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Monday, January 16, 2012

Bicycle helmet laws reveal systemically incompetent law-making


Sometimes I feel like the 'boy who cried wolf' only in my case there is a 'wolf' and the village isn't listening.

Democracy 101 leads us to believe that the raison d'ĂȘtre of politicians is to protect their electorate. Yet even though the provisions of Regulation 256 have been shown to be flawed, confusing and contradictory, our legislators/regulators refuse to turn their minds to the evidence & truth of bicycle helmet laws - thus in effect they have totally failed in the operation of their 'raison d'ĂȘtre'.

...and not to be outdone, the Australian media are equally blinkered by their training and corporate bosses, and consequently refuse 'to turn their minds to evidence & truth' too. It is a disgrace that the NSW government cannot be bothered to do proper investigations as to the necessity of bicycle helmet law, and that their miserable failure record in terms of facilitating alternative transport remains unaccountable. It is equally a disgrace that our media are so apathetic & continue to studiously gaze any which way but that of the issues.

There are so many protagonists in this lucidrous drama, & so many that aid and abet the unnecessary requirements of bicycle helmet laws - obviously much is to be gained commercially from insisting upon this particualr headwear apparel.

Who, I plaintively ask, are we supposed to turn to?

7 comments:

  1. I think you should add "only the village is more concerned that the wolf isn't wearing a reflective vest than to the fact its intentions are to eat everyone" to your first sentence!

    Regards, Jason (formerly of Tassie) :)

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  2. Indeed!

    The sole purpose of helmet laws would appear to be to make vast profits for the manufacturers, with no improvement in the safety of cyclists, whilst the media puts a telescope to its Nelson eye.

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    1. "The sole purpose of helmet laws would appear to be to make vast profits for the manufacturers . . ."

      If only, but I'm afraid the real problem is inherent in the structure of the culture of those who, in one way or another, see themselves as part of a higher class.

      i.e., it's a matter of herd management.

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    2. ...dark stuff - how are we going to rid ourselves of 'herd management' masquerading as current helmet nonsense?

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    3. The solution is as simple as mass noncompliance, but simple is not always easy.

      The fundamental principle of herd management is that the herd largely herds itself. The herder simply lets the herd know what the rules are and then he can devote his energy only to managing those few that "cause trouble" anyway. Those can be used as an example for the rest, reinforcing the self herding impetus. Every good dog understands this.

      Cats can't be herded because they fundamentally lack the social instincts that enforce "consensus" behavior in a group. The little fur balls have no shame and so every damned one of them is a trouble maker. Each cat requires the full attention of, at minimum, a dedicated chaser and most of them will manage to get clean away anyway.

      Herders speak a Control Language which itself contains embedded Power Words. It helps to learn and understand that Control Language and how the Power Words are used. That mitigates their effectiveness.

      Back in the day that power language was Latin.
      Now it is Statistics.

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    4. OK so I'll archive the 'Latin' and brush-up on stats - OMG how dull will life be on a diet of 'stats'?

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