You wouldn’t do anything absurdly dangerous, like take unknown drugs or ride a bike without a helmet.
Riding a bike without a helmet is not “absurdly dangerous”. Mostly because riding a bike is not very dangerous, to begin with (unless you are doing absurdly dangerous stunts with it, but then it’s a different question and anything that reduces injuries helps). Helmets do reduce injuries by a factor of about three.
‘Bike’ is sometimes used as shorthand for ‘motorcycle’, in which case the ‘absurdly dangerous’ claim stands. I agree that riding a pedal-powered cycle without a helmet is somewhat dangerous, and unnecessarily so, but not ‘absurdly dangerous’.
Ah, yes. I agree that motorcycles are more dangerous than bicycles. Generally, avoiding dangerous activities (like those toward the lower end of this chart) seems like a good idea.
That doesn’t seem like a good idea. You’re ignoring long-term harms and benefits of the activity—otherwise cycling would be net positive—and you’re ignoring activity duration. People don’t commute to work by climbing Mount Everest or going skydiving.
On the note of wearing helmets, wearing a helmet while walking is plausibly as beneficial as wearing one while cycling[1]. So if you weren’t so concerned about not looking silly[2], you’d wear a helmet while walking.
[1] I’ve heard people claim that this is true. I haven’t looked into it myself but I find the claim plausible because there’s a clear mechanism—wearing a helmet should reduce head injuries if you get hit by a car, and deaths while walking are approximately as frequent as deaths while cycling.
[2] I’m using the proverbial “you” in the same way as Mark Xu.
It’s not just cars- helmets protect you if you tip over or crash into something. That happens at much higher speeds on bikes and scooters than while walking.
Minor nitpick:
Riding a bike without a helmet is not “absurdly dangerous”. Mostly because riding a bike is not very dangerous, to begin with (unless you are doing absurdly dangerous stunts with it, but then it’s a different question and anything that reduces injuries helps). Helmets do reduce injuries by a factor of about three.
‘Bike’ is sometimes used as shorthand for ‘motorcycle’, in which case the ‘absurdly dangerous’ claim stands. I agree that riding a pedal-powered cycle without a helmet is somewhat dangerous, and unnecessarily so, but not ‘absurdly dangerous’.
I was under the impression that riding a motorcycle even with proper protection is still very dangerous?
Ah, yes. I agree that motorcycles are more dangerous than bicycles. Generally, avoiding dangerous activities (like those toward the lower end of this chart) seems like a good idea.
That doesn’t seem like a good idea. You’re ignoring long-term harms and benefits of the activity—otherwise cycling would be net positive—and you’re ignoring activity duration. People don’t commute to work by climbing Mount Everest or going skydiving.
I’m not ignoring them. I’m just comparing danger base rates. That’s why “generally”. The benefits of each activity depend on the user.
On the note of wearing helmets, wearing a helmet while walking is plausibly as beneficial as wearing one while cycling[1]. So if you weren’t so concerned about not looking silly[2], you’d wear a helmet while walking.
[1] I’ve heard people claim that this is true. I haven’t looked into it myself but I find the claim plausible because there’s a clear mechanism—wearing a helmet should reduce head injuries if you get hit by a car, and deaths while walking are approximately as frequent as deaths while cycling.
[2] I’m using the proverbial “you” in the same way as Mark Xu.
It’s not just cars- helmets protect you if you tip over or crash into something. That happens at much higher speeds on bikes and scooters than while walking.
Disregarding the looking silly, there are many other (small) downsides of wearing a helmet all the time:
the weight may have an adverse effect on your neck
you may get stuck on obstacles such as door frames
you may hit other people with it (who presumably don’t wear it and if they do see 2
it interferes with close personal interactions, such as hugging
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