oz and age twenty something, taking two Mandrex (possibly sic) and a glass of Scotch and then trying to fly off a third flooor balcony.
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Three near-death experiences on bikes: firstly, I was cycling fast downhill, and managed to get my wheels stuck alongside the kerb. I was unable to steer, and would have fallen off under the wheels of a passing vehicle - it was a busy road - had a ramp in the kerb not saved me by allowing me to regain control. Secondly, I was overtaken, much too close, by a big artic whose driver can't have noticed me. I'd've been under his wheels had another ramp in the kerb not allowed me to get up on the pavement out of his way. I shook my fist at him, and called him a ****ing stupid ******. Thirdly, in March 2014 I was stationary in a filter lane in the middle of a busy A road near Northampton, waiting to turn right, when I was hit from behind by a motorcyclist. I broke my right heelbone and left collarbone in two places, and spent nine weeks in hospital. I'm still in the process of getting compensation.
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Three near-death experiences on bikes: firstly, I was cycling fast downhill, and managed to get my wheels stuck alongside the kerb. I was unable to steer, and would have fallen off under the wheels of a passing vehicle - it was a busy road - had a ramp in the kerb not saved me by allowing me to regain control. Secondly, I was overtaken, much too close, by a big artic whose driver can't have noticed me. I'd've been under his wheels had another ramp in the kerb not allowed me to get up on the pavement out of his way. I shook my fist at him, and called him a ****ing stupid ******. Thirdly, in March 2014 I was stationary in a filter lane in the middle of a busy A road near Northampton, waiting to turn right, when I was hit from behind by a motorcyclist. I broke my right heelbone and left collarbone in two places, and spent nine weeks in hospital. I'm still in the process of getting compensation.
And you still cycle, WOW!
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Dived in a cave, vis went bad and we were not sure if we were heading in or out of the cave.
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A couple of years ago I was cycling along a quiet country road when a car that had been waiting at the stop lines on the road that joined from the right suddenly pulled across in front of me to enter the road that joined on the left. I had nowhere to go so threw the handlebars sideways so as to hit him side on rather than point on and landed in a heap on the road. He pulled over in the side road and came back to check on me. I was scratched and bruised but nothing serious, and he said he didn’t see me “because the road was wet” and asked for my address “just in case”. I was decent about it, even shook his hand before carrying on my way.
A couple of weeks later I had a letter from Chelmsford police station telling me that they didn’t intend to prosecute so I assumed that he’d reported the incident and the cops had decided not to go after him. No problem.
A couple of weeks after that though I had a letter from an insurance broker telling me that that I’d damaged their client’s car door and demanding immediate payment. It was only then I realised that the letter from the police meant they weren’t going to prosecute me!
As this is a family mb I’ll draw a veil over the letter I sent to the broker, but suffice it to say that it was “robust”. I heard nothing more.
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I have mentioned before the time I managed to nearly run myself over with a motorised truck I was driving when I was eight. My father had several, they were used for conveying things around his horticultural business. In order to reverse it you had to get off and turn the steering column around. It was whilst I was doing that I got knocked over by it and the front wheel was trying to mount my chest when my mother came to the rescue. I got told off for being careless. It was a wonder I wasn't seriously hurt, not just bruised.
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And you still cycle, WOW!
And on none of those occasions was I wearing a helmet. In the first two, if I'd gone under a vehicle's wheels, a helmet wouldn't have saved me, and in the last, though I was quite seriously injured, I didn't have any head injury. In fact, I've been cycling for nigh-on 60 years, and put in quite a high annual mileage because it's my only form of personal transport, and in all that time I have never suffered a head injury while cycling on roads (I did go over tyhe handlebars and split my forehead open when I was 10 or 11, but that was cycling fast down a steep and bumpy path, when I hit an exposed tree-root - what would nowadays be called downhill mountain-biking). Road Or bike-path cycling is not dangerous, helmets have been shown statistically to make bugger-all difference, and the only benefit from helmet-wearing is to the manufacturers' profits. Bike helmets are a waste of money!
