Beanie counters

In article <[email hidden]>,

Just zis Guy said:

Anyone care to guess why they might want to do this count?

Very possibly a perfectly innocent agenda. Someone put in a funding bid
for that as a research project, and wined&dined the right people.

Quoted message said:

Surely it could
not possibly be part of a "compulsion when wearing rates are high enough"
agenda...

The Scottish Parliament have published a rather good overview. That may
not be directly relevant, but the idea that the Westminster Idiots Club
could take it as far as legislation without that coming to their
attention seems unlikely. Particularly since the (UK) minister David
Jamieson also appears to have a clue on the subject.

--
Nick Kew

On Fri, 3 Sep 2004 13:59:51 +0100, [email hidden] (Nick Kew)
wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Just zis Guy said:

Anyone care to guess why they might want to do this count?

Very possibly a perfectly innocent agenda. Someone put in a funding bid
for that as a research project, and wined&dined the right people.

Quoted message said:

Surely it could
not possibly be part of a "compulsion when wearing rates are high enough"
agenda...

The Scottish Parliament have published a rather good overview. That may
not be directly relevant, but the idea that the Westminster Idiots Club
could take it as far as legislation without that coming to their
attention seems unlikely. Particularly since the (UK) minister David
Jamieson also appears to have a clue on the subject.

Alastair Darling (Minster for Transport) said, in a letter to me*
regarding 'compulsory bicycle helmet wearing', that the 'Department
[for Transport] promotes the use of cycle helmets' and that 'the
proportion of all cyclists wearing helmets on major roads rose ... to
25%. However this was not true of teenage boys, only 12% of whom wore
helmets'

'The Government is concerned that ... there could ... be real
difficulties for the police in enforcing compulsion when such a low
proportion of children currently choose to wear helmets voluntarily.'

* that was identical to the one he sent to other constituents
--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
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Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

Nick Kew said:

the idea that the Westminster Idiots Club
could take it as far as legislation without that coming to their
attention seems unlikely.

I seem to recall when the Martlew debacle^^^debate happened, they were
well aware of the balance of evidence but chose to only promote the
parts of the evidence that suited their cause and essentially called
their opponents child-murdering scum.

d.

quote='davek'Nick Kew said:

the idea that the Westminster Idiots Club
could take it as far as legislation without that coming to their
attention seems unlikely.

I seem to recall when the Martlew debacle^^^debate happened, they were
well aware of the balance of evidence but chose to only promote the
parts of the evidence that suited their cause and essentially called
their opponents child-murdering scum.

d.[/QUOTE]
Anyone remember all that Bull Bar 4x4 stuff a few years back, still see child killers on the front of what are predominately staus symbols for the school run. You can only enforce a law that is enforcable. Most policemen hate writing and tickets are mostly a waste of time for cyclists.
Sniper8052

Just zis Guy said:

According to the Grauniad of 1 September, the DfT is calling for expressions
of interest in the Monitoring of Cycle Helmet Wearing Rates.

The first line of the advert (page 61 of the jobs section) reads "Research
has shown that helmets are an effective way of reducing the incidence and
severity and head injuries to pedal cyclists, particularly children (DfT
Road Safety Report no.30 - 2002)".

Anyone care to guess why they might want to do this count? Surely it could
not possibly be part of a "compulsion when wearing rates are high enough"
agenda...

So *I* won't be wearing one tomorrow.

Just zis Guy said:

According to the Grauniad of 1 September, the DfT is calling for
expressions of interest in the Monitoring of Cycle Helmet Wearing
Rates.

The first line of the advert (page 61 of the jobs section) reads
"Research has shown that helmets are an effective way of reducing the
incidence and severity and head injuries to pedal cyclists,
particularly children (DfT Road Safety Report no.30 - 2002)".

Anyone care to guess why they might want to do this count? Surely it
could not possibly be part of a "compulsion when wearing rates are
high enough" agenda...

Guy

Haven't worn a hat since about March.

Simonb said:

Haven't worn a hat since about March.

Ditto. I think Mr Martlew & BHIT did cycling a great service. If it
wasn't for their activities I would not have researched the topic and
would probably still be wearing a lid and believing it was protecting
me. Having got through the barrier of being without my "blue blanket" I
now find lidless cycling much more enjoyable than when I wore a lid.
Just have to watch the sunburn now on top!

Tony

Tony Raven said:

Simonb said:

Haven't worn a hat since about March.

Ditto. I think Mr Martlew & BHIT did cycling a great service. If it
wasn't for their activities I would not have researched the topic and
would probably still be wearing a lid and believing it was protecting
me. Having got through the barrier of being without my "blue blanket" I
now find lidless cycling much more enjoyable than when I wore a lid.
Just have to watch the sunburn now on top!

'Me too' to all that (including the sunburn - I was wearing
a hat for much of the summer). I was partly prompted by
the research (which TBH I had been aware of for some time) but
also a new helmet seemed even heavier and hotter than the old
one. I do find I need a headband to keep sweat out of my eyes
but that is an indication of how disgusting the helmet used
to get.

Saw your letter on IPOnline, btw. Crook and Fake's evasiveness
and dishonesty is a rather unedifying spectacle - I'd expect
it directly from the industry and paid lackeys, but not
supposedly independent scientists.

James
--
my other signature is wittier (but not much)

Tony Raven said:

Having got through the barrier of being without my "blue blanket" I
now find lidless cycling much more enjoyable than when I wore a lid.

Ditto also. I'm going lidless increasingly often. It's weird though -
I've become so accustomed to wearing it that I feel slightly odd without
it. More comfortable, less hot, but still a little odd. And I do now
have the problem of nothing on my forehead to the sweat dripping into my
eyes (note to self: get a buff).

I still wear the lid for the Sunday morning club run, but it's expected
(not sure if it's actually a club rule) and I still don't feel
established enough as a club member to start challenging the conventions.

d.

davek said:

Ditto also. I'm going lidless increasingly often. It's weird though -
I've become so accustomed to wearing it that I feel slightly odd without
it. More comfortable, less hot, but still a little odd. And I do now
have the problem of nothing on my forehead to the sweat dripping into my
eyes (note to self: get a buff).

Cycle cap - acts as a substitute blue blanket on your head and deals
with the sweat

Tony