Friday Morning Commute - 5500%

Good Morning

• Yesterday I reported that the year-over-year increase on CaBi was over 3000%. But what I didn't mention was the comparison to the SmartBike days. I don't have numbers on SmartBike for the months when it overlapped with CaBi, but the system had 55,465 trips from August 2008-September 2010. Or about 43% as many trips as CaBi did last month. From September 2008 to September 2011 bike sharing is up ~5500%. I know it's apples to oranges, but still fun.
• Maintenance!
• Rand Paul wants to defund biking and walking to pay for repairing America's bridges. Using the same logic, from now on I will order my Chipotle burrito without lettuce, to lose weight.
• In Hull,WI a proposed law would require biking, running or walking groups to register their travel plans with the town or bans them from using roads outright.
• Your child should be wearing a helmet right now."Children can face a lifetime of problems after suffering head injuries from falls, car accidents and other mishaps, according to a new study....Many of these injuries can be prevented by using bicycle helmets"

Comments

[DaveS]

I feel a little like I work for Mainway Toys but bicycle helmets are stupidly dangerous to wear.

The risks include:

1) The open vent and large overhangs in typical designs are more likely to snag on protrusions, which can jerk the wearer's head and neck.

2) The strap location can choke the wearer if the helmet shifts.

The only reason we put up with those design problems is that they're required by the application they're designed for, riding a bike. Just about every other application is better served by a full-face motorcycle helmet, and I'm aghast that the article didn't recommend that.

Are they trying to hurt our kids?

[oboe]

"News Flash: Moderate to severe brain injuries can adversely affect children's development."

And yes, my child always wears a helmet. But there's no conceivable reason why I shouldn't make her wear one while climbing on the jungle gym (though certainly not a bicycle helmet which is extremely dangerous). Or riding in a car. Or walking for that matter.

It's all a cultural construct.

[Brandon]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/town-seeks-to-criminalize-walking-and-biking,26417/

[Manuel]

Really, as the above commenter stated, there really isn't a concievable reason to not wear a helmet. I'd go so far as to even say a bicycle helmet. It's almost a seatbelt-like argument, sure, you could crash into water. Sure you can get belt-whip. But looking at all the ways you or your child can acquire an actual brain injury (here's a list of common brain injury types: http://www.traumaticbraininjury.net/faqs/) you'll notice the top two are preventable by donning a helmet) I'm going say the benefits far outweigh the negative points here.

[washcycle]

there really isn't a concievable reason to not wear a helmet.

There isn't? So then, I guess you wear a motorcycle helmet when riding in a car or walking down the street?