Chile: a 'no helmet-law' country

(Photos: Georgie Abbott, San Pedro de Atacama)


A peep at other countries quickly reveals that in terms of making the everyday activity of using a bicycle an extreme event, Australia is pretty much unique.

In fact I think we could pretty much take it as a given that if asked about their bicycles most nations would, at worst, not consider them at all, and, at best, consider them:

✌ humdrum,
✌ kinda useful,
&
✌ certainly safe enough not to require protective head gear Australian governments' compel Australians to wear

Oh yawn, Australia...WHY ARE WE SO BLOODY BORING?!

"Intimidation & prosecutorial overreach"

(Images: Carlos Latuff, 'Remember #AaronSwartz [1986-2013])


Unbelievably sad

'Anything you can do, helmets can do better'

"Where's your helmet? Don't you like your brain?"

No kidding!!!...

...in a dinky-di australian accent, this was called out to me yesterday on the Dave Murray Dowhnhill!!

- did I know them?

- did they know me?

WEIRD!

2013 & New Year's Resolutions: give up 'Necessity'

(Photos: Pip Abbott, 'On your bikes! - Neri & BN2)


Next time I get booked (if I ever get booked again because no kidding I'm starting to feel there's an UNWANTED poster of me in NSW police stations!), I'm ditching 'necessity' and am going to try my luck with 'self-defence.'

All things considered, I genuinely believe that the NSW government's regulation 256 imperils me by compelling me to wear a helmet. That helmets do 'anything' protective apart from protecting you from fines is 'anything' but conclusive , and certain traffic incidents reveal that helmeted cyclists die from closed head injuries (ie no fracture to their skulls but damage within their brains including diffuse axonal injury). Governments would be well aware that research literature describes diffuse axonal injury (DAI) as the commonest cause of death from head injury in road accidents and acknowledges DAI as the cause of chronic intellectual impairment.

So in the (unlikely) event that I do get booked again, I intend to raise section 418 of the Crimes Act and see how I go - and yes I know, I know, before you all start quoting Burgess & Saunders to me, I'm well aware that the nexus may be deemed not close enough...but let's just see...because after all we all know that the Crown bears the onus of proving that I did not act in self-defence rather than me actually having to prove that I did...

...and from what I can gather, they would have to establish that I did not believe on reasonable grounds that it was necessary in self-defence to ride a bicycle without a helmet. So they can either establish that:

(1) I had no such belief

or

(2) there were no reasonable grounds for my belief.

If they end up failing to establish (1) or (2), I would then be entitled to be acquitted of any would-be-future bicycle helmet crime charges - YAY...in anticipation...

...although here in Australia pigs will be flying before that ever happens!

Anti-hunting anti-helmet law campaigner - that's me!

(Images: Alan Moir, Sydney Morning Herald)


On the few occasions I've done a blog-post concerning my distaste for hunting in National Parks, without fail the shooting/fishing fan club immediately leaves a Pollyanna-scold to the effect that I have a great blog when I stay on message, but that I oughtn't to stray into the wilderness of other campaign areas, and that if I do the world will see me as a 'contrarian' - oooooooh - tra la, what measured menace, how awfully scary!

But as I pointed out to interminable 'Anonymous' the other day, this is Australia and contrary to the opinion of pro-hunting anons, I am free to mix up my messages as much as I like, whenever I like, and how I like.

...and with regards to the content of my blog which was clearly perturbing Anon, 90% of the time ‘matters-helmet-law' are the order of the day, but because I'm a regular aussie mum with a tonne of other stuff happening all at once like so many of us, inevitably on occasions I happily deviate and vary my conversation !

I continued informing dear old Anon that back in the day I started this blog as an e-diary (a) to give my family a break from my all-consuming involvement with the senslessness of helmet law and (b) to give me a communicating platform so that I wasn’t muffled to bursting point.

So sorry to all the trigger-happy anonymous' out there, I'm going to continue with my mixed up messages; I am VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED TO HUNTING - ANYWEHRE - ANYTIME - BY ANYONE – period...

...also;

- that the O'Farrell government has passed legislation allowing ‘gun’ and ‘bow & arrow’ touting hooligans into our precious National Parks come March 2013 is beyond the pale and worth screaming from NSW roof-tops.

- that the O’Farrell government has done this to appease an extremely minute minority party in a bid to get government electricity plans through the upper house is both cynical and expedient (…and will come back to bite them for sure)

It is salutary to think that while America frantically looks for ways to reduce the number of guns in cirulation, we throw open our picnic spots and camping grounds to anyone licenced to kill...shame, Barry O'Farrell, shame.

'Tis the season to go hunting, fa la la la laaaaa la la la laaaah

Why should we have to wear helmets when sitting on NSW bicycles on NSW roads when we don't have to wear flak jackets when sitting on NSW picnic rugs in NSW National Parks?????

Nothwithstanding the stark warning from its very own Office of Environment and Heritage of...

'a major risk to the public when recreational shooting begins in March' and that 'the risk of death or serious injury was high as well as the potential for the 34 million annual visitors to decline due to concern at safety in parks from bullets and also from arrows shot by bow hunters'

...this government still plans to go ahead with its recreational rambo policies (and most probably to leave bicycle helmet law in place...sigh).

It is utterly outrageous that unless otherwise decided, state-sanctioned-'hunger-games' will be coming to National Parks near all of us very soon...

...god (or whoever we all praise/ignore) help us!

Je suis une bébé de Noël!

...and I was totally unprepared for my 'baby-announcement' card enclosed in the birthday card from my godmother yesterday...



Suddnely fifty three years just melted away, and here I was reading my long since dead father's handwriting so proudly announcing the birth of their first child to their dearest darling friend...



...and with one fell swoop this unexpected glimpse of my very young parents and their irrepressible joy was tinged with raw emotion that my father ended up having so little time on this planet, and that my mother remains in mourning in her own muddled world, and that my godmother steadfastly shares the memories when the memories need sharing, and that this funny little card with it's 'second' arrival was able to transport the adult-me to the youthful world of my elders as they marvelled over baby-me...

...and coupled with that same fell swoop was the revelation that I'd been spelling my name wrong over all these years - it would appear my 'elisabeth' is sans 'z' - who knew?...not me!