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#11
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
"Scott Elliot" wrote in message news:IbXCc.14843$HS3.10521@edtnps84... "VC" wrote in message om... I have insisted that my children wear helmets since they started cycling with me at very young ages, before the legislation was even considered. My daughter has only destroyed 2 or 3 helmets. My son who is now a competitor in both road and off-road racing has destroyed more helmets than he can count. Thanks to helmets both of them are functioning adults and not vegetables. I wouldn't be so proud of such an appalling record. My kids grew up without helmets but of course they were properly instructed in bicycle handling skills. I suggest you take your parenting responsibilities seriously and quickly get your children cycling instructions. Vance C. Canada Vance, I'm glad your children have survived your instructing them to cycle without helmets. If they have never crashed, you certainly have not managed to teach them the joys of competitive cycling. I certainly have not seen all my children's crashes, but I will describe two that I did see. My daughter was coming down a gentle hill on an easy tour, took a drink from her water bottle and dropped the bottle as she was putting it back in the rack. The bottle wedged between the front wheel and the frame, sending her over the handle bars. The helmet ended up with a noticeable dent just behind the right ear. My daughter had some road rash, but would have been much more seriously injured if that dent had been in her skull. My son was in a criterium when one of the riders in front of him crashed. He managed to avoid hitting the person, but the bike slid into his front wheel sending him head first into the road. The helmet did not have much damage other than a slight flattening on the front left. Helmets are not designed to take more than one crash and the manufacturer replaced that one under its warranty program. Both of these children have extremely good cycling skills and were acting responsibly, but it is impossible to completely avoid this type of incident if you want to fully live your life. I suppose a safer alternative would be sit home in front of the TV and watch other people play. You can spout all the statistics you want, but the fact is that I have seen bicycle helmets prevent serious injury. Certainly they do not prevent all injuries but to state they are not necessary is not common sense.. I suggest that you teach your children to play and work safely and stop criticizing others who are more responsible. We can all find one or two real-life examples to support what we believe in, while neglecting to mention the many other examples which do not support our claims. Go back under your bridge you troll. Thankfully the safety Nazi's haven't yet introduced such stupid laws here in blighty, but the day they do (inevitable with so many "Safety Nazi's" like you around) will be the day I stop cycling and further pollute the atmosphere by using my car more. At the end of the day my safety is my problem, not yours. And before you say "but if you get hurt it costs the health service so much money to care for you", bear in mind that if I stopped cycling I would probably suffer from heart problems much earlier in life than I would if I was cycling regularly, and that would also cost the health service a lot of money -- James |
#12
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
"James" wrote in message
... Thankfully the safety Nazi's haven't yet introduced such stupid laws here in blighty, but the day they do (inevitable with so many "Safety Nazi's" like you around) will be the day I stop cycling and further pollute the atmosphere by using my car more. I had intended not to make any more posts on this off topic thread, but some are so humorous I cannot resist. I regret to inform you that you will not be able to avoid safety legislation by abandoning you bicycle in favour of a car. First you are going to be subject to all sorts of silly safety legislation such as wearing seat belts, driving the posted speed limit, obeying traffic robots, driving on the left and taking directions from numerous road signs telling you where to stop, turn, park, yield, merge and not hit children in school zones. Next, when you purchase your car you will find you are required to spend you hard earned money on all sorts of silly safety devices such as air bags, seat belts, turn signals, brake lights, head lights, dual brake systems and impact resistant bumpers. As if that isn't expense enough you will also be paying for a pollution control system to keep the ecologists happy. As a final insult, before you can take your needlessly expensive car on the road you will probably have to buy insurance to protect the other guy in case all that safety crap does not work. A better solution for you would be to flaunt the bike helmet laws by getting one of those totally ineffective skull cap type helmets that American biker gangs wear. You could even put riser handle bars with streamers on your bike to make it look like a Harley Davidson chopper and cruise around looking like a Hells Angel. Scott Elliot |
#13
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
David Off wrote:
What kind of helmets? My cycling buddy Pete Rawlinson was shot in the head in Cape Town waiting at traffic lights. I'm sure South Africa has more important concerns, like armed robbery, AIDS and Zimbabwe. SA is taking care of that by making it illegal for the law-abiding to possess means to defend themselves. Eventually there will be no law-abiding subjects left alive, and then protecting them won't be a problem: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=39139 |
#14
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
"David Cowie" wrote in message ... Legislation due to come into effect in October this year, details that cyclists must wear helmets when riding on a public road in South Africa. The amendment was published on the 5 October 2001 and comes into force on the 5th of October 2004. for more see http://sa-cycling.com Sounds to me like a new LoveLife advert: "no helmet - no ride" "no choice, no play" :-) TJ |
#15
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
"Scott Elliot" wrote in message news:IbXCc.14843$HS3.10521@edtnps84...
