Poll

Do you wear a helmet while cycling?

yes
200 (79.4%)
no
52 (20.6%)

Total Members Voted: 235

Author Topic: do you wear a bike helmet?  (Read 39681 times)

GuitarStv

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Re: do you wear a bike helmet?
« Reply #150 on: April 17, 2014, 06:17:32 AM »
I'm not sure that direct comparisons between the Netherlands and North America make much sense with regards to cycling to begin with.  The Netherlands:
- have a huge dedicated cycling infrastructure
- are more dense and have more people who live (and therefore tend to cycle) only short distances from their destination
- most cyclists aren't going very quickly (the bikes commonly used reflect this), due in part to the short distances and in part to the 'no hills' thing, which makes cycling safer
- there are far more cyclists, so motorists are used to dealing with them (and laws are designed in such a way that the motorists HAVE to be more careful around cyclists)
- cyclists tend to be more experienced.  In North America many are afraid of cycling on the road and use sidewalks, few use lights at night, many cycle the wrong way on the road, etc. as adult cycling is uncommon . . . and most people stop cycling once they get out of childhood.

North America simply isn't set up that way at all.  People tend to cycle farther, go faster, and are in closer proximity to cars and vehicles that do not always share the road with a bike.  There may be some disincentive to encouraging people to take safety into consideration when biking in North America . . . but certainly more safety is warranted due to the different conditions here.

 

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