Compulsary bike helmets?

[DaveB]

The helmet/no helmet debate has been going on for years without any real consensus one way or another. My view is that it should be personal choice. My choice is to wear one and regard anyone who doesn't as an idiot and organ donor in waiting.

[Underscore Pt2]

Didn't you read, he's been cycling for 40 years and clearly has ninja-like reflexes to jump out of the way of deranged taxi drivers and idiotic women doing their makeup while driving.

Not really..I just dont cycle like a dick on the roads, so ive never even been close to being in an accident. Should pedistrians wear helmets Just In Case.

[Underscore Pt2]

The helmet/no helmet debate has been going on for years without any real consensus one way or another. My view is that it should be personal choice. My choice is to wear one and regard anyone who doesn't as an idiot and organ donor in waiting.

Do you wear one when not on the road? a pleasent cycle along a country path? Its personal choice. Kids all wear helmets when cycling now...yet they dont when flying about on roller skates or scooters? Someone brought a kids to school football last week wearing a skull cap "JUST IN CASE"

[doodab]

I've been cycling 30 years on the road, worked as a courier for a bit, been in hospital a few times, including knocking myself out when I fell off my road bike years ago, but I rarely wear a helmet unless I'm on a mountain or otherwise likely to fall off and I haven't been in danger of colliding with a car for years. Yes there are plenty of Dickheads and blissfully unaware drivers, and I may well be safer wearing one, but IMO the secret to being safe is not to put yourself in harms way in the first place. Sometimes that means moving out so there simply isn't room for a car to force their way past in an inappropriate place and endanger you, sometimes it means digging deep so you tackle a bastard junction at 25mph plus so you're in the flow, mostly it means picking your route carefully to avoid such things in the first place.

The flip side of this is that I often find myself waiting 10m behind a cyclist at 15mph waiting for a safe place to pass when I'm in the car.

Those island / road narrowing traffic calming things and badly positioned bus stops are the main things that cause this and also the moving out to defend road space. If you have them every 50 meters on a narrow road you cause real safety issues with cars overtaking bikes, traffic planners seem unaware of this.

Waiting doesn't bother me because once I'm past I get stuck in traffic 5 seconds later, it's not like I've lost time by driving considerately, but a lot of people seem to lose patience and force their way past when there isn't space.

I do make my son wear a helmet.

[OwlHoot]

I have to agree with you. In a car or on a bike I often see cyclists who are asking to get run over. Cycling way too far out from the kerb. ...

OTOH, isn't it said to be safer for a cyclist to bag more kerb space up to a point?

I've heard that, paradoxically, it's more dangerous for them to creep along close to the kerb, as drivers start taking liberties and driving past if the cyclist was taking no room at all.

[doodab]

OTOH, isn't it said to be safer for a cyclist to bag more kerb space up to a point?

I've heard that, paradoxically, it's more dangerous for them to creep along close to the kerb, as drivers start taking liberties and driving past if the cyclist was taking no room at all.

.
Exactly, you have no room to take avoiding action. Pedestrians present more of a risk as well.

[Paddy]

Dickhead cyclist this morning; helmet with video camera attached blatantly cycling in a manner to cause conflict, weaving in and out of traffic, jumping red lights and pedestrian crossing. I think I will carry a water pistol.

[MaryPoppins]

Not really..I just dont cycle like a dick on the roads, so ive never even been close to being in an accident. Should pedistrians wear helmets Just In Case.

What about the behaviours of others on the road?

[bobspud]

Cycle lanes are actually a guide - there is absolutely no law forcing you to use them and in some cases using a cycle lane will get you killed.

I agree normally pelting down the inside of a lorry turning left will do that for you, but while that theres no law keeping you in a lane, in the interests of harmony, why not reciprocate the fact that I am trying not to mow you down by giving me a clear shot at getting out of your way and using the lanes that you have been given unless you have a valid reason like the need to go round the right hand side of another car or a herd of rabid weasels.

The attitude of oh look half of london is now a cycle lane but its fine for me to still be under everyones wheels because I'm special is not going to win friends is it?

Cycle lanes, road junction layout and traffic calming measures in this country are done by someone in a planning office not by someone who walks, cycles and drives a variety of vehicles. They tend to be modified when there are big accidents or when parents of a local school complain.

Granted, a lobotomy seems to be the standard requirement for most town planning. And I actually think that TfLs actions are making your choice to cycle far more dangerous than it needs to be. If I know that as a motorist I will be stuck at the lights longer than you will and I can see a clear run at a green, I sure as hell am not going to trickle up to them behind a bike riding in the middle of the road as they turn red only to watch the cyclist jump the light they just stranded me at

I suggest you get on a bike and see why sometimes it's a good idea for a cyclist not to use cycle lanes/paths and why they have to go in front of you.

No thanks there are enough clueless morons on bikes I really don't need to add to that demographic. I just want the cycling community to help the motorists keep them safe.

[d000hg]

What about the behaviours of others on the road?

All you need is one Clio full of chavs who think it's funny to knock cyclists over.