"Helmets are required for E-Bikes"

[Scimitar]

Bloke I was at school with, when he got his first house, fell off the stepladders, cracked his head against the kitchen sink and died.
He might have survived if he'd been wearing a helmet...

Re: tinted windows.
I love pulling up beside them, peering intently into the darkened space and winding them up.

 

[Beeping-Sleauty]

How many helmets do you see...?

dont'cha just love these helmet parties....?

if you really want to waste 6 minutes of your life, watch the vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_o3chL8phA

i counted maybe 6 helmets, in maybe 600 cyclists,

mind you, these cyclists are Dutch, but it's much the same in Sweden, Finland & other euro countries, so what is different for the Brits ?

and why does it get us so fired up, it seems to be the most divisive topic among all UK cyclists, electric or not.

bemused Beeps

 

[flecc]

so what is different for the Brits ?

and why does it get us so fired up, it seems to be the most divisive topic among all UK cyclists, electric or not.

It's because so many of the British are intolerantly legalistic, always wanting new laws to regulate everyone else and obsessive about others obeying them. For those of us who still retain some sense of proportion their repeated attempts are irritating in the extreme. What else can one be but irritated by someone, as above, who wants a law passed applying to 60 million people just because he can't remember to hang a helmet on his handlebars, and by what logic does he think a law will improve his memory?

Surely a much better and more logical answer for him is to lock his bike at all times and have the key attached to his helmet strap? But I suppose asking for a logical decision is too much to ask from someone who proposed the above law.

The Italians have it most right, they appear to believe all laws are advisory and the advice is always for others anyway. Probably why they are such a happy, stylish and prosperous nation.

The Spanish are pretty good too, you won't catch their fishermen throwing over-quota fish back if no-one's watching!
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[Phil the drill]

It's because so many of the British are intolerantly legalistic, always wanting new laws to regulate everyone else and obsessive about others obeying them..........
The Italians have it most right, they appear to believe all laws are advisory and the advice is always for others anyway. Probably why they are such a happy, stylish and prosperous nation.
.

Amen to that! If only we could all just lighten up a bit and stop being the wingeing 'NIMBY & NOTE' kings and queens of the world
Phil

 

[Alex728]

mind you, these cyclists are Dutch, but it's much the same in Sweden, Finland & other euro countries, so what is different for the Brits ?

and why does it get us so fired up, it seems to be the most divisive topic among all UK cyclists, electric or not.

It's because so many of the British are intolerantly legalistic, always wanting new laws to regulate everyone else and obsessive about others obeying them.

its bleaker than that, not just what flecc says but also a macho/"might makes right" culture which is why other cyclists feel worried enough to want helmets...

a helmet is protective headgear originally from the battlefield. I can understand people wearing one for a competitive race and it makes complete sense there as people are trying to get ahead of each other and might collide in doing so. they play a game of brinkmanship to get into the leading space. This sort of behaviour is however unacceptable on the public highways (although we must all see it every day at road junctions) and it appears that whilst foreigners seem to have realised this and share the road space rather more equitably, in Britain too many road users seem to want to make a battlefield of the roads and if they feel they can get away with intimidating a "weaker" road user will try and do so.

 

[rooel]

flecc's advice above that the use of cycle helmets will never be made a legal requirement in the EU is reassuring, but they are already being made "compulsory" by more insidious means: the first is government and other authority propaganda strongly advising the wearing of helmets to be "safe", and the second is the insurance industry's claims of "contributory negligence" where a cyclist has been injured and was not wearing a helmet.

Such claims have been reined in a bit by the courts but only to the extent that they will be entertained only if the cyclist suffered injury to the small part of his body which would have been covered by a helmet, and that the helmets normally available would have reduced the severity of the injury.

However before such cases go to court and the parties are trying to reach an out-of-court settlement, insurance companies still chance their arm with ludicrous claims of contributory negligence, hoping that the claimant's and his or her advisers' will settle for a lower sum rather than risk losing all in court - there can rarely be a one hundred per cent chance of winning a case, especially if it turns on the effectiveness or otherwise of a cycle helmet.

 

[jbond]

The Italians have it most right, they appear to believe all laws are advisory and the advice is always for others anyway. Probably why they are such a happy, stylish and prosperous nation.

