On 06/10/2010 11:46 PM, ash wrote:
On 10 June, 12:00, wrote:
wrote in message news:1ba0134e-014e-4b0d-a795-
But won't someone think of the children?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The health benefits of cycling far outway the negatives of having an
accident.

That would depend entirely upon whether you manage to avoid a serious
head injury when you have a head/solid object interface whilst moving
at a speed which you would not normally move about at on foot. You
generally think you are invincible until you come a cropper, and then
the wisdom of hindsight is a wonderful thing. But here is the rub - it
is too late by that time and you have to live with an injury which
could be for all intents and purposes be substantially reduced.

I visited a friend in the head injury rehab ward in Frenchay a few
years ago. Riding a downhill path on a hill near Dursley and a deer
cut across the path in front of him and took him out. He ended up
having part of his skull removed to relieve the pressure on his brain
and lost about 2 weeks of memories as well as about a month stay in
hospital. He wasn't wearing a hat - He does now though.

Visiting these head injury wards is fairly distressing to see the poor
sods in them so screwed up. You can mend a broken limb, but you can't
really put someones brain back together if it has been shaken up with
so much force.

Sure other injuries can rob people of mobility, but a brain injury can
make a stranger of your best friend or loved one . Mitigating against
this by using a cycle hat is really a no brainer - excuse the pun..

Somehow I don't think David's comment was meant to be taken too
seriously. s/accident/fatal accident/ and you see why.

--
www.slowbicyclemovement.org - enjoy the ride