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And on none of those occasions was I wearing a helmet. In the first two, if I'd gone under a vehicle's wheels, a helmet wouldn't have saved me, and in the last, though I was quite seriously injured, I didn't have any head injury. In fact, I've been cycling for nigh-on 60 years, and put in quite a high annual mileage because it's my only form of personal transport, and in all that time I have never suffered a head injury while cycling on roads (I did go over tyhe handlebars and split my forehead open when I was 10 or 11, but that was cycling fast down a steep and bumpy path, when I hit an exposed tree-root - what would nowadays be called downhill mountain-biking). Road Or bike-path cycling is not dangerous, helmets have been shown statistically to make bugger-all difference, and the only benefit from helmet-wearing is to the manufacturers' profits. Bike helmets are a waste of money!
I disagree, I think helmets should be compulsory especially for under 18s. Lives have been saved by people wearing helmets. I also think it should be compulsory for cyclists to wear reflective jackets too.
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I disagree, I think helmets should be compulsory especially for under 18s. Lives have been saved by people wearing helmets. I also think it should be compulsory for cyclists to wear reflective jackets too.
Law should be evidence-based. There is, I repeat, no evidence that helmets make any difference - anecdotal evidence counts for nothing. I doubt if hi-viz jackets do, either.
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SteveH,
Road Or bike-path cycling is not dangerous, helmets have been shown statistically to make bugger-all difference, and the only benefit from helmet-wearing is to the manufacturers' profits. Bike helmets are a waste of money!
"Shown statistically" where? This report of recent a very large study says otherwise:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/22/bicycle-helmets-reduce-risk-of-serious-head-injury-by-nearly-70-study-finds
Anecdotally, my cycling buddy came off a few years ago and cracked apart his cycling helmet like an egg from front to back. He was a bit woozy but basically fine. I cannot imagine that he wouldn't have had a fractured skull if he hadn't been wearing it.
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SteveH,
I doubt if hi-viz jackets do, either.
Good grief. How would you propose to test his thesis by counting the number of people who weren't hit by a forklift truck when they were wearing them with those who were?
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Law should be evidence-based. There is, I repeat, no evidence that helmets make any difference - anecdotal evidence counts for nothing. I doubt if hi-viz jackets do, either.
A neighbour of ours, an guy in his 80s, used to ride his bike without a helmet and high viz jacket. I was having my early morning walk a couple of years ago when he was nearly hit by a car, which swerved to avoid him at the last minute. I had a quiet word with his daughter, and he now wears the helmet and jacket, and is much easier to see on a dark morning.
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SteveH,
"Shown statistically" where? This report of recent a very large study says otherwise:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/22/bicycle-helmets-reduce-risk-of-serious-head-injury-by-nearly-70-study-finds
Anecdotally, my cycling buddy came off a few years ago and cracked apart his cycling helmet like an egg from front to back. He was a bit woozy but basically fine. I cannot imagine that he wouldn't have had a fractured skull if he hadn't been wearing it.
If he hadn't been wearing it, he might not have had the accident in the first place. The well-attested phenomenon of risk homeostasis - the tendency to take greater risks if you think you're safer - pretty much wipes out any benefit that might otherwise accrue. http://www.cyclehelmets.org/0.html https://mayerhillman.com/1992/06/01/the-cycle-helmet-friend-or-foe/
That second link is by Meyer Hillman, who conducted the only trial of helmets in use, as opposed to laboratory tests, and concluded that they do not provide any significant safety benefit for road cycling (serious off-road mountain-biking is another matter).
I repeat, since anecdotal evidence is in play: I have been cycling for nearly 60 years, and put in a high annual mileage, and have NEVER suffered a head injury cycling on roads or cycle paths. CYCLING IS NOT DANGEROUS!
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If he hadn't been wearing it, he might not have had the accident in the first place. The well-attested phenomenon of risk homeostasis - the tendency to take greater risks if you think you're safer - pretty much wipes out any benefit that might otherwise accrue. http://www.cyclehelmets.org/0.html https://mayerhillman.com/1992/06/01/the-cycle-helmet-friend-or-foe/
That second link is by Meyer Hillman, who conducted the only trial of helmets in use, as opposed to laboratory tests, and concluded that they do not provide any significant safety benefit for road cycling (serious off-road mountain-biking is another matter).
