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Image courtesy DDOT
We've been following the work on the new 15th Street NW contraflow bike lane for a while now, and today the District Department of Transportation and Mayor Fenty hosted a little ceremony to announce its formal completion. But we have to thank IMGoph for tweeting to point out that one of the images DDOT sent around from the ribbon cutting features Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans (D) aboard one of the city's SmartBikes. We're used to seeing the likes of Fenty and famed cycling enthusiast Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) on bikes, but Jack Evans? He looks about as comfortable as a bear on ice skates. Click through to DDOT's Facebook page to scroll through the rest of their images from today's event. DDOT Director Gabe Klein also joined Fenty and Evans for their little ride.
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i guess i was pointing out that he looked a little out of his element, in his suit and wingtips.
but man, the tie/helmet coordination. that is nothing if not dapper.
and hey, i'm excited to see the man experiencing the bike ride. i'm glad he's willing to try something outside of his comfort zone. that's not something you can say for a lot of the councilmembers.
(but i really really want to see jim graham on a smartbike now...)
made me laugh. ugh, you'd think i could spell...
Did Jack stuff the straps on that helmet up under the hood??? Nice. That guys just too cool for school!
oh wow, i hadn't even noticed that! not the brightest move!
Meh. Not using the straps only makes the helmet about .01% more completely irrelevant than it already is. Besides, he's on a Smartbike anyway, and where is the rental center for Smarthelmets?
Not using the straps on your helmet is like not lashing the baby seat to anything and just letting it roll around in the back.
It would be if helmets made any difference.
i was in a bike accident last year. my head made contact with concrete. the helmet absorbed most of the blow. i only got a broken tooth and 10 stitches on my chin out of it. without the helmet, i might have had more serious damage.
you can be as cavalier about helmets as you want, guesty, but the fact is that they have saved a lot of people from more the more serious damage that they could have faced without them.
There's lots of anecdotal stories that say the same thing as you, but the fact remains that the statistics don't support the claim, and a bent in piece of Styrofoam and plastic is not proof, or even evidence, that a significant head trauma was avoided. I'm not being cavalier, I'm just being practical and realistic. There is no study, other than the Thompson, Rivara & Thompson study, that indicate a significant effectiveness to helmets, and the Thompson, Rivara & Thompson has been thoroughly debunked. Even the study itself, the one used to lobby for mandatory helmet laws, only indicated that helmets had a high effectivity for children under 4. As children got older, the effectiveness fell to only 20%, and only in situations where a rider fell going slower than 12 mph and in situations where there was no car involved.
Don't get me wrong, I fully support people who want to wear a helmet to wear them, and even support wearing them in situations where there is a possibility of a rider losing consciousness, such as a race or touring long distances, or if the rider is prone to seizures, but otherwise they have next to no practical application. I just happen to get a little bee in my bonnet when people chastise riders for not wearing one, because honestly, we should be looking at the real facts and the real statistics, and putzing around on a Smartbike in a fully upright seated position for a mile or three without a helmet is equally as safe as doing doing the same with one.
Helmets do help. NEMJ says "riders with helmets had an 85 percent reduction in their risk of head injury."
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/320/21/1361?
There's lots and lots of data on this.
BMJ agrees. Helmets reduce injury.
http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/Suppl_1/i56
And Injury Prevention says helmet laws increase helmet use.
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/8/1/42.abstract
I'll be the first to admit that there's an autonomy argument against the helmet laws, but you have to recognize that that autonomy has a real cost in life and wellbeing.
There would be a much better improvement to overall societal health if people were required to wear bicycle helmets when walking around in public, yet there is no push for that to occur. Even though walking around and riding around are very close to being equally safe from a statistical standpoint. Why is that? Because coercing people into wearing a walking helmet is ridiculous... as is coercing people to wear a helmet when engaged in everyday bicycle riding. The statistics show that I'm right, and yet everybody seems to be preoccupied in pretending that cycling is dangerous. Look at the stats. It isn't.
Bill, you just linked to the Thompson, Rivera and Thompson study, that has been thoroughly debunked! After further analysis of the data that was manipulated in the T,R & P study, it was evident that the 85% reduction only applied to the 0-4 age group, that each progressive age group was progressively less so, and by the 10-14 age group the reduction was only 23%. Furthermore, the findings only applied to falls which occurred below 12 mph. Findings showed that helmeted falls above 12 mph showed no significant improvement. Furthermore again, none of the findings showed the effects of accidents between bicycles and motor vehicles, which account for 90% of all bicycle fatalities, and the overwhelming majority of those fatalities are from internal injuries.
It is time for the NEJM and the AMA to look into recommending policy based on a more credible study.
fuck the statistics...i know how my accident went down. i can draw you a diagram if you'd like, but the fact is that I WOULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP IF I DIDN'T HAVE A HELMET ON.
for that reason, amongst many, i will continue to wear one. i don't care if "statistics" show that it doesn't make a big difference numerically. i'm happy knowing that, if something similar were to happen again, i won't be a drooling vegetable, unable to argue with you about bicycle safety on a blog...