The Spanish are pretty good too, you won't catch their fishermen throwing over-quota fish back if no-one's watching!
.

I've thought for a while there's a N-S split in Europe. The North has this view that laws should be obeyed or there'll be anarchy. And a tendency to use laws as a form of social control. If you don't like the law, work to get it changed but don't break it. And worse than that there's a form of busy-body attitude that means everybody tells each other "you shouldn't do that, it's against the law".

The South takes the view that politicians of all sorts are in the business of making laws so just let them get on with it, but ignore it if it doesn't make sense. And the Police take the same view. And if somebody else breaks one of those stupid laws, just shrug and get on with your own life. Of course this leads to injustices in that laws get applied randomly and selectively.

Gross exaggerations and despite the similarities between the UK, Germany and some of the Scandinavian countries I think there's a little truth in it.

Personally, there are many aspects to life where I wish the politicians (local and national) would just back off and leave us alone to work it out for ourselves. Maybe then we wouldn't be so ready to expect them to do our thinking for us.

 

[eddieo]

Blimey...I have opened the gates from Hell!

 

[flecc]

I've thought for a while there's a N-S split in Europe. The North has this view that laws should be obeyed or there'll be anarchy.

Yes, there's a lot of truth in that, but on the mainland in the North they do at least show a form of tolerance which we in Britain sadly lack.

For example, where Italians may just just power their "legal" e-bikes to whatever speed they want if needed, the Germans absolutely forbid that but add a separate class which permits 40 kph (25 mph) and even higher power now since May this year for that class, 500 watt rating.

Sweden has a moped like e-bike law which permits power to 30 kph (nearly 19 mph), in exchange for having to wear a cycle helmet and being over 15 years old.
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[eddieo]

dont'cha just love these helmet parties....?

if you really want to waste 6 minutes of your life, watch the vid

YouTube - Bicycle Rush Hour Utrecht (Netherlands) I

i counted maybe 6 helmets, in maybe 600 cyclists,

bemused Beeps

But you are missing something...Most importantly no cars? because in Europe a lot of road systems segregate cyclists from traffic

when we go away in our motorhome here, sometimes we cycle out of gate of campsite and have to turn around as we are to scared to join the traffic...whereas even in rural areas in Europe they seem to be able to come up with some sort of segregation. I mean in the UK there are hardly any footpaths in rural area....probably because of the farming lobbys reluctance to sacrifice a bit of their precious land.

In construction the amount of deaths has fallen significantly over the years. when once upon a time 80 deaths to build a bridge, and now a major project like the Olympic park has (so far) had no fatality's.....Now this is not because they only wear hats, hi vi and boots, but a whole shift in ethos backed up by H&S legislation.

 

[Alex728]

other Northern European countries have a political system based as much on consensus as competition. They in fact often have as much legislation if not more than the UK but its debated and enforced in such a way the bulk of people see it as fair rather than an imposition on our lives.

Plus they also lack as eddio mentioned the overly territorial approach towards "private" land and rights of way, at least within their countries. I expect a lot of this though seems to come from higher taxes and subsidies/compensation paid to landowners, as well as any greater sense of community, and with an economic depression its obvious they are becoming far less happy about sharing it with poorer immigrants from Eastern Europe and/or the Islamic countries...

BTW the Netherlands only built much of the cycle infrastructure in my living memory...

 

[flecc]

BTW the Netherlands only built much of the cycle infrastructure in my living memory...

Exactly, they rarely wore helmets before either. The idea that Holland has such amazing cycling facilities everywhere is mistaken anyway. In their towns and cities there are some really scary narrow roads with little room for both bikes and cars which are forced to share them. The difference though is that their car drivers are content to slowly follow bikes in those circumstances, unlike our UK drivers who too often seem to think that cars have priority.
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[Mussels]

Exactly, they rarely wore helmets before either. The idea that Holland has such amazing cycling facilities everywhere is mistaken anyway. In their towns and cities there are some really scary narrow roads with little room for both bikes and cars which are forced to share them. The difference though is that their car drivers are content to slowly follow bikes in those circumstances, unlike our UK drivers who too often seem to think that cars have priority.
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I think the tolerance comes naturally with the volume of bikes, drivers in the centre of London seem to be more patient than those in the suburbs. That may be because they know they won't get far before the bike overtakes them again.