| Bicycle Helmets Recalled by Specialized Due to Failing Helmet Standard
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. (To access color photos of the following recalled products, see CPSC's Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov.) Name of Product: Specialized Bicycle Helmets Units: About 3,000 Manufacturer: Specialized Bicycles, of Morgan Hill, Calif. Hazard: The helmets fail testing required under CPSC's safety standard for bicycle helmets. This can pose a head injury hazard to riders in a fall.
Vancouver city council enacts helmet law
Beginning in 30 days, all cyclists and skaters in Vancouver will have to strap on helmets or risk receiving a $50 ticket. The city council, by a 5-1 vote Monday, decided to require both juveniles and adults to wear helmets when riding bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, roller blades, scooters and unicycles on public streets, sidewalks and trails. Once the law takes effect, Vancouver will become the first city in Clark County to require helmets. Safety was the prime reason for the law. Councilwoman Jeanne Harris recounted how, more than 25 years ago, a bicyclist wearing a helmet smacked into her car and walked away. "I can’t tell you how it affected me that I could have hurt somebody," Harris said. "You can’t plan not to have an accident, and that is what’s this is about.
Retired music teacher making ‘dramatic’ recovery
A former Wausau orchestra teacher hates to miss his son direct the music for a theater production this week but has little choice while he continues to recover from a brain injury suffered in an Aug. 30 collision between his bike and a school bus. Chuck Olsen, 64, is a retired John Muir Middle School teacher who since has traveled the country six to eight months of the year, often on a bicycle. It was while biking with his wife, Pat, in northwestern Indiana that the life-altering crash happened as Chuck rode across a roadway on the Prairie-Duneland Trail and struck the passing bus.
The impact threw Olsen from the bike, shattering his helmet.
Family members from Wausau, Florida and Kentucky traveled to a hospital in Illinois within 20 hours of the crash.
'Bikeability:' Does the region have the right stuff?
Cyclists ride past the Roanoke River on Saturday, a spot growing in popularity with bikers, runners and walkers. The greenway is an asset as the League of American Bicyclists comes to Roanoke this week to check out how bicycle-friendly the area is. Related Want to ride? Roanoke-area cyclists with the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club will ride 30.5 miles today to show the region to visitors from the League of American Bicyclists. To ride, show up at the Hotel Roanoke at 1 p.m. A helmet is required, but a reservation is not. See the route at www.routeslip.com/routes/68872. A Bicycle-Friendly Community is one that scores high marks for: Bike lanes on streets, bike trails, bike parking and a bicycling master plan Easy access to information that teaches safety to motorists and riders of all ages Ample promotion of bicycling through events, signs and other support Enforcement of practices that keep riders and drivers safe Efforts to continually improve bikeability Drop the keys According to the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, 25 percent of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40 percent of trips are within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of workers commute five miles or less.
Tech Report: More from the SICI Symposium
Before moving on to less important matters, I'd like to acknowledge the passing on Monday of Sheldon Brown, one of the giants of bicycle maintenance, technology and general bicycle mechanical understanding. He will be sorely missed, particularly for those seeking simple, straightforward answers to a vast array of bicycle-related questions. His white bearded visage with eagle-adorned helmet has long been the online face of Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Massachusetts. .
|
