The on-ramp before this is Newton Corner which is a genuinely confusing set of ramps and loops, although you should realize you made a mistake before you get this far.

Nope

By John Costello on Sat, 01/28/2023 - 2:58pm.

This person got on at Cambridge Street in Allston.

That is Nickerson Field on your right.

Newton Corner isn't confusing at all.

Newton Corner is very confusing

By Ron Newman on Sat, 01/28/2023 - 4:26pm.

but I've never, ever, even started to accidentally ride onto a Turnpike on-ramp there, or anywhere else. On a bike, you're usually going slowly enough to avoid or correct such mistakes.

Newton Corner is extremely confusing

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 01/28/2023 - 5:41pm.

But that doesn't mean that someone on a bike can't exercise a bit of situational awareness and realize that they are headed onto an interstate.

Moot comment, however. This isn't Newton Corner.

It would be interesting to see how many official federally-compliant signs he had to pass to get there - but I doubt that our resident tailpipe huffing truck enablers would bother to think about that.

You're kidding, right?

By U-Hub-Fan on Sat, 01/28/2023 - 8:39pm.

Newton Corner is confusion incarnate.

Newton Corner

By Scratchie on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 12:39pm.

Newton Corner isn't confusing at all.

You, sir, are an idiot.

To give him some credit.

By Lee on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 12:44pm.

He might be the idiot savant of highway exits.
Or has never been there. That’s my guess.

"What's so difficult about it

By Scratchie on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 12:55pm.

"What's so difficult about it? It's just a corner! It's right there in the name! How complicated can that be?"

Ha

By John Costello on Thu, 02/02/2023 - 9:53am.

Once again, Pee Wee has proved his cognitive abilities. If you can't figure out Newton Corner, well, actually, with your simple minded comments, I understand why it is so complicated for you.

Must've taken a wrong turn

By Tim Mc. on Sat, 01/28/2023 - 2:24pm.

at Albuquerque.

An OUI offender left with no

By anon on Sat, 01/28/2023 - 4:25pm.

An OUI offender left with no choice.

Wait ...

By SwirlyGrrl on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 8:46am.

Didn't you recently post that all cyclists were upper income men?

Make up your mind!

Blue Bike riders

By Waquiot on Sat, 01/28/2023 - 9:50pm.

Are the Zip Car drivers of cycling.

And yes, I use Blue Bikes, because the Orange Line is my subway line.

New bike lane on the Turnpike

By Chris77 on Sun, 01/29/2023 - 10:03am.

New bike lane on the Turnpike, Mayor Wu celebrates.

Riding a bicycle on the

By Don't Panic on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 1:28am.

Riding a bicycle on the Massachusetts Turnpike is a $100 dollar fine. No fine for the no helmet but why would you ride on the turnpike without one?

The reason? You're trying

By Constance Hirsch on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 8:45am.

The reason? You're trying for a Darwin Award.

FTFY

By SwirlyGrrl on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 8:48am.

but why would you ride on the turnpike ~~without one~~

I’ve never attempted to ride a bike ….

By Lee on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 9:31am.

… on the turnpike. But why would I bother with a good luck trinket like a helmet? At the speeds drivers speed at, a helmet would crush as easily as a skull. No other body parts like spines are protected.
Plus, studies show drivers drive closer and riskier when near cyclists are wearing helmets. Assumption of safety and dehumanization effects are some of the reasons they do.
Research has shown that wearing helmets in motor vehicles adds useful protection so I should wonder why I don’t wear one when in a car.

Watch what you say

By BostonDog on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 10:45am.

A helmet has saved my life. They have saved the life of many of my friends who are lifelong cyclists. Even if the chance of needing a helmet is 0.001% on any one bike ride, over time the odds add up.

Sure, a helmet isn't going to do much if you're struck by a car at highway speeds. But there are other risks of riding a bike (something catching the front wheel, mechanical failure, etc) in which a helmet can be the difference between life and death.

And if a car pulls out in front of a cyclist, or opens a door on them, etc a helmet might be a deciding factor in how injured the rider ends up being.

I don't care if other people wear helmets but please don't spread harmful misinformation about them using useless. They aren't. They are cheap insurance and they absolutely work.

(There's the separate topic of people claiming any cyclist without a helmet is reckless and guilty for their injuries even if struck by a car. That's also a harmful lie.)

My info is valid.

By Lee on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 11:48am.