I repeat, since anecdotal evidence is in play: I have been cycling for nearly 60 years, and put in a high annual mileage, and have NEVER suffered a head injury cycling on roads or cycle paths. CYCLING IS NOT DANGEROUS!
I cycle about 50 miles a week and always wear a helmet, but I agree that the real world situation is complex.
I know there have been studies that have demonstrate more risky behaviour by drivers towards cyclists wearing helmets than those not - most specifically that drivers will overtake a helmet wearing cyclist much closer than one not wearing a helmet.
This may be an unintended consequence of safety equipment, that its presence leads to a false sense of security and more risky behaviour.
I worry particularly about the technology on lorries - 'beware, this vehicle is reversing' and more recently the introduction of 'beware, this vehicle is turning left' etc. Given that vehicles turning across the path of cyclists is a major cause of death and injury I worry that the presence of such technology leads the driver to consider that the responsibility is shifted to the cyclist if they are crushed by a left turning lorry (as there was a warning), rather than whether the responsibility must lie, in other words with the driver to ensure that it is safe to turn left.
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SteveH,
If he hadn't been wearing it, he might not have had the accident in the first place.
Actually he would (he was clipped from behind) but I’m not suggesting for a moment that one anecdote constitutes data.
The well-attested phenomenon of risk homeostasis - the tendency to take greater risks if you think you're safer - pretty much wipes out any benefit that might otherwise accrue. http://www.cyclehelmets.org/0.html https://mayerhillman.com/1992/06/01/the-cycle-helmet-friend-or-foe/
That second link is by Meyer Hillman, who conducted the only trial of helmets in use, as opposed to laboratory tests, and concluded that they do not provide any significant safety benefit for road cycling (serious off-road mountain-biking is another matter).
The study reported in the Guardian includes more recent (and real world) data and tries to correct for biases. I’m aware of risk homeostasis too – simulator studies show drivers pass closer to cyclists with helmets on than without for example, and cyclists themselves tend to take more risks etc. The same thing happens with car safety too – when eg seatbelts or airbags became standard the death and injury rates didn’t drop nearly as much as people expected. Why? Because at some level drivers felt safer with this kit installed and so became less risk averse.
The point though is that, even if the safety increase isn’t as much as would be optimal, there was still some net improvement. And that it seems to me is something worth having.
I repeat, since anecdotal evidence is in play: I have been cycling for nearly 60 years, and put in a high annual mileage, and have NEVER suffered a head injury cycling on roads or cycle paths. CYCLING IS NOT DANGEROUS!
And I bet I can find a centenarian who’s smoked like a chimney all her life and enjoys three stiff whiskies before bedtime. So? Should we take, say, the evidence from a pensioner who’s driven safely for sixty years without once wearing a seatbelt as evidence that they don’t work either?
Don’t misunderstand me here – I’m not an advocate for compulsory helmet wearing, in part because there does seem to be some evidence at least that it could act as a barrier to people taking up cycling, but I can see no good reason not to wear one myself and so I do. If I never fall off my bike again well and good, but if I do and it happens that the helmet prevents more serious injury than would otherwise occur then the minor hassle of putting on is a comparatively trivial cost.
Besides (and if I say so myself) I happen to think I look rather dashing in my lime green number…
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I think PeofD is right to be concerned about new technology on lorries. The rarly evidence from the recent accident involving an AI driven Uber car is indicating that the driver supervising the test became complacent and didn’t act to override the controls when a pedestrian stepped in front of the car.
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Hi Prof,
I cycle about 50 miles a week and always wear a helmet, but I agree that the real world situation is complex.
I know there have been studies that have demonstrate more risky behaviour by drivers towards cyclists wearing helmets than those not - most specifically that drivers will overtake a helmet wearing cyclist much closer than one not wearing a helmet.
This may be an unintended consequence of safety equipment, that its presence leads to a false sense of security and more risky behaviour.
