new helmet rule

URICH, Switzerland, April 25 (Reuters) - Plans to make helmets mandatory for professional riders
came closer to fruition on Friday when members of the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) backed the
proposals at a meeting in Brussels. The call for the introduction of mandatory hemets was made after
the death of Kazakh rider Andrei Kivilev in the Paris-Nice race in March. PCC president Vittorio
Adorni met the heads of the Professional Cyclists Association (PCA) and the president of the
International Cycling Union (UCI) Hein Verbruggen to discuss the plan. They backed the planned
introduction of the new rule in time for the Giro d'Italia starting on May 10. In a statement the
UCI said: "The presidents of the associations confirmed their adhesion to the UCI's initiative to
render mandatory helmets for professional riders. "The consensus as expressed today by the members
of the PCC present in the meeting should enable (us to) reach the goal which is to establish this
rule before the start of the next Giro d'Italia." Wearing helmets has previously only been a
"permanent recommendation" from the UCI after the proposal to the make their use mandatory provoked
strike action by some riders in 1991. The death of Kivilev, riding for the Cofidis team, led to
calls for all professional riders to be forced to use head protection equipment after his team
doctor, Jean-Jacques Menuet, claimed a helmet might have saved the rider's life. The Brussels
meeting also set out plans for the future of professional cycling, which will be considered further
at future meetings. The statement said there are plans to create "a system guaranteeing the
stability and economic continuity of the movement, based on a principal of a series of competitions
reserved to the best teams." The details of these competitions are still to be decided and are
likely to be the subject of further discussion at the next PCC meeting to be held at the UCI's Swiss
headquarters in Aigle on June 6.

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On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:59:43 -0400, "tispectrum" <[email protected]> wrote:

>URICH, Switzerland, April 25 (Reuters) - Plans to make helmets mandatory for professional riders
>came closer to fruition on Friday when members of the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) backed the
>proposals at a meeting in Brussels. The call for the introduction of mandatory hemets was made
>after the death of Kazakh rider Andrei Kivilev in the Paris-Nice race in March. PCC president
>Vittorio Adorni met the heads of the Professional Cyclists Association (PCA) and the president of
>the International Cycling Union (UCI) Hein Verbruggen to discuss the plan. They backed the planned
>introduction of the new rule in time for the Giro d'Italia starting on May 10. In a statement the
>UCI said: "The presidents of the associations confirmed their adhesion to the UCI's initiative to
>render mandatory helmets for professional riders. "The consensus as expressed today by the members
>of the PCC present in the meeting should enable (us to) reach the goal which is to establish this
>rule before the start of the next Giro d'Italia." Wearing helmets has previously only been a
>"permanent recommendation" from the UCI after the proposal to the make their use mandatory provoked
>strike action by some riders in 1991. The death of Kivilev, riding for the Cofidis team, led to
>calls for all professional riders to be forced to use head protection equipment after his team
>doctor, Jean-Jacques Menuet, claimed a helmet might have saved the rider's life. The Brussels
>meeting also set out plans for the future of professional cycling, which will be considered further
>at future meetings. The statement said there are plans to create "a system guaranteeing the
>stability and economic continuity of the movement, based on a principal of a series of competitions
>reserved to the best teams." The details of these competitions are still to be decided and are
>likely to be the subject of further discussion at the next PCC meeting to be held at the UCI's
>Swiss headquarters in Aigle on June 6.
>
>
>
>
> -----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
> http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
> -----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----

Please don't jump on me about this...although I ALWAYS wear a helmet when riding, encourage all
those I talke to to wear one, and wouldn't dream of riding without one, mandatory helmet rules are
NOT the way to go. The big boys won't wear them if they don't want too, plain and simple. Yes there
have been some deaths over the last several years, which may (or may not) have been preventable if
the rider had a helmet on.

Hockey has had ONE death in the US related to being struck by a puck - and the impact didn't kill
the person; it caused a sequence of events that caused a pre-existing medical condition to
exacerbate and kill her. Tragic of course. The response: NETS AROUND ALL END ZONES! Pucks still fly
out of play in the sides of the arenas. It's a hazard of the game and of attendance in the games.

I suppose that if a spectator at the Tour is killed in July, when, while watching a mountain
descent, the are hit by a rider, then all riders will have to wear big puffy suits to cushion the
impact if that MIGHT happen. Where will it end?

 

none-<< mandatory helmet rules are NOT the way to go. The big boys won't wear them if they don't
want too, plain and simple .

They do in Belgium...all of them...and they don't whine, they will in Italy or they won't
race..pretty simple.

They may not help in a fall but they will never hurt you. In RACING, I think it's a good idea.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

"NobodyMan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> I suppose that if a spectator at the Tour is killed in July, when, while watching a mountain
> descent, the are hit by a rider, then all riders will have to wear big puffy suits to cushion the
> impact if that MIGHT happen. Where will it end?
>

Then why aren't they requiring big puffy bumpers on the race support vehicles?

http://www.velonews.com/race/tour2002/articles/2719.0.html

Young spectator killed at Tour

By VeloNews Interactive wire services Copyright AFP2002

This report filed July 17, 2002

A seven-year-old boy died Wednesday after being hit by a vehicle that was part of the advertising
caravan of the Tour de France, emergency workers said.

The accident took place 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) into the Tour's 10th stage, a 147-kilometer ride
from Bazas to Pau, at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains in southwestern France.

The boy, who was a native of the region, was trying to cross the road in Le Poteau, near the town of
Retjons, when the accident occurred. His grandmother was waiting on the other side.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the boy had run away from his grandfather, police said.

A helicopter came to take the child to hospital in Bordeaux, but he died soon after emergency
workers arrived at the scene and before he could be airlifted, they said.

A witness told AFP the Tour de France car was traveling at a "very moderate" speed when it hit
the child.

The road was wide at the spot where the child was hit, and there were few spectators in the area.

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, on an official visit to the eastern city of Nancy,
expressed his condolences to the boy's family and said the tragedy "forces us to think about the
fundamental issue of safety."

A similar accident occurred during the Tour de France two years ago, when a 12-year-old boy
was killed.

 

NobodyMan wrote:
>
> Hockey has had ONE death in the US related to being struck by a puck - and the impact didn't kill
> the person; it caused a sequence of events that caused a pre-existing medical condition to
> exacerbate and kill her. Tragic of course. The response: NETS AROUND ALL END ZONES!
>
From http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/19/national/main504086.shtml :

A coroner said Wednesday the 13-year-old girl died as a result of damage to an artery when her head
snapped back.

The artery, which runs from the spine into the back of the brain, was damaged, leading to a "vicious
cycle" of clotting in the artery and swelling of the brain, said Franklin County Coroner Brad Lewis,
who performed the autopsy.

"Initially the damage was not significant enough to cause her any problems," Lewis said. "But over
the ensuing 48 hours the damage progressed.

"The puck struck her in the forehead, causing a skull fracture and some bruising of the brain in the
area. But that wasn't what led to her death. It was the snapping back of the head and the damage to
that artery."

So what preexisting medical condition was it that she died from? Fragile arteries?

 

NobodyMan <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> The big boys won't wear them if they don't want too, plain and simple.

Only if they have puny monetary penalties. Start taking their UCI points away, forefitting
invitations to major races, and suspended for a while, and you'll see whether they wear them or not.

Personally, I see no reason not to mandate that for racers. It is a bit more secure, sets a good
example for non-racers, and it evens out the field.