Based on statistics.
Anyone can do the research and decide for themselves if they’re wear a helmet on the Mass Pike in a car or on a bike. They don’t need you or I telling them what to do.

I don’t need you telling me what my opinions should be either or that I should watch what I say. Back off.

I usually agree with much of what you say and appreciate what you add to discussions but your occasionally overbearing style isn’t cool.

I take this one very seriously

By BostonDog on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 12:25pm.

You mocked helmets and implied they are useless. It's your right to not wear one but I'm absolutely going to push back on the BS suggestion they are useless.

There is one (questionable) study that shows drivers give less room when they pass someone wearing a helmet. But even if that's true, a majority of car/bike collisions happen at intersections, not when a car is overtaking someone from behind. Cars hit bikes because the car driver wasn't paying attention! (I fear the people who don't see me, not the ones who do see me and don't move over because I'm wearing a helmet.)

And helmets are useful for all the accidents that don't involve a car. A dog running in front of the bike, a bad pothole, a mechanical failure, etc are common causes of a cyclist going down. When a helmet saved me a car wasn't involved.

There are countless studies showing how helmets have saved lives. There is absolutely no credible studies which show a helmet causes injuries.

If you don't want to wear one, that's your call. But don't say they are useless or people are safer without them.

There are actually 4 studies.

By Lee on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 1:00pm.

Since you are throwing out your anecdotal evidence I’ll toss mine in.
I know from several decades of riding a bike in Boston that drivers do react very differently to when when I’ve worn a helmet.
I could also give you anecdotal evidence of a doctor treating an injury sustained in a speeding cyclist on cyclist crash who ascertained that not only could the injury not have been prevented by a helmet, that in fact if the injurer had been wearing wearing one, the injury they caused would have been worse.

I’m not wasting more time on this old issue. I guess the helmet war still simmers under the surface with some fanatics.

Again, I’ll say what I want. Adam is the only one who can delete comments, as far as I know.
Keep bombasting away till the SUVs head home on Boston cow paths. I won’t stand in your close minded entitled way.

Do what you want

By BostonDog on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 1:22pm.

If your idea of bike safety is not wearing a helmet and expecting car drivers to notice and be less aggressive or reckless, I respect your faith.

Now you tell me what I think. Lol!

By Lee on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 1:30pm.

You funny.

In addition, the most common

By anon on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 9:48pm.

In addition, the most common cause of cyclist injuries is road hazards such as potholes. So it really doesn't matter that a helmet won't save you if a truck runs over your head.

This is where appropriate speed …

By Lee on Wed, 02/01/2023 - 11:35am.

… and type of bike, upright, hybrid, racer, for terrain and road congestion factor in.
Stats and studies address these as well.

"Based on statistics"

By GrooPunk on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 12:32pm.

Interesting that you didn't provide those statistics of injuries to bikers wearing a bike helmet after getting hit by at-speed vehicles on the Mass Pike.

Did you forget the link?

It could save the bicyclist

By Don't Panic on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 11:17pm.

It could save the bicyclist from a fractured skull.

Getting bumped or hit by a highway speed vehicle will not automatically fold up a bicycle like a crumpled piece of paper. Really, bikes don't do that. What's more likely to happen is the bicyclist will be thrown from his bike and hit his head on the pavement plus pick up an incredible case of road rash. The bike would be trashed but the helmet just might save the riders life

If I were audacious enough to ride a bicycle on the Turnpike I would definitely wear a helmet. It's very dangerous and illegal.

Personally though, if I were to go bike riding again I wouldn't wear a helmet. Decades of experience riding without one don't you know. ;)

It’s kind of a moot point.

By Lee on Tue, 01/31/2023 - 9:56am.

Who is actually planning to ride their bike on the Mass Pike? And if anyone is, what are their reasons for wearing or not wearing a helmet?

There are many situations where helmet manufacturers would like to see people wearing helmets. People with balance issues sometimes do wear them in daily life. Sports players where them. Though look how much or how little they protect football players. Some drivers and their passengers also wear them. Stats show you are more likely to sustain a head injury in the shower, on stairs or walking in a crosswalk with the light than on a bicycle. But does anyone other than severely mobility challenged people do that?

Fortunately for the US and other countries, it remains mostly a personal choice. Unlike places like Australia where draconian laws have reduced cycling, put people back in cars and thus adversely affect public health and in the end, show no reduction in cycling related injuries.

Pike bike

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