I worry particularly about the technology on lorries - 'beware, this vehicle is reversing' and more recently the introduction of 'beware, this vehicle is turning left' etc. Given that vehicles turning across the path of cyclists is a major cause of death and injury I worry that the presence of such technology leads the driver to consider that the responsibility is shifted to the cyclist if they are crushed by a left turning lorry (as there was a warning), rather than whether the responsibility must lie, in other words with the driver to ensure that it is safe to turn left.
I was riding in central London a while back (something I rarely do) in a designated cycle lane about two feet across by the curb. A bus started to pass me, then turned sharp left at a junction. Not only did the side of the bus completely cover the cycle lane, it also went over the curb as it cut the corner. Had I not been near the back of the bus (and braked hard) I’m not sure that I’d have escaped being squished. So far as I could tell I did absolutely nothing wrong – and I (or my next of kin) would have been pretty unimpressed I think by a bus sticker saying “cyclist beware” or similar.
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As I mentioned on a number of occasions some of the crazy things I have done in my life, and still do, which could have ended in my demise.
I guess kicking around a live grenade I found in our attic, when I was 10, was the most dangerous thing I have done, although other things have come close.
I am sure other posters have tales to tell.
As an adult I've been in plenty of dodgy situations, mainly by bad luck or my own stupidity, mainly when off my head. When I was much younger I used to do bike racing, mainly time trials and hill climbs and that kind of stuff. Sometimes when I was out training I used to slipstream cars downhill doing 60-70 mph. Not the cleverest of things.
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My adult life has continued where my childhood left off as far as me getting myself into life threatening situations, most of them down to my own complete stupidity! ::)
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Hi Prof,
I was riding in central London a while back (something I rarely do) in a designated cycle lane about two feet across by the curb. A bus started to pass me, then turned sharp left at a junction. Not only did the side of the bus completely cover the cycle lane, it also went over the curb as it cut the corner. Had I not been near the back of the bus (and braked hard) I’m not sure that I’d have escaped being squished. So far as I could tell I did absolutely nothing wrong – and I (or my next of kin) would have been pretty unimpressed I think by a bus sticker saying “cyclist beware” or similar.
Fairly common occurrence unfortunately. By far the safest place to be is ahead of the traffic - it is pretty well impossible to miss a cyclist directly in front of you!!
I worry about this proliferation of stickers plus voice technology either warning cyclists not to do something, which is perfectly legal - or even going beyond warning but effectively ordering cyclists not to do something (that is entirely legal). It seems to be moving the onus of responsibility from the driver of a lorry or bus weighing many tons onto the cyclist as to who bears the responsibility if the cyclist is killed to injured by a lorry turning left when it is not safe to do so, as there is a cyclist on their inside. If you are making a manoeuvre as a road user it is your responsibility to ensure you can do so safely, not anyone else, and when you are driving a potentially lethal object (a large vehicle) even more so.
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SteveH,
Actually he would (he was clipped from behind) but I’m not suggesting for a moment that one anecdote constitutes data.
The study reported in the Guardian includes more recent (and real world) data and tries to correct for biases. I’m aware of risk homeostasis too – simulator studies show drivers pass closer to cyclists with helmets on than without for example, and cyclists themselves tend to take more risks etc. The same thing happens with car safety too – when eg seatbelts or airbags became standard the death and injury rates didn’t drop nearly as much as people expected. Why? Because at some level drivers felt safer with this kit installed and so became less risk averse.
The point though is that, even if the safety increase isn’t as much as would be optimal, there was still some net improvement. And that it seems to me is something worth having.
Possibly with air bags, seat belts, etc., but apparently not with bike helmets. It has been suggested, only half-jokingly, that the most effective safety aid that could be fitted to a car would be a ten-inch long steel spike, projecting from the middle of the steering wheel and pointing straight at the driver's heart.
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We had German shepherd dogs when I was a child, to protect my father's business. One was quite dangerous and killed many of the neighbourhood cats. One of my uncles, who owned the next property to ours, would always drive his car over to ours and blast on the horn for someone to remove the animal as he was scared of it. I had no such qualms I would lie on the grass, with it standing over me and tell it to bite my neck, it always backed off. CRAZY OR WHAT? :o In the end my father had it put down as someone had complained it had attacked them.
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Possibly with air bags, seat belts, etc., but apparently not with bike helmets ....
