this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2024
188 points (93.1% liked)

micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility

2315 readers
23 users here now

Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!

"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.

micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"

Feel free to also check out

!utilitycycling@slrpnk.net

!bikewrench@lemmy.world

!bikecommuting@lemmy.world

!bikepacking@lemmy.world

!electricbikes@lemmy.world

!bicycle_touring@lemmy.world

!notjustbikes@feddit.nl

!longboard@lemmy.world

It's a little sad that we need to actually say this, but:

Don't be an asshole or you will be permanently banned.

Respectful debate is totally OK, criticizing a product is fine, but being verbally abusive will not be tolerated.

Focus on discussing the idea, not attacking the person.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world
_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works
FartsWithAnAccent@kbin.social
FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io
188
E-bike riders aren’t wearing helmets — and head trauma cases are through the roof (www.tomsguide.com)
submitted 8 months ago by _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works to c/micromobility@lemmy.world
137 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] hex_m_hell 6 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Wearing a helmet increases your risk of injury: https://road.cc/content/news/268605-wearing-cycle-helmet-may-increase-risk-injury-says-new-research

Paradoxically, wearing a helemt makes people feel safer doing more dangerous things, so it increases the actual risk. However, the existence of cars without sufficient infrastructure makes biking significantly more dangerous, reguarless of everything anything the bike rider is doing. So in countries with functional bike infrastructure, like the Netherlands, people don't wear helmets because it's safer not to. In dysfunctional countries, like the US, people have to wear helmets.

Faster biking without a helmet is obviously dangerous, I don't know if this is also related to cars. In the Netherlands, eBikes with acceleators are considered motorcycles and require helmets but eBikes that are just pedal assist are considered regular bikes and people generally use the assist to go farther not faster.

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

People who wear helmets bike more and therefore have a greater risk of getting hit by a car.

[–] hex_m_hell 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They're more likely to bike more dangerously. Folks in the Netherlands don't wear helmets and it has the highest bike usage in the world.

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

That also means there are fewer cars for people to get hit by.

[–] aeharding@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

This is about bike shares and the author states:

If you’re cruising along on a road bike at 20 mph, hit a rock, and get thrown forward onto your head, you definitely want a good helmet to absorb the blow. Studies have shown that wearing helmets while cycling reduces the risk of head and brain injuries by about 70 percent, and regular bike commuters should make the decision to wear a helmet, no question. Helmet law proponents argue that these benefits would carry over to bike-share riders, but in fact, the safety picture is more complicated.

Do we need to require that you carry your helmet all day in case you decide to hop on a clunky 40-pound bike-share cruiser to go two blocks from office to lunch? The risk of severe injuries on these short jaunts is low, and in the rare cases where riders are killed, it is most often in devastating collisions with cars and trucks where, as New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson bluntly put it, “a helmet wouldn’t even help them because of the sheer scope of the accident.” The biggest threat to city cyclists is motor vehicles who don’t see them and don’t respect their space on the road and wearing a helmet is unlikely to mitigate the danger of these bike vs car collisions.

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Dutchies wear no helmets because we're stubborn that way. There's more injuries compared to our neighbor Denmark where more than half of people wear helmets.

With the advent of eBikes there's been a huge upsurge in cycling related injury, certainly among the elderly. However the mental ownership of bikes makes us as unwilling to wear a helmet as stereotypical southern us state males were unwilling to adapt the seatbelt.

Inverse survivorship bias 'i never needed one' prevails. Only one in ten wears a helmet and if you bring up this topic in conversation it gets really uncomfortable soon...

[–] hex_m_hell 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Helmets are going to be required for older cyclists pretty soon though, yeah? I wonder how much that will impact things.

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think our boomers would rather elect literally Hitler instead of submitting to bike helmet law (something national identity). It'll darwinise itself out in the long run.

[–] hex_m_hell 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Oh, is Geert Wilders against helmets? Heh.

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 2 points 8 months ago

Well any helmets outside of intensity hairsprayed blond domes

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

wonder how much that will impact things.

According to one study it takes about 2300 Newtons to fracture a skull.