Helmets again

andcp

RIP Carmen Greenway, tragic.
http://metro.co.uk/2016/10/04/mothers-s ... d-6170815/
However, am I callous in thinking that rather than call for compulsory helmets that her husband should also call for people to;
a. stop taking 'selfies' when riding, and
b. stop drinking alcohol when riding?

dinyull

Tragic, but I wonder if he'd be calling for safety measures if his wife had been killed by a drink driver who was using a phone at the time.

drlodge

Andcp wrote:

RIP Carmen Greenway, tragic.
http://metro.co.uk/2016/10/04/mothers-s ... d-6170815/
However, am I callous in thinking that rather than call for compulsory helmets that her husband should also call for people to;
a. stop taking 'selfies' when riding, and
b. stop drinking alcohol when riding?

Well indeed. I was more thinking that they should accept that people need to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than point to an already nanny state to do even more nannying!

Helmets should be a choice, you make your choice and accept the consequences.

kingstongraham

Possibly changing any one of the three things might have made a difference. Am I right that two of them are already against the law?

Phil&hisbikes

Tragic really, but her behaviour was just mad!
Drinking and taking selfies also made her a massive danger to others.
People just don't think about the consequences of their ridiculous actions sadly.

Anonymous

Completely bizarre when people call for something to be made law.............that they do not even do themselves!
If his 'media savvy' (what does he even mean by that in the context of what happened?) wife did that every weekend then he knew she did not wear a helmet.

Would she even have been wearing one if it was compulsory?
She did not seem to have much regard for other laws.

Its a very sad thing to happen, but I am sick of people calling for action on things that they had full control of themselves :roll:

cougie

Story was on the One show tonight but they skipped the bit about riding back from the pub and the selfies.

Straight to the riding without helmets is dangerous.

Very poor.

type:epyt

Her husband is clearly a bigger idiot than her ... Some doing given her current predicament ...

pblakeney

It was a conscious choice to not wear a helmet.
There is still the opportunity to make that conscious choice even if helmets are made compulsory.

Anonymous

This incident shows exactly why helmet wearing should not be compulsory!

If you don't think you might hit your head hard in the dark, after drinking, riding one handed, and looking at/concentrating on a phone/your media savvyness, then when (as a recreational cyclist) would you think it was a good idea?

Anonymous

type:epyt wrote:

Her husband is clearly a bigger idiot than her ... Some doing given her current predicament ...

In fairness to her husband, you have to take what the papers print with a pinch of salt, and he is obviously in a desperate situation that he would give/say anything not to be.

I do wonder if this is the kind of journey Chris Boardman would describe as 'ordinary people, doing ordinary things, in ordinary clothes' though?

veronese68

Carbonator wrote:

I do wonder if this is the kind of journey Chris Boardman would describe as 'ordinary people, doing ordinary things, in ordinary clothes' though?

Doing something stupid after going to the pub is pretty ordinary isn't it.

svetty

Presumably had she been in a car which crashed - and sustained a fatal head injury - he would be calling for all car occupants to wear helmets......

evodeda

She was very unlucky and RIP to her. I think to make helmets law is an over reaction though. Maybe they should look at banning mobile phone use on bikes instead. I'm sure most cyclists have taken a photo whilst riding, i know i have, but really you're a danger not only to yourself but to other road users.

ben@31

Ive never understood why people take 100s of photos of themselves? They're not even interesting.
Can someone explain why someone would take a photo of themself sat inside a car, I dont get it ?

Anonymous

Two words......... Savvy..... Media.

Do you not photograph your food before eating it?
Works best if its something trendy and you can have something cool in the background.

sloppyschleckonds

ben@31 wrote:

Ive never understood why people take 100s of photos of themselves? They're not even interesting.
Can someone explain why someone would take a photo of themself sat inside a car, I dont get it ?

Some of the dullest people I know have fantastic looking online profiles

joe2008

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

ben@31 wrote:

Ive never understood why people take 100s of photos of themselves? They're not even interesting.
Can someone explain why someone would take a photo of themself sat inside a car, I dont get it ?

Some of the dullest people I know have fantastic looking online profiles

What's an online profile?

fenix

Reading the story - she could be many of us. Riding 'properly' at the weekend in a helmet. Short journey - no helmet.

There's no mention of what actually caused the crash though ? Surely that should be looked at ?

Very sad - but still no reason to make helmets compulsory.

chris_bass

Fenix wrote:

There's no mention of what actually caused the crash though ? Surely that should be looked at ?

The Metro wrote:

Carmen Greenway took this selfie moments before she hit a bumpy patch of road and lost control

That is under the very first picture and it says it again in the first sentence.

sloppyschleckonds

joe2008 wrote:

What's an online profile?

Most active topic: Lizzie

HTH

oscarbudgie

The fact she was on a bike is barely relevant, it's just a got drunk and fell over story, happens every day

mamba80

and who says humanity is dead?

she was out celebrating her mums birthday, hit some rough tarmac (or a pot hole?) and died, leaving behind her hubby and 2 young kids.... but he s an idiot and she was a drunk who fell over.... i sincerely hope that if something terrible happens to your nearest dearest, you might have some idea of this guys grief, he is looking for answers and there are none.

rnath

The poor chap must be looking for a reason for his wife's tragic death. But I think most would accept that riding back from the pub after a drink, staring at your phone rather than the road ahead are probably more significant risks than not wearing a helmet. We've all done stupid things, this one just ended particularly badly.

Anonymous

mamba80 wrote:

and who says humanity is dead?

she was out celebrating her mums birthday, hit some rough tarmac (or a pot hole?) and died, leaving behind her hubby and 2 young kids.... but he s an idiot and she was a drunk who fell over.... i sincerely hope that if something terrible happens to your nearest dearest, you might have some idea of this guys grief, he is looking for answers and there are none.

So they are immune from comments/people's thoughts then?

Is this media savvyness a one way thing?

I think I do have a slim idea of his grief, but the comments still stand.
They are separate from the grief aren't they?

Would the comments be ok if she had not died?

slowbike

ah yes - the old "something terrible has happened that if they did XYZ it might not have - so let's make doing XYZ a law" ...

Should she have drunk and ridden a bike? Well - the majority of the danger is on her - I know I've done it plenty of times - after 4 pints (which is plenty enough for me - I don't drive after 1). Depends how "drunk" and where - for me it's at night on back roads where I'll possibly see one or two cars - and that's it - so the risk is mine.

Should she have worn a helmet? Possibly - I do, but that's because I go kitted up and on my road bike - I try not to hang about on my way back too - I quite like a good blast after a drink (clears the head) - but the roads I ride are not tricky to ride.

Should she have not taken a selfie - I don't - but I have used my phone to take a call whilst riding - I don't tend to these days as drivers are more likely to be peed off with a cyclist if they're on the phone too - but if you feel you can, safely, without raising the risk of injuring a 3rd party then (for now) I have no issue with it.

I feel for the guy - and the kids - it's a tragic accident that may have been avoided if she'd worn a lid, concentrated on riding rather than taking a photo or not had a drink - but there's nothing to say she wouldn't have come a cropper anyway - plenty of sober cyclists come a cropper without taking selfies - some don't wear lids either - personal choice and IMHO it should remain that way.