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E-bike riders aren’t wearing helmets — and head trauma cases are through the roof
(www.tomsguide.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2024
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micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility
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"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.
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Wonder how many of those injuries are on rentals? Veo rental e-bikes are very prevalent around these parts. Have never seen anyone riding them with a helmet. If you own an e-bike and don't wear one, that's on you. But rental ones don't even have a way to provide you with one.
OTOH, most rental e-scooters have a helmet carrier box on the back. It unlocks when you go to pick one up with the app.
It's probably door dash, uber eats, etc. - our city is quite swarming with "gig economy" riders who have standardised on relatively high speed electric bikes.
The combination of time pressure and the variety of places where they need to ride (busy pedestrianised city centre areas, park paths, roads with cars) probably doesn't help the safety.
They are also out riding way more hours each day than someone commuting or on rental bikes.
no it's not. nobody delivers by bike in my city, it's all cars.
ebikes are all office job commuters.
I see tons of ebike couriers in various cities across North America in the last year or two.
DoorDash has partner programs with multiple ebike companies. https://dirwinbike.partners/ https://getwhizz.com/doordash/
We have rental e-scooters around here that come with helmets mounted to the stem for the rider.
I'd say that maybe 1 out of 10 wear the helmet. And you can't imagine how many riders, who have no control over the damn scooter, aren't wearing a helmet.
If someone wants a brain injury, that's fine. But they are burdening anyone and everyone who relies on them and/or has to care for them.
And for what? Laziness? Convenience? Self-hate?
Any idea how they prevent lice or such? When I was growing up in the 90s it was all the rave to scare kids to not share hats or try on hats you weren't purchasing. Is that no longer a thing, I haven't heard about it in years?
That said I face planted off a bicycle a few days ago without a helmet going maybe 10 mph, I'm sure my nose would have appreciated a facemask. (Wore one on my motorcycle back in the day, even though it isn't strictly required where I lived)
You'd have to contact the company offering the shared bike/scooter, as they may have their own specific schedule for cleaning helmets and such. I do believe that the helmets would be cleaned or replaced at least once a day, as our rental e-scooters don't charge on a dock and need frequent charging.
But I think the risk of catching lice from a helmet from a ride-share would be minimal.
Firstly, because lice tends to be more common in kids, and kids don't use these devices, the risk is already near zero.
Then you have to consider that lice don't spread easily in an environment like a bike helmet, especially not one that's being cleaned daily. In other words, they tend to pass between people through direct contact with hair.
Now, if you are concerned, a simple disposable hair cap (i.e. shower cap) would offer you additional protection. Or, if you're a frequent rider, have your own helmet👌
Thanks for the response : ). Disposable sounds a bit troublesome so maybe a machine washable one where the dryer can kill them? Have to see what temp they die at. I have found asking honest questions about such here garners doubters sometimes and people think I am asking with bad intentions. I appreciate you spending the time to give your thoughts.
For those that don't know as well, there are 2 types of helmet safety rating systems(?) in the U.S. one was Snell and the other DOT if I remember correctly. When purchasing a helmet for collisions remember to make sure it is safe.
Also, if a helmet is dropped it can cause it to not be AS effective. Still better than no helmet, but if you get in an accident thank you helmet for its service and look into investing in a new one.
Edited: DOT was mistyped
Yes, you probably could. But if convenience gets someone to wear a helmet, I'd want them to use a disposable cap if that makes it easy.
I may be wrong, but I think any major brand that sells helmets in North America needs to have them safety approved. But that said, you can get even safer helmets which feature things like MIPS.
comfort and cleanliness
nobody wants to wear stinky nasty rental helmet that fits like crap and ruins your hair.
Shower cap. Problem solved.
I mean, isn't it the same concern when you rent a go-kart, go skydiving, go zip lining, play on a team sport without your own equipment, etc.?
These helmets are cleaned quite often. Far more than what most people do with their own helmets. I'd argue that they are cleaner than most of the helmets people wear on a regular basis.
I see rentals zooming around on my bike commute. No helmet, wrong side of the road, etc all the time