UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron is well known for riding his bike to get around. Here, he's seen arriving at Parliament on March 11th. Can anybody picture U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner riding his bike to Capitol Hill?
Not using his helmet could well land him in some political hot water given recent uk trial judge findings on contributory negligence for cyclists who are injured in collisions while not wearing a helmet, see www.ctc.org.uk/helmets for more details..
Which brings us back to my absolute opposition to any kind of helmet legislation for road riding, or even belittling those who choose to ride helmetless when partaking in low risk activities like riding with traffic to Parliament. Doing such creates a culture that helmets for safe activities are normal and expected, and before long there's the legal contributory negligence thrown in in which the VICTIM IS BLAMED in car vs bike collisions.
"The cyclist was crushed and dismembered under the wheels of the 18 wheeler when the driver, who said he didn't see the cyclist in broad daylight, drifted into the shoulder. The cyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, was declared dead at the scene. No charges were filed against the driver. Although state law requires helmet use, police declined to cite the cyclist. The cyclist's family consulted an attorney about a possible civil suit against the driver but they were advised they could not get any damages because the cyclist contributed to the accident by not wearing a helmet."
Yokota - I agree partly with your comment about "low risk activities", but I think the real problem is that it is always one particular low risk activity - biking - that is singled out for this attention, and never other similar or even slightly higher risk ones (according to injury and fatality statistics) such as household injuries (including stair and ladder falls), walking near motor traffic, or indeed travelling inside a motor vehicle even while belted.
11 comments:
His helmet would do him more good on his head.
what you don't see here is the car following him carrying his papers etc.
Not using his helmet could well land him in some political hot water given recent uk trial judge findings on contributory negligence for cyclists who are injured in collisions while not wearing a helmet, see www.ctc.org.uk/helmets for more details..
Mike, I saw the news about that ruling. Ridiculous, isn't it?
I thought Cameron pledged not to have his car follow him anymore?
At least he's using hand signals... and not of the bad nature.
Rule 1-never trust a politician
Rule 2-refer to rule 1.
He's on his way to work and doesn't have a bag or apparenly no panniers. Go figure.
Helmet ruling should hopefully be challenged by ctc, they've done good work in the past.
Which brings us back to my absolute opposition to any kind of helmet legislation for road riding, or even belittling those who choose to ride helmetless when partaking in low risk activities like riding with traffic to Parliament. Doing such creates a culture that helmets for safe activities are normal and expected, and before long there's the legal contributory negligence thrown in in which the VICTIM IS BLAMED in car vs bike collisions.
"The cyclist was crushed and dismembered under the wheels of the 18 wheeler when the driver, who said he didn't see the cyclist in broad daylight, drifted into the shoulder. The cyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, was declared dead at the scene. No charges were filed against the driver. Although state law requires helmet use, police declined to cite the cyclist. The cyclist's family consulted an attorney about a possible civil suit against the driver but they were advised they could not get any damages because the cyclist contributed to the accident by not wearing a helmet."
Boehner would never bike to work.
Unless the bike came with a cigarette lighter.
I don't think he sets a bad example by not wearing a helmet.
I DO think he sets a bad example by having stuff dangling from his handlebars. Isn't that what racks and panniers are for? ;-)
I guess a related question: Does Nancy Pelosi ever ride a bike to her office?
Yokota - I agree partly with your comment about "low risk activities", but I think the real problem is that it is always one particular low risk activity - biking - that is singled out for this attention, and never other similar or even slightly higher risk ones (according to injury and fatality statistics) such as household injuries (including stair and ladder falls), walking near motor traffic, or indeed travelling inside a motor vehicle even while belted.
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