I always wear a helmet when cycling .. maybe safer or not, but if I didn't and the worst happened, my wife and offspring would be forever plagued with "Why wasn't he wearing a helmet?" and so on.
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I always wear a helmet when cycling .. maybe safer or not, but if I didn't and the worst happened, my wife and offspring would be forever plagued with "Why wasn't he wearing a helmet?" and so on.
Likewise - and it becomes the norm. Now if I'm cycling and not wearing a helmet something feels wrong, and dare I say it, dangerous. Bit like driving or being a passenger in a car without a seatbelt on (not that I do it) - it simply feels wrong in a manner that it wouldn't in the days when you sometimes did and sometimes didn't wear a seat belt.
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Likewise - and it becomes the norm. Now if I'm cycling and not wearing a helmet something feels wrong, and dare I say it, dangerous. Bit like driving or being a passenger in a car without a seatbelt on (not that I do it) - it simply feels wrong in a manner that it wouldn't in the days when you sometimes did and sometimes didn't wear a seat belt.
My point exactly - you feel safer with a helmet, so you almost certainly take more risks and cycle faster downhill, even if you don't realise it - risk homeostasis - which wipes out any safety advantage that might otherwise accrue. Adolescent and young adult men are most prone to risk homeostasis, and there is some evidence that it is so marked in them that they are actually at slightly greater risk of serious injury if wearing a helmet.
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My point exactly - you feel safer with a helmet, so you almost certainly take more risks and cycle faster downhill, even if you don't realise it - risk homeostasis - which wipes out any safety advantage that might otherwise accrue. Adolescent and young adult men are most prone to risk homeostasis, and there is some evidence that it is so marked in them that they are actually at slightly greater risk of serious injury if wearing a helmet.
Most of my cycling is in London so the notion of cycling fast downhill is anathema. So for me wearing a helmet is definitely the right thing to do. It is also part of my 'super aware, I'm cycling' routine. So on my normal daily ride, I'm in cycling gear, wearing cycling shoes, wearing hi-viz, and a helmet. It support the routine such that when I am so attired my concentration and awareness levels are heightened - and absolute concentration and awareness of what is going on around you is essential for safe cycling in London.
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bluehillside:
A couple of years ago I was cycling along a quiet country road when a car that had been waiting at the stop lines on the road that joined from the right suddenly pulled across in front of me to enter the road that joined on the left. I had nowhere to go.....
I had a very similar accident on a bike over 30 years ago. A car was stationery at a junction waiting to pull out, I was turning right across it's path. As I turned I realised the car had started to move. No time to do anything, I was travelling too fast, the bike went from underneath me and I landed on the bonnet of the car. No physical injuries but I was very shaken-up and in a state of shock. The low winter sun was the true culprit, the driver of the car had not seen me at all. She, as you can imagine, was as shaken as myself. We landed-up consoling each other. I was ok, but the bike was a mess. It could have been far more of a tragedy though as I had a child seat on the back of the bike. Very luckily my daughter was not in the seat at the time of the accident.
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Hi Prof,
I was riding in central London a while back (something I rarely do) in a designated cycle lane about two feet across by the curb. A bus started to pass me, then turned sharp left at a junction. Not only did the side of the bus completely cover the cycle lane, it also went over the curb as it cut the corner. Had I not been near the back of the bus (and braked hard) I’m not sure that I’d have escaped being squished. So far as I could tell I did absolutely nothing wrong – and I (or my next of kin) would have been pretty unimpressed I think by a bus sticker saying “cyclist beware” or similar.
This could be an interesting example of unintended consequences. Had the cycle lane not been there, perhaps the bus driver might have viewed you as more of an obstacle, particularly if you had been riding fairly far out into the road, and might have taken the decision not to overtake you.
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Law should be evidence-based. There is, I repeat, no evidence that helmets make any difference - anecdotal evidence counts for nothing. I doubt if hi-viz jackets do, either.
Steve, I think hi-viz jackets are a must, or at least a reasonably bright jacket. On a couple of occasions, at least, whilst driving, I've found it difficult to notice cyclists dressed entirely in black or dark clothing. Quite often these people will also have no lights on their bike and are cycling at dusk or dawn - an accident waiting to happen.
