A Modified Peltzman Effect?

In response to my earlier post on the Peltzman Effect, "Grays on Trays" (i.e. John LaPlante aka Policy Guy) writes:

Ride a bike or motorcycle, and you'll find that it's hard to make a corner and stand upright if you're going very, very slowly.

You might think, on a snowboard, that the thing that a novice needs to do is to go very slowly, and on very flat ground.

Wrong! Both situations dispose a novice to the nasty experience that we call "catching an edge," which results in either a "butt plant" or a "face plant," a slam to the ground.

So how to avoid catching an edge AND deal with the fear of going too fast? That's where the protective gear comes in. It just may give the snowboarder the extra confidence required to travel a little bit faster, on a little steeper terrain, and thus enter a situation wherein the probability of catching an edge is REDUCED.

I probably have not explained this as well as I should have, but the phenomenon is real. I've lived it. Gear that in one situation might lead to excessive risk taking can lead to "risk taking" that is actually more prudent than the alternative.

Perhaps we can call it the GraysOnTrays (or LaPlante) effect, but the Peltzman Effect seems to be at play in some way shape or form: wearing safety equipment changes the behavior of people.  But in this case, the snowboarder is looser and more relaxed when padded up, leading to more safety rather than less. 

In my case, the PowerMom has remarked that I look stiff when I try to scoot around on my rollerblades.  I'm padded to the gills - although I could try the bubble wrap to protect the PowerBooty*.  Part of the stiffness is that I have chronic lower back pain.  Part is fear of getting hurt, I admit.  But how do I gain the confidence to loosen up**, short of wrapping myself in Sertas?

*I know I'd look ridiculous wearing bubble wrap.  But I'm 42 years old, married, and have two kids.  Who do I have to impress?

**My first job was working as a bus boy at Bishop's Cafeteria in downtown Sioux City.  We used trays to carry the dishes from the floor to the dishroom.  The trays had very short sides and it seemed that the piles of dishes would easily crash to the floor.  So I started out carrying the full trays very cautiously.  My boss told me to loosen up and he showed me how I could move when I was relaxed.  He took a tray full of dishes and spun around, shoving the tray of dishes back and forth.  Nothing budged.  I relaxed after that.

Comments

[Grays on Trays]

No need for Sertas or even bubblewrap. Try impact shorts, hockey pants, gear for BMX riders, and even lacrosse players, and you should find something that gives you the extra confidence required to be loose.

A few years ago I visited my brother, who took up not only skating but also hockey at age 35. We went to his ice rink. I did not have any gear with me, and being rather uncomfortable about the thought of knocking some body part onto the ice, I was very tensed up. I did not fall (good thing; I never was an ice skater), but it did not take long before I had a lot of muscle knots in my lower back. I would have been better off had I been able to engage in a more "risky" stride as a result of having some gear with and on me.