"Btw I grew up riding my bike all over town in the suburbs and a fair bit at college in a small city, and NEVER wore a helmet. Only started when I moved somewhere it's legally required and became a parent."

"I hate wearing a bike helmet. But I do. Because I've got a family depending on me. And I'm haunted by Michael Schumacher surviving years of helmeted 200mph F1 racing only to be stricken by a brain injury from falling over and hitting his head on a rock. If I saw convincing evidence that it doesn't make me personally safer, I'd ditch it in a second. But I'm not bent out of shape by other people making different choices."

"On the need to out-accelerate cars at intersections - that's from a standing start when the light turns green. It feels less dangerous to get across the un-striped intersection and into the marked bike lane before you've got cars driving next to you. The high torque of electric motors (and light weight of bike vs car) means that ebikes can launch quite fast when the light turns green. Especially compared to those first few seconds pedaling away from a stop. Unless you're mega-fit, it takes several cranks to come up to a decent speed. By then the first several cars have already passed you."