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Steve, I think hi-viz jackets are a must, or at least a reasonably bright jacket. On a couple of occasions, at least, whilst driving, I've found it difficult to notice cyclists dressed entirely in black or dark clothing. Quite often these people will also have no lights on their bike and are cycling at dusk or dawn - an accident waiting to happen.
I'm not as anti-hi-viz as I am helmets, but they should be optional. What isn't, and shouldn't be, optional is having lights in the dark or semi-dark. If you've got them, hi-viz isn't really necessary. Making either helmets of hi-viz wear compulsory probably won't make a significant difference to the accident statistics, but it will give careless drivers who were at fault an excuse in court, if the cyclist wasn't wearing one.
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I think cyclists should have to take a test before they are permitted on the road, so many of them ignore the rules of the road having no idea of the meaning of the phrase, 'road safety'.
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Yeah, pedestrians too .. especially those with with prams, pushchairs, children or dogs.
Not sure how knowing the meaning of 'road safety' will help though. Possibly posters should be examined in logic before being allowed to post?
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Yeah, pedestrians too .. especially those with with prams, pushchairs, children or dogs.
Not sure how knowing the meaning of 'road safety' will help though. Possibly posters should be examined in logic before being allowed to post?
Are you applying that to yourself? ;D
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Are you applying that to yourself? ;D
Actually, I have a degree in it ... though it is true that I was not in any way a good student :(
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On topic - in spite of motorcycling for the last 50 years (and I still do, and did so today), since two wheels without a decent engine between them is a waste of two wheels, and without incident so far, about 20 years ago I took an interest in horse riding: my cousin was a very good rider, had her own horse and competed in eventing and show-jumping (and similar horsey bollocks).
I was in my mid 40s then, and I fancied learning to ride and had a couple of lessons, but I couldn't stand the pretentious horsey-set and decided to short cut the lessons 'sit up straight, Gordon' crap and just buy a horse and get on with it, which I did, and with some help from my cousin I was soon whizzing round the gallops and hacking across Mugdock Moor with no elegance whatsoever - but I could stay on: she said I was a graduate of the 'yee-ha' approach to riding horses.
One day, on arrival at the stables, I noticed a very striking chesnut thoroughbred in the next box: it had been bought out of a 'seller' at Hamilton Park races the previous day and the new owner, whom I knew since she had another horse in the yard, was going to re-train the beast to replace her (getting older) current horse in due course: and what you are supposed to do with ex-racehorses is chuck them in the field for 6 months or so and stop feeding them high-energy food so that they calm down a bit and forget about racing before you start riding/re-training them.
The yard had a half-mile round all weather and fenced-in outdoor gallop and the new owner was keen to see the horse in action before it got chucked in a field to calm down and she wanted to have just one spin round the gallops first: however the horse got quite excitable and she decided against risking it: so, like an idiot, I volunteered to give the horse a spin round the gallops for her and happily jumped on - the horse saw the white rails and then did what it was trained to do. I stayed on but was a passenger for two circuits of the gallops before it decided to stop, no doubt in line with its training. It was both terrifying and breathtaking at the same time and probably the stupidest risk I have ever taken. A few months later the horse was a pussy-cat and she had years of fun with him.
Compared to horses motorcycles are safe (bikes have steering and brakes that actually work).
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I think cyclists should have to take a test before they are permitted on the road, so many of them ignore the rules of the road having no idea of the meaning of the phrase, 'road safety'.
The same could be said of some car drivers and they do have to take a test.
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On topic - in spite of motorcycling for the last 50 years (and I still do, and did so today), since two wheels without a decent engine between them is a waste of two wheels, and without incident so far, about 20 years ago I took an interest in horse riding: my cousin was a very good rider, had her own horse and competed in eventing and show-jumping (and similar horsey bollocks).
I was in my mid 40s then, and I fancied learning to ride and had a couple of lessons, but I couldn't stand the pretentious horsey-set and decided to short cut the lessons 'sit up straight, Gordon' crap and just buy a horse and get on with it, which I did, and with some help from my cousin I was soon whizzing round the gallops and hacking across Mugdock Moor with no elegance whatsoever - but I could stay on: she said I was a graduate of the 'yee-ha' approach to riding horses.
