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The cobra effect
The cobra effect is where an attempted solution to a problem actually makes it worse. Its origins are briefly described here. In India, the government was concerned about the large number of venomous cobra snakes in the city. It set a bounty for dead cobra snakes. Some people responded by breeding cobra snakes as a way to earn income. Once…
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Trying to deny that the helmet law reduces cycling
Abstract Cycling was rising in Australia by 10% per year until the helmet law. Afterwards, it dropped by 30%. A government commissioned “study” has misrepresented a bicycle rally as a revival in cycling. blank Bicycle travel in Australia was increasing by 10% a year from 1986 to 1989, before the helmet law. After the helmet law, surveys showed cycling…
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Help restore cycling as a mode of transport
Cycling in Australia has significantly declined since the helmet law was imposed 20 years ago. Most casual cycling has disappeared. Fear, superstition, and ignorance, fueled by fearmongering campaigns like this one have scared most people off cycling. Many people have had enough of a counterproductive policy whose main result has been to reduce cycling, at the detriment of…
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Misguided doctors or marketing agents?
Abstract In the 1980′s, Bell, a helmet manufacturer, was keen to expand the market for bicycle helmets, its most profitable product. It approached the Snell foundation and offered funding for research on bicycle helmets. The Snell foundation chose avid helmet lobbyists to conduct this “research”. The helmet lobbyists initial “research” claimed that helmets reduce 85% of…
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My helmet saved my life!
Abstract After the helmet law, many cyclists insisted that their helmets had saved them. Yet cycling injuries tripled. Why? Because helmets increase the risk of accidents. What the data tells us Here are some stats on cycling death & serious injury for children in NSW, before and after the helmet law. Two years after the…
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Trying to deny that helmets can aggravate brain injury
Abstract Several studies have reported that bicycle helmets can increase rotational acceleration. Rotational acceleration is the primary cause of brain injury. The Australian government commissioned a study to defend its controversial helmet law. The study set up unrealistic conditions fostering low rotational acceleration. The study claims that helmets do not increase brain injury. This is deceitful.…