Good, and I support your decision to wear one. Just be aware that those other riders around you not wearing one are not significantly in more danger than you, that they're not being irresponsible and that they may be very well informed about bicycle safety statistics and bicycling safety realities.
But more importantly, drivers, don't be left with the wrong impression when you see a cyclist wearing or not wearing a helmet. It is not okay to drive closer to cyclist wearing a helmet because they are protected... even though you do drive 6 inches closer to them on average. It is also not okay to cut off and risk the life of that cyclist to teach him/her a lesson when they are not wearing one, because they are obviously a stupid maniac who obviously doesn't care about his/her own safety. Because everything you have read about helmets making riders 85% safer is b/s.
Were you traumatized by a helmet once? Did it touch you in inappropriate ways? Sorry... kidding- but your dislike of helmets does seem deeply profound.
Persons can argue all they want, but the reality is there are plenty of people (like myself) who have been saved by helmets more than once to testify otherwise. If you have never needed one- good, and I hope the luck continues your entire life, but if you ever saw a tree branch penetrate a helmet but miss your head (being pushed off the road by a delivery van), you would feel otherwise. Covering your head in something with some impact absorbance capability is a good idea when you are going to be on something with wheels that could refrain from being vertical and cause your head to hit the ground, or the hood of a taxi. There is no way to argue against that.
But I think I agree with you, if by agreeing it means that people in this country take helmet safety a little too far, and it is one of many reasons people ride bikes less (yes people are that vain), and in many other countries there is almost no helmet use, and a lot more ridership. So if you want people to ride, and ride like it is just as normal as hopping in a car, then mandating helmets is probably not a good thing. And I know someone who was paralyzed with a helmet on, so yes, they only help in minor impacts (which are the most common). As for me, I usually wear one.
Perhaps he encountered one two many intrusive, self-righteous fucknuts who chirped "Where's your helmet!?!" at him as he went about minding his own business. That sort of thing tends to wear on one after a spell.
and not to mention the fucknuts who scream it at you as you pass. those too! hah!
Heh. I'm not as anti-helmet as I may have seemed. ibc pretty much just called it. I actually wear a helmet when on a road bike or on a long distance ride where dehydration is a possibility (on the road bike because the bent over riding position is not particularly stable.
What gets my goat is when non-helmeted riders are chastised for doing something that is perfectly safe, especially in the case of casual everyday riding. If someone wants to wear a helmet they should wear a helmet, as I do too sometimes. But I have had my share of drivers try to "teach me a lesson" for not hugging parked cars in the door zone and not wearing a helmet. When I've caught up and had words with them you know perfectly well what was screamed at me. Also, people who on their phone not paying attention, embarrassed by their mistake, get defensive and attack me for not wearing a helmet. Why? Because they have heard the b/s statistics about 85% effectivity, thereby defining all people not wearing them as irresponsible.
Enough with the propaganda for the pedaling putschers!
Sure, they seem innocent in this staged photo. What DCist doesn't show you is the real evidence. Once the usurpers thought they were alone, they revealed their true intentions. Here is the malevolent mayor himself lunging lawlessly towards a group of defenseless taxpaying prostitutes. See for yourself!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=9664314&id=175133555022
The villainous velocipedist must be stopped!
I'm not quite sure why, but this makes me think of Mr. Burns and Smithers
Yikes. I can definitely see that.
By the way, there are (or very recently, to be fair) rats living and dying in the walls of a seemingly nice townhouse on that block.
very recently were.
Did they clean the bike lane before the unveiling? Because I used it a few days ago and thought I was going to die sliding on all the wet leaves...
In all fairness, Evans looked pretty comfortable on the bike. http://borderstan.com/2009/11/19/15th-street-city-poobahs-speak-cut-ribbon-ride-bikes/
So THAT's why there was a vast team of street sweepers on 15th Street this morning! At least 4 machines, about 12 folks out there furiously sweeping up every leaf in sight. For a minute I thought somebody declared a War on Acorns.
You got it!
I bet Evans is wearing lycra underpants.
Your mission is to find out and report back.
What's in it for me? (read this again)
My undying affection? But then again, that was never enough for you...
Whatever you find in said underpants, be it festering or unfestering.
Where is a MetroBus doing a right turn on red when you need one?
This is great! Check out the EMBARQ-produced video on TheCityFix.com about the SmartBike system, when it first opened up:
http://dc.thecityfix.com/video-smartbike-dc-succeeds-and-expands/
if you ever saw a tree branch penetrate a helmet but miss your head (being pushed off the road by a delivery van), you would feel otherwise.
There will always be naysayers, who will mulishly refuse to believe in the lifesaving powers of my vintage Ozzy concert t-shirt. But, if you ever saw a metal pike penetrate an Ozzy concert shirt, but miss your lungs (after being ridden off the trail by a fat guy with a handlebar mustache), you would feel otherwise.
For me, I will grudgingly respect your right to amble around the city with no Ozzy concert t-shirt, but don't ask me to be an accessory to your madness by not yelling "Where's your t-shirt!?!?!" whenever I catch you indulging your madness...
Go ahead, kill yourself, but don't ask me to lend a hand when you're lying in the street bleeding.