I'm the Safe Routes to School Rep for our school. Bascially I organize the walk to school days in the fall and spring. I could do more walk to school stuff but since I live 1.3 miles from school and my kids take the bus and I never walked to school- I don't focus on it. It seems like we have a good group of walkers anyway.
I also organize the Bike safety Trainings for the 3-5 graders. It's a great program and we have the police dept come and show a video ( scary one this year! A bowl of jell-o with a plastic brain in it. Need I say more?) And does a rules of the road talk. Then the classes go out for a mile ride around the neighborhood to try out riding in the road.
It's fun, the kids love it and I think they learn something each time.
However, in this role, I'm seen as a safety person. When talking with other Safe Routes people talk always come around to helmets and safety issues. A lot ( not all) of the reps are I'd say more pro walking than biking. They are fine with biking, but it's something to put policy around to "keep safe".
At the Safe Routes citywide meeting last month one of the City Dept of health nurses came up to me to ask about helmet safety. She had spoken to a parent who wanted info on how to convince her teenage son to wear a helmet. Apparently he was refusing to wear one. She wanted some scare tactics etc to give him to make him wear one. Make him want to wear one.
I didn't really have any info to pass along. But I felt in a funny position. I wear a helmet most of the time, mainly for PR and role modeling it with the kids. But I have a live and let be stance on helmets. My first thought upon seeing a helmet-less picture of a cyclist is not to shake my head about it. I just enjoy the picture. And there are times I choose to not wear my helmet. In fact, I did not wear it on my way to the meeting ( all of four blocks) even though I brought it with me. I did wear it home and I think my reasoning for not wearing it was because my hair was still wet, fresh from the shower and I wasn't in the mood to squish it. Yeah- shallow but as an adult I made that choice.
Not sure of my point- except that I feel a bit like a poser in this bike safety role. I'm all about bike safety, meaning teaching kids how to ride correctly inthe road or on the sidewalk. I'm all about talking about having no shame in walking across a crosswalk of a busy intersection. Of teaching them hand signals. Of getting them used to riding. I also do want them to know how to wear a helmet and have it fit correctly. But I'm not about policing teenagers and most definately not about policing parents in helmet use. Smart common sense riding? Hell yeah- but what they wear on their heads means less to me.
That said- I think I might be the North East US personal rep for funky alternative helmets. I love my Yakkay and get comments on it daily. Now that it's avail in the US for sale I am constantly telling people the websites to buy one. And I just came across Ribcap and very much want to try one out! Not sure I trust it totally ( ie not sure I'd get one for my kids... although I bet they'd love it especially for skiing...) but I would trust it for myself I think b/c I personally feel comfortable on short slow rides without one. Has anyone heard of this? Seen it in action. I see it is for sale in the NW US and am going to call one of the stores to ask about their thoughts on safety etc. So stay tuned- you'll likely see me in one next winter. I do wish they had a sunhat version!!
image via Ripcap.ch
Yeah, I think I come down about where you do on helmets. If you're in a low to moderate speed fall- i.e you hit a pothole and go down on your head I do think they could be very useful. If you're hit by a speeding SUV, not so much. And it's a distinction that's lost on a lot of non-bikers (a lot of bikers too). I had an argument on a ski lift about helmets and the guy couldn't believe that I would think a future where bikers didn't feel that they needed to wear one is an ideal to strive for.
ReplyDeleteI do wear one 90% of the time just because I'm sharing a potholed road with people who cut me off, and try to door me, and I can imagine a situation where I took a spill or took evasive action that led to me falling, and I feel like it can't hurt, might help.
Although styrofoam hats get all the attention, I think that safe riding skills and good lights are more important factors in real safety, so I applaud your volunteer work. Maybe you could try to get some stats about the correspondence of factors like sidewalk riding or ninja riding vs helmetless riding in injuries, and use those as talking points when people ask you about it.
I've got a couple of Bern Muse helmets, and I'm considering a Yakkay, but want to try one in person first. I tried one quickly in Barcelona, and it didn't fit me well, so I want to see how it can be adjusted before I plop down that much cash. Ripcap looks interesting, but as I don't read German, I don't completely understand the concept.
thanks cycler!
ReplyDelete1- the yakkay is a funny fit. Not perfect actually. But It's ok enough for me. I keep the strap tight and they come iwth iserts that help with fitting. Otherwise- there isn't much adjusting and I find some hairdo's fit better than others. A new kind/size is out now- but looks like a bigger size differentail and is lighter. My biggest complaint on the Yakkay is it's too hot. I notice this the most on spring days where my head overheats. Super hot days there isn't a big diff between the yakkay or no helmet or other helmet and the style I wear has sun shielding action....
The ripcap page has a store locator and you can find two places in the US who sell them. The PA store has some safety info. Sounds like it's better than no helmet and less effective than a hockey helmet ( PA store is a skate shop not a bike shop....) So I kinda feel like it would be ok.... I'm going to research.
good idea for talking points.
you can try my yakkay on if you want!
The helmet thing always gets people going on both sides. Ultimately with adults, I won't tell you to wear a helmet. Don't tell me not to wear a helmet. It's all good. My bro-in-law is alive because of his bike helmet. Very, very true story so despite what statistics people can throw at me, I'll go for the helmet, at least, where I ride daily. If I move somewhere else with different riding infrastructure and attitudes, maybe I'll reconsider. But as a momma, I also feel that since my kids are mandated by law to wear a helmet, I should be role modeling for them. And I am talking about MY kids. You, not just you, MamaVee, but the general 'you' for all the mamas/papas out there, decide what you want to do for your kids....
ReplyDeleteOh, and I love that you are the Safe Routes Rep for your school! You go.
