The Root Cause of Your North Carolina Bike Accident: What’s the “Reason Behind the Reason” That You Failed to Wear Head Protection?
In Part 1 of our discussion on the root cause of North Carolina bicycle accidents, we discussed some of the superficial reasons why some bikers fail to wear proper head protection, including:
• “I didn’t know that not wearing a helmet was dangerous.”
• “My helmet is ugly/uncomfortable/weird looking/confusing to put on.”
• “I didn’t want to look like a dork in front my friends.”
• “I just plum forgot.”
And as we discussed earlier in the week, most analysts consider these explanations to be root causes. However, this kind of analysis probably fails to expose certain fundamental beliefs or bad behaviors that may put you and others at risk in the future – risk not only for other North Carolina bike accidents, but also for accidents and injuries that have nothing to do with biking.
So, let’s drill down.
Let’s take one of the “excuses” – “I didn’t want to look like a dork in front my friends” – and unpack it. Why might someone say this? Let’s ask a theoretical daredevil 14-year-old boy why he is afraid of “looking like a dork” in front of his friends.
Theoretical 14-year-old: “Because dorks don’t have friends.”
Questioner: “So, you felt embarrassed at the thought of wearing your helmet because you have a strong need for acceptance and friendship.”
Theoretical 14-year-old: “Pretty much, yeah.”
Through this exercise, you expose that the 14-year-old has a compelling need to be accepted amongst his peers. This fundamental drive – to be accepted by his peers – is not necessarily good or bad. It’s just strong. And since it is strong, it has a potential to drive the 14-year-old to do other risky things that have nothing to do with helmet use.
The solution, therefore, should focus on encouraging the teenager to meet his needs for acceptance and friendship in ways that don’t violate your need (as a parent or caregiver) to protect him from harming himself or others.
Once you have this frame of mind, you can devise the appropriate strategies. These strategies would not necessarily work for a biker who said, “I don’t want to use my helmet because my helmet was too tight.” In that case, some very different fundamental feelings, needs, and root causes would have to be addressed.
For powerful insights into your case, connect with a competent North Carolina bike accident law firm.
More Web Resources:
Drilling down to find the root cause of an accident.
Building strategies around feelings and needs instead of around blame and punishment.