.... snip You can spout all the statistics you want, but the fact is that I have seen bicycle helmets prevent serious injury. I see you wouldn't want science to get in the way of your religion .... Certainly they do not prevent all injuries but to state they are not necessary is not common sense.. The earth is flat. It's only common sense. I suggest that you teach your children to play and work safely and stop criticizing others who are more responsible. Scott Elliot |
#16
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
"Scott Elliot" wrote in message news:xl5Dc.5892$_5.1648@clgrps13... "James" wrote in message ... snip I regret to inform you that you will not be able to avoid safety legislation by abandoning you bicycle in favour of a car. First you are going to be subject to all sorts of silly safety legislation such as wearing seat belts, driving the posted speed limit, obeying traffic robots, driving on the left and taking directions from numerous road signs telling you where to stop, turn, park, yield, merge and not hit children in school zones. I thought this was supposed to apply in Africa, all of the safety issues you listed above are almost totally ignored. If you don't believe me drive along Louis Botha during morning rush hour. Africa doesn't need more road safety legislation, it just needs effective policing of the existing legislation. Not the type of policing that can be overcome with a R50 contribution to the police benevolent fund, this does nothing to make road travel safer. Then again we love to introduce useless legislation that never gets implemented. Richard |
#17
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
David Cowie schreef op 24 jun 2004:
Legislation due to come into effect in October this year, details that cyclists must wear helmets when riding on a public road in South Africa. The amendment was published on the 5 October 2001 and comes into force on the 5th of October 2004. for more see http://sa-cycling.com It's a pity. I hope this will not stop the people from cycling. That will only decrease the traffic safety. (Do the police have any chance to enforce this measure?) -- Groeten, Bram Interesse in beeldende kunst? Lees in nl.newsgroups het voorstel voor een nieuwsgroep nl.kunst.beeldend! |
#18
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
Bram van Reemst wrote:
David Cowie schreef op 24 jun 2004: Legislation due to come into effect in October this year, details that cyclists must wear helmets when riding on a public road in South Africa. The amendment was published on the 5 October 2001 and comes into force on the 5th of October 2004. for more see http://sa-cycling.com It's a pity. I hope this will not stop the people from cycling. That will only decrease the traffic safety. Unfortunately that is the inevitable result and it is one of many reasons why this sort of law is so severely flawed. miguel -- Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu |
#19
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No helmet no ride, says South African Government
"Scott Elliot" wrote:
A better solution for you would be to flaunt the bike helmet laws by getting one of those totally ineffective skull cap type helmets that American biker gangs wear. Those "totally ineffective skull cap type helmets" offer _much_ more protection than any styrofoam ventilation grating that passes for a helmet in the bicycle world. For one, they have a hard, impact-distributing shell. They also feature sturdy chin straps well-anchored to the structural shell. To the degree that they cover any part of the head, that part is much better armored than if it were clad with a foam bicycle hat. You are correct in assuming that the beanies you mention are intended to mock the law while meeting the letter of it, but you are gravely mistaken in assuming that your toy helmet offers you better protection. Motorcycle helmets are made the way they are for a reason, and if bicycle helmets were intended to provide real protection (rather than the protection you imagine they have provided when they break) they would be made like motorcycle helmets. Helmets made for the vert ramp/dirt jumping segment of the bicycle market appear to be much more serious equipment than your typical foam hat-- not coincidentally if you ask me. They have sturdy shells, deeper skull base coverage, and far fewer gaping holes than what "sport" cyclists wear. Could it be because ramp and dirt jumpers are actually somewhat likely to hit their heads pretty hard from time to time, and can benefit from a somewhat protective helmet? Helmets that squish, crush, crack up, or fall apart from "uh-oh" type impacts are there to stroke their wearers' egos and pick their pockets, not to protect their heads. Looks like you got a double stroking, since you imagine your good judgment has saved your children's heads and not just your own! What a great and wise father you must be! You deserve a medal, along with 10% off your next helmet purchase, Superdad! Chalo Colina |
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