Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins has backed a change in the law to oblige cyclists to wear helmets after a man died in a crash near the Olympic Park.
Why is it that as soon as someone becomes famous, they suddenly think that their opinions are worth listening to? Or, perhaps, more accurately, their nasty, control freakish, statist opinions… That they know best what is good for the rest of us.
Look, this chap died following an accident. His decision regarding a helmet may or may not have influenced the outcome. Either way, it was his risk and his alone to take.
Oh, wait, hang on…
It has not been revealed if the 28-year-old was wearing a helmet, but Wiggins said forcing cyclists to take precautions would make the roads safer.
So Wiggins, being the new poster boy of the media since cycling a bit faster than other cyclists in France, is somehow now an expert on road safety matters and it is okay for him to decide what we should be forced to do for our own good – and yet, and yet, he is pontificating on the basis of an unknown – that is, we don’t know whether this person was wearing a helmet, let alone whether it would have made any difference anyway.
Ah, but, never mind, the statists have all the answers and all for our own good, eh?
Wiggins, speaking after winning his Olympic gold medal in Wednesday’s time trial, said making it illegal to cycle without a helmet would make the roads safer “because ultimately, if you get knocked off and you ain’t got a helmet on, then how can you kind of argue”.
Oh, that’s easy, very easy. Indeed, it is so fatuous that anyone can rip it to shreds. It is my life, my risk and my decision. That is, it is none of Wiggins’ business and none of the state’s. If Wiggins thinks that wearing a helmet is a good thing, then he may do so. I prefer not to and will continue not to. I do not need Wiggins to tell me what is in my best interests or what risks I may choose to take. Being an adult – and was one before this jumped up little statist twat was born – I’ll be the best judge not him. He can fuck right off, frankly.
“So I think when there’s laws passed for cyclists, then you’re protected and you can say, well, I’ve done everything to be safe.”
This just demonstrates that you can ride a push-bike quickly while also being very hard of thinking.
I note that later on in the article Wiggins has tweeted that he wasn’t calling for anything, merely answering a question. To which I would respond; maybe he should be more careful when answering questions, eh?
According to a blogpost on Reddit claiming to be from someone who witnessed the crash, he went under the bus which drove over his torso. Not much a helmet could have done.
Oh, and in Wiggins’ defence he was a trifle merry when he said that… 😉
A sherry trifle one presumes?
Next time he goes out on his bike he should be made to wear a back protector, pads on his knees and elbows and stabalisers on his effing bike. That’ll teach him.
There’s also the small matter of cycle-helmet laws [i]increasing[/i] the rate of fatalities of cyclists.
Richard, do you have a link to the stats that support your comment? I’d love to be able to wield them in a row I’m having elsewhere.
Here!
http://cyclehelmets.org/1013.html
Indeed. The information has been around for some while. Similarly with seat belts and motorcycle helmets; they mitigate and shift the risk in certain conditions, they do not necessarily eliminate it.
That said, on a motorcycle I will always wear a helmet regardless of the law – not because of the impact protection but because of the weather protection.
I’m lucky enough to live in Cyprus and ride here (Fazer FZ6 ABS).
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l194/markfrank19/SDC10624.jpg
I’ve always worn my helmet on the road but I have to say, there is nothing like having a blast on the bike without it!
BTW wearing a helmet is compulsory here but (like many other things) the police don’t bother about it and most people don’t wear them.
There’s another piece of research – drivers overtake closer to cyclists wearing helmets than those without.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/overtaking110906.html
One of the German rowing team has just been thrown out because she is the FRIEND of a Fascist twat.
So…..
Well said
Bring it on. They should be forced to wear leathers, gloves and sturdy boots also. And have their lights on during the day.
And not those pissy little helmets. Motorcycle hemlets, ISO 13232.
@Furor
If one of her family members denounced her, it would make my day.
20R
Whats to “denounce”?`It is not illegal to be a member of the N.P.D, let alone be a FRIEND of a member.
If the Government WANT it to be illegal to be a member, then all they have to do is ban the party. But they won’t.
And a good thing too. In a so called democcracy, one must be prepared to allow people to have views that you may find distastefull.
But, if she can be thrown out of the team for that, then this Wiggins twat should be hung drawn and quartered, for actualy BEING a fascist twat.
