• pc486@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    Being dark isn’t a choice. People, dogs, cats, birds, etc are born that way.

    Even clothing sometimes isn’t a choice. It’s pretty common in work attire to require black shoes and slacks. Formal attire also leans dark.

    • blitzen@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      Formal wear doesn’t include helmets, yet we still expect people to put on a helmet if they get on a bike.

      • hector@lemmy.today
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        1 day ago

        We are talking about walking, its the default method of moving. You are suggesting people need safety gear to be able to walk down the street. The police can give you a ticket for not wearing your safety walking gear? Is walking on the street a privellage not a right?

        Don’t worry, they will privatize the roads after elections are fixed, and they will make walking a crime.

      • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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        2 days ago

        We shouldn’t though. The responsibility should fall on those who create the danger to manage it responsibly.

        I do wear a helmet but if someone chooses not to that’s their business and it’s not their fault if someone else injures or kills them any more than it would be if you failed to wear body armor while walking in a dangerous neighborhood.

        • grue@lemmy.worldM
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          2 days ago

          I wear a helmet while biking. It’s saved me from a head injury once so far, in an accident that had nothing to do with being hit by a car.

          I don’t think it should be legally required, though, because avoiding discouraging people from cycling at all is more important for safety and health in aggregate.

          (I was riding along at relatively low speed, looking up at some scenery, and hit the longitudinal edge of a cockeyed metal plate in the road in just the wrong way such that it pushed my wheel sideways and made me fall over.)

          • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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            2 days ago

            Yeah I support helmet wearing. I just don’t think we should blame people for bad things that other people do to them just because they chose not to.

        • blitzen@lemmy.ca
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          2 days ago

          Comes down to if you want to assign blame or prevent it from happening to you.

          Yes, if you’re riding without a helmet and hit by a car, the car is (probably) still at fault. But if your primary concern is avoiding brain damage, you wear a helmet.

          You’ve chosen hyperbole in your hypothetical in a dangerous neighborhood. More to the point is wearing an expensive watch while in a dangerous neighborhood. If you’re rolled and the watch stolen, it’s the fault of the thief. But maybe a better idea to put the Rolex in your pocket when downtown after dark.

          • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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            2 days ago

            I think my analogy is way more similar than yours.

            Make your own decisions about how you keep yourself safe. But once you start victim blaming, expect criticism.

            • blitzen@lemmy.ca
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              2 days ago

              Nope. We’re talking basic common sense precautions. Not “body armor.”

              • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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                2 days ago

                “Common sense” stems from the cultural context. Which in this case is carbrained.

                Most other countries do not consider a helmet a necessity for riding a bike.

                • blitzen@lemmy.ca
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                  2 days ago

                  I ride exclusively on bike trails, away from any cars. Other countries are wrong on this one.

      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Most places with functional, safe bike lanes will have most people riding without helmets because accidents are quite rare.

      • sthetic@lemmy.ca
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        23 hours ago

        Even if safety reflectors become widely adopted- let’s suppose that workers leaving the office at 5pm put one on, clubbers at midnight have them, whatever - then won’t motorists come to expect to see them? And if they hit someone, people might say, “Well, she wasn’t wearing safety reflectors - what do you expect?”