More on Crushed-Helmet Boy: Blaming the victim

Astonishingly, the excitable and earnest fellows at Cyclelicio.us are making a strong case against bike lanes, and blaming cyclists themselves for whatever may befall them on the biways of America. John Ardelli blames Crushed-Helmet Boy for an inability to "modulate" his front brakes and a native, delusional stupidity about what a bike lane is and does.

This was obviously an inexperienced cyclist traveling too fast for his experience level. The fact that he flipped himself over the handlebars suggests he didn't know how to modulate his front brake in an emergency stop and, if he was unable to stop in time, he should have executed a quick turn with the truck to avoid the collision instead of trying to stop, anyway. The cycle lane only made things worse by encouraging him to stay too far to the right.

I maintain, and I will always maintain, that there is only one way to increase the safety of cyclists on North America's roads: education.

Dude, take a deep breath. Accidents happen all the time. If they happened only to smart people obeying the laws and observing all niceties at all times, they wouldn't be called accidents. They'd be called "surreal unexplainable anomalies in an otherwise perfect world." Sorta like Spontaneous Human Combustion or leprachauns.

The fact of the matter is that this kid is now an international celebrity and testimonial for the utility of bike helmets. We're betting 5:1 that he ends up on Leno or Letterman before the week is out.

And a city with no bike lanes makes it a helluva lot easier for motorists to believe that bikes do not belong on paved roads--and more frighteningly, to behave that way.