A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travel Regions » Africa
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

No helmet no ride, says South African Government



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old June 25th, 2004, 09:15 PM
James
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 26th, 2004, 03:39 AM
Scott Elliot
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 26th, 2004, 01:15 PM
Mitch Haley
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 26th, 2004, 01:30 PM
TJ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 26th, 2004, 03:59 PM
VC
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 26th, 2004, 05:25 PM
Richard Bonnage
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 27th, 2004, 08:16 PM
Bram van Reemst
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 28th, 2004, 06:46 AM
Miguel Cruz
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old June 29th, 2004, 02:39 AM
Chalo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
South African Airways joins Star Alliance Dennis G. Rears Air travel 4 March 9th, 2004 07:48 PM
Australia 3 Adfunk Internet Solutions Article Jehad Internet Australia & New Zealand 0 February 4th, 2004 12:20 AM
Bayonne Port named Cape Liberty and other helpful things Susette405 Cruises 2 January 29th, 2004 03:32 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:48 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.