After spending a lot of time away from Boston traveling in the fall I was greeted by a new road stencil upon my return to commuting by bike, check it out -
It used to be just the bike dude, who is wearing a helmet as far as I can tell, but now we have the "No Excuses" addition. I'm a fan of wearing a helmet so I did not need the encouragement, but it made me think about road responsibility. After riding over the stencil, I asked myself the question, "If the government is asking cyclists not to make excuses, why is the government not asking motor vehicle operators not to make excuses by painting fancy stencils on the roads that apply to them?" After all, close to 40,000 people per year in the U.S. are killed in motor vehicle accidents. One web site notes that there were 618 bicycle deaths in the U.S. in 2010, but my guess is that most of those were because of a collision with a motor vehicle.
Here are some of my suggestions for road stencils, to be accompanied by "No Excuses," for motor vehicle operators. Readers are encouraged to comment with their own ideas/thoughts.
An order of french fries
A cigarette
A giant mobile phone
A compact disc
A cup of coffee
How about the government quit worrying about what dangers I choose to subject myself to?
Posted by: ankle | 11/21/2012 at 08:49 AM
There's no excuses for motorists to forget the helmets either.
http://www.copenhagenize.com/search/label/helmets%20for%20motorists
Posted by: Hugo | 11/21/2012 at 10:00 AM
I like the cell phone idea, but have it inside the slashed circle.
Helmets should not be mandatory, most folks will still choose to wear them. Those who don't can take their chances, but insurance shouldn't cover someone who is injured when not wearing a helmet.
Posted by: SEAcommuter | 11/21/2012 at 11:39 AM
How about a big cell phone with a circle and line through it! So tired of jerks not paying attention to where they point their 10 ton weapons.
Posted by: Lin | 11/21/2012 at 11:39 AM
"but insurance shouldn't cover someone who is injured when not wearing a helmet."
...and the data showing that a styrofoam beanie protects cyclists is where??
Posted by: Adam | 11/21/2012 at 10:40 PM
I have to argue that the Government does do their bit for seatbelts. They might not put stencils on the road, but they do have safety signs at every rest area, those yellow message boards on overpasses, and of course, traffic citations.
Posted by: Fred | 11/22/2012 at 10:05 PM
No excuses. Look before you open your parked-car door. You might kill someone if you don't.
Also...
If you had a choice to be smacked over the head with a baseball bat - either with or without a bike helmet - which would you chose?
If you say you'd prefer having a helmet on in above situation, why would you not wear one when riding your bike?
Think about it...
Posted by: ___Danno | 11/25/2012 at 03:52 PM
In utopia, we could have folks not wearing a helmet when injured turned away at the hospital after injury, but this is not going to happen, so therefore, the conundrum...who pays for that (often/always uninsured) cyclists' injuries were they not wearing a helmet? You and Me.
Aside from what they left on the roadway after injury, I'd like the cyclist to have some skin in the game. Insisting they wear a helmet is a (irresponsibly) CHEAP copay. You choose to view it as nanny state, I call it reminding folks of their personal responsibility to the bill payers when they're patched back up.
And so begins another helmet thread....
Posted by: Leo Horishny | 11/27/2012 at 06:45 PM
Dammit. AN irresponsibly CHEAP copay....
I only reread it once before posting :-(
Posted by: Leo Horishny | 11/27/2012 at 06:46 PM
Danno,
I have thought about it........
And next time I pick a fight with someone wielding a baseball bat I am DEFINITELY going to wear a styrofoam hat.
As for cycling?
My London commute probably.
My Sunday country lane amble probably not.
It's all about personal responsibility and freedom of choice.
Posted by: Kevin Wilson | 11/28/2012 at 02:21 PM
Are you sure that stencil was a government project? It looks DIY to me.
Posted by: Kagi | 11/29/2012 at 01:02 PM
Kagi:
http://www.bphc.org/programs/cib/healthyhomescommunitysupports/injuryprevention/Pages/HelmetSafety.aspx
Posted by: Matt | 11/29/2012 at 01:16 PM
My guess is that this was not done by the government but a bike rider. Gov. Uses a different application for this type of stuff, maybe a local bike club did it.
Posted by: Johnjohn | 12/24/2012 at 09:56 AM
A car.
I think it's diy because it's so well done.... the govt sucks at stencils (see other example above. it's like, "where's your frame, dude?")
Posted by: MikeMega | 01/31/2013 at 07:06 AM