I would suggest, somewhat more temperately than in a discarded comment, that helmets are advised when riding in suboptimal conditions, where I'll arbitrarily declare that the Netherlands are optimal (helmets mostly not used there, but cycling is far safer -- they're a proof that it is possible, and that whatever we have here, is by choice, not necessity). That is, our roads are unsafe, because that is our preference.
ReplyDeleteGiven that, for new riders, or for young riders, or for riding on non-smooth roads torn up with utility cuts, a helmet is probably a good idea. A new, young, rider on our crap roads, really ought to wear a helmet. Auto crash statistics suggest that perhaps young people (especially men) might ought to wear helmets in cars, too.
Given that we are stuck in the US, a brief introduction to effective cycling techniques (but not their infrastructure suggestions) is also helpful. It is good to see all the ways things can go wrong carefully illustrated, and to have the importance of visibility and behaving in predictable ways, hammered home. One thing that is often overlooked, is the role of speed -- crashing at 15mph is much safer than crashing at 25mph, never mind bombing down a hill at 35mph.
Working from anecdotes, and not so much from statistics, I know of two people, newish riders, who were concussed because of pothole-induced crashes, so bad roads really do matter. I had many more crashes when I was in my teens than I do now, and they were much scarier, despite riding (now) on worse roads, and more miles. The difference, is a more visible bike (a bizarre large cargo bike with lights on always), with huge tires that make me much less susceptible to slides on sand and loss of control in potholes, a longer and more stable wheelbase, improved balance (measured quantitatively, in terms of miles traveled no-hands), a more upright posture (less susceptible to endo, more visible, more visibility), generally lower speed, and being much better at reading the stupid things that people will do in cars. I'm also less dogmatically "effective" in my cycling -- if it looks like taking a lane will lead to conflict, I find some other way -- the big bike and big tires give me options (e.g., off road, hopping curbs, trusting the kevlar belts to get me through a patch of glass).
And if any of your acquaintances suggest that cyclists without helmets, injured in crashes with cars, took insufficient care, ask them if they think a pregnant rape victim should have used birth control and dressed more modestly. (I think both remarks are quite offensive, which is the entire point of the comparison.)
A similarly pointless (but far less offensive) suggestion is the idea that obeying the law will earn us "respect". I tried that experiment for about three decades, never worked. I even went so far, twice, as to chase down light-running cyclists to chastise them for "making us all look bad", and got grunts in reply. Very hard work, and there was no perceptible increase in "respect" for engaging in this effort. I judge it as time and sweat wasted, except that it produced experimental results demonstrating the uselessness of attempting to "earn respect" through devotion to the rule of traffic law. I'm not going to do this enough times to generate a statistical sample, that's for sure.
In any discussion of "safety", it's worth pointing out that cars kill about 3000 pedestrians every year, bicycle about 1, so cyclists apparently know more about the practice of safety than drivers.
Well, I tried not to rant, but it came out like this. Oh well.
funnily enough I almost lost my helmet today. We kept going back to school ( I biked the sorte up and down thislong road three times!!) for lots of lost and forgotten items and on one trip back I sent the kids to go locate what they needed and sat down on a brick wall b/c I was a bit hot and bothered. I took off hte helmet and then when they arrived we all jumped up and got going. I was halfway down the long road when I realized my head felt so nice and breezy and we turned around one last time for my helmet!
ReplyDeleteSara- I hear you. I wear one mostly b/c I figure can't hurt. And I want the kids to feel used to it and they do- I didn't grow upwith helmets and I really kind of can't stand them. But I think for girlpie and tuber it isn't a big deal. ( although sometimes he power plays me and refuses to put it on. but after a stern counting down he always does...)
I just got done being in charge of Walk and Bike to School Month (also part of SRTS) here! :-)
ReplyDeleteI do wear a helmet, partly for role-modeling purposes and partly because, well, why not? It doesn't do me any harm, and I do cycle in close proximity to cars. However, I have been known to occasionally forget my helmet, and I don't sweat it or feel guilty.
My personal view is that if you explain normal traffic laws (ride on the right, stop at red lights, ...) to avoid crashes you will do more to help kids and adults ride safely than if you repeat the usual information they hear to wear helmets in case speeding motorists run them down.
ReplyDeleteMany people in PA and DE tell me they were taught in grade school to ride facing traffic, and are surprised I ride with traffic. For children, I would expect their traffic experience will be more important than a helmet - if certain roads are too busy for 3rd graders to cross, a helmet won't make it safe, while the teenager may be fine without one.
Personally I find the helmet helps a great deal in the winter, but not so much in the summer. The helmet blocks the wind so I stay warmer, and I've had occasional falls in the winter (ice; snow hid pot hole). In the summer, I find the helmet aggravates the heat, and I've yet to hit ice in July.
However, I would not want to decide either way for someone else with different riding conditions and experience. Similarly, I don't want anyone telling me that it's much more important to increase helmet usage than to fix traffic signals that won't detect bicycles. (PA bike safety priorities I see)
Angelo
I love that picture of your Yakkay! I'd love to get one, but like Cycler says, I'd want to try one in person before I buy them - they cost at least double what a normal helmet costs. But you can change the look, which I love! I wonder if you could make your own hats to go over the top, too?!
ReplyDeleteAs a new cyclist (well, I don't even have a bike yet, but that's another story), I have to say the whole helmet versus no helmet debate came as a huge shock to me. I didn't think it would be so controversial. Probably because most cyclists in my city wear helmets, and also because at school when we did the cycling proficiency lessons, we had to wear helmets. So I never questioned it. I guess it's good to be pro-choice!
southern biking belle- I love it. It's true- I am pro choice in pretty much everything!!!
ReplyDelete