I ‘stole’ this – but only from my own Facebook page
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Only’ having seen the press reports (Implications – cycle alongside NS of bus, both turning left – rider ‘trapped underneath’ ) it isn’t yet clear whether the deceased was wearing a helmet – OR what type ‘may’ have prevented fatal injuries IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES?
NOTE that the majority of ‘cycle helmets’ sold in UK are designed & tested for protection of the wearer’s head if they fall/are thrown off and strike the ground’hard objects at ‘normal cycling speeds’ – not for impact with other vehicles. Or higher speeds – such as the hazards Motorcycle (and Rally car) headgear is meant to mitigate.
**
PLEASE – PLEASE – do not suggest that wearing ANY helmet -or other PPE – “Will make you SAFE”
**
Evidence? http://www.cyclehelmets.org/papers/c2023.pdf
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Cycle helmets are a contentious subject. Brian Walker, of helmet-testing lab Protection Evaluations, looks at the science instead of the rhetoric
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Cycle helmets are designed for falls without any other vehicle involved
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[Published in “Cycle” magazine, Jun/July 2006]
Further to above. That article refers to the ‘possibility’ that wearing of a heavier (M/cycle or Rally car) style of helmet by a young (small) person might contribute to serious spinal trauma in the event of a crash. One such incident had occurred not long before, on a grass circuit only a few miles away from where I live, and at which I later ‘scrutineered’ off-road 4×4 competition vehicles.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1547078/Boy-who-recovered-from-internal-decapitation.html
I am reasonably sure the impact (with ‘Armco’) caused such an abrupt stop that the young driver’s head (in an RAC/Snell approved helmet) was thrown sharply forward hyper-extending his neck. There is no doubt that he was wearing a properly fitted & adjusted seat-harness (Minimum required would have been 3-point fixing, lap + 2x Shoulder straps)
Furor,
the denunciation can be for anything. The onus is on the denounced to justify his position. Of course, having once been denounced your character is already stained.
You can quite happily substitute ‘NPD’ with ‘BNP’ and see what has happened here.
I think you are being a bit unfair on Wiggins (in this case) and ‘personalities’ in general.
He was being interviewed by journalists and not making a political statement, he clearly is not ‘media trained’ and simply said the first thing that came into his head at a time when he was concentrating on his gold medal win rather than ‘thinking his opinion was worth listening to’.
Since the comment was reported he has said that he does not think helmets should be compulsory, he has stated – “Just to confirm I haven’t called for helmets to be made the law as reports suggest, I suggested it may be the way to go to give cyclists more protection legally if involved in an accident.”
Might be a bit of a back-pedal from him, but I think that to be expected to have a perfect response to every question that the worlds press throw at you is spurious. The media try and trick people in to tripping themselves up, it is one of the insidious tricks they use to ‘sell papers’ – and not everything has to be taken on face value and turned into bile and spittle by those who are just looking for something to be angry about.
Actually, I’m not being unfair. You don’t need to be media trained to realise that journalists should be treated with the same degree of caution you would reserve for a great white. When I was a rail incident officer, I was required to deal with these people should the occasion arise. I was not media trained. The only instructions I had were to keep it brief and factual. In other words, don’t tell them anything they cannot figure out for themselves and never, never speculate. This is precisely what Wiggins did. Not only that, no one at that point knew what had happened. This was extremely foolish.
However, my criticism is justified because what we got, despite later back pedalling, was the unedited version of what was in his brain in an unguarded moment – and that was distinctly authoritarian.
As for me looking for something to be angry about, that is merely a construct you have created. I have chosen to comment because this issue has civil liberties repercussions and civil liberties are something I am concerned about – we do not need more laws protecting us from ourselves and we do not need idiots suggesting that we do – even if they do decide that they were mistaken at the time. Had Wiggins engaged his brain before his mouth, he would have declined to comment, which would have been the sensible thing to do. He didn’t. Any opprobrium subsequently heaped upon him is, therefore, deserved.
DO NOT stop next to a long vehicle on the near side. THINK! Long straight thing moving around a curve, what happens? It doesn’t bend with the curve!
I believe that risk compensation from wearing helmets would kill lots of cyclists.
XX DO NOT stop next to a long vehicle on the near side. THINK! Long straight thing moving around a curve, what happens? XX
That presupposes that they have ever HEARD of geometary, let alone being taught it, in what jokingly are refered to as “schools” these days.
The very CONCEPT of a straight line, and an arc or apex is probably as allien to them as the chemical make up of early 15th centuary ming dynasty china ware.