One day, on arrival at the stables, I noticed a very striking chesnut thoroughbred in the next box: it had been bought out of a 'seller' at Hamilton Park races the previous day and the new owner, whom I knew since she had another horse in the yard, was going to re-train the beast to replace her (getting older) current horse in due course: and what you are supposed to do with ex-racehorses is chuck them in the field for 6 months or so and stop feeding them high-energy food so that they calm down a bit and forget about racing before you start riding/re-training them.
The yard had a half-mile round all weather and fenced-in outdoor gallop and the new owner was keen to see the horse in action before it got chucked in a field to calm down and she wanted to have just one spin round the gallops first: however the horse got quite excitable and she decided against risking it: so, like an idiot, I volunteered to give the horse a spin round the gallops for her and happily jumped on - the horse saw the white rails and then did what it was trained to do. I stayed on but was a passenger for two circuits of the gallops before it decided to stop, no doubt in line with its training. It was both terrifying and breathtaking at the same time and probably the stupidest risk I have ever taken. A few months later the horse was a pussy-cat and she had years of fun with him.
Compared to horses motorcycles are safe (bikes have steering and brakes that actually work).
I think you'll find that horses also have steering and brakes that work. It's just that they are not under the rider's direct control.
Statistically horse riding is pretty dangerous and so is motorcycling.
I'd say the most dangerous thing I ever did was go swimming off a beach at the end of a day's rock climbing. We thought it would be refreshing but we didn't notice the red flags were out. I nearly drowned.
The most dangerous thing I ever did deliberately was a 300 foot abseil to get to the bottom of a sea cliff I intended to climb up. Abseiling is quite dangerous at the best of times. If the anchor isn't strong enough you are dead. If the rope gets tangled, you're not necessarily dead but you might end up hanging around for a long time. A surprising number of rock climbers have abseiled off the end of the rope. In fact I met somebody once who had seen it happen on El Capitan.
The particularly dangerous thing about a 300 foot abseil is that it is way longer than any climbing rope, so the first person down has to stop just before the first rope runs out and then set up a second abseil. Then as each person goes down, they have to transfer to the second rope, still 150 feet above certain death.
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As a child of about 10/12 I thought it was a good idea to go fishing off the rocks in Guernsey. I made my own fishing line from a piece of string with a safety pin at the end as the hook. I didn't tell my parents where I was going, as I knew I would be forbidden to do anything so silly. Anyway I got so engrossed in my attempts at trying to catch a fish I didn't notice the tide coming in, when I did I realised I was surrounded by deep water! It was about a 4ft leap to safety, falling in wasn't an option I wish to contemplate as I would probably have been carried away on the fast flowing current. Suddenly a guy I had never seen before, appeared out of seemingly nowhere, picked me up, jumped the gap and deposited me safely on the other side. I turned to thank him, but he had disappeared, even though I couldn't see how that was possible. I sometimes wonder if I dreamt the scenario. I cycled home as fast as I could peddle, and naturally didn't mention it to my parents.
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As a child of about 10/12 I thought it was a good idea to go fishing off the rocks in Guernsey. I made my own fishing line from a piece of string with a safety pin at the end as the hook. I didn't tell my parents where I was going, as I knew I would be forbidden to do anything so silly. Anyway I got so engrossed in my attempts at trying to catch a fish I didn't notice the tide coming in, when I did I realised I was surrounded by deep water! It was about a 4ft leap to safety, falling in wasn't an option I wish to contemplate as I would probably have been carried away on the fast flowing current. Suddenly a guy I had never seen before, appeared out of seemingly nowhere, picked me up, jumped the gap and deposited me safely on the other side. I turned to thank him, but he had disappeared, even though I couldn't see how that was possible. I sometimes wonder if I dreamt the scenario. I cycled home as fast as I could peddle, and naturally didn't mention it to my parents.
He was probably a natural stepper. See the 'Long Earth' series of novels by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.
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I suppose on the whole that the most dangerous thing I did was to step into the road to be hit by that car! It was she who was entirely in the wrong though.