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Re: [RC] AERC Survey question on age requirements to ride - Diane Trefethen

Liz Dorner wrote:
I agree that the survey does not *accurately* reflect the collective's most prominent mentality if not all of the members take it. I don't use the word biased though, insinuating that the results have somehow been intentionally slanted to one favor or the other.
In statistics, the word "bias" no more means unfair than the word "square" in
mathematics means dorky. A biased sample in statistics is defined as "a statistical sample in which members of the statistical population are not equally likely to be chosen".


The majority of individuals polled happened to be in agreement that a
law should be instated mandating certain age requirements. Making a
comment that those results only reflect the opinions of the majority of
that 18% is fine. Pitching a fit that it's not fair...well...that's
something else. Not saying that anyone is pitching a fit.
My post wasn't meant to be for or against the issue. Logic, in my opinion, is a subject that SORELY needs teaching at the high school level. Waiting till college is a mistake. The need to apply reason and logic arises in everybody's life every day. We need to be able to absorb a set of information and not only be able to draw valid conclusions from that information but to be able to see through and correct those whose conclusions, using the same data, are faulty. When I speak of applying logic, I am not speaking about opinion. They say the definition of a horse race is "a difference of opinion". Each owner thinks his horse is faster and having a race settles the issue. Before the race, the issue of which horse is faster is a matter of opinion. Afterwards, the loser may continue to maintain that his horse is faster, but logic dictates otherwise. True, the losing horse might have felt poorly or gotten a bad start or stepped in a hole, all reasons for losing that don't include his actually being slower, but the bottom line is the horse lost and until there's a rematch in which he wins, holding the opinion that he is the FASTER horse is not logical.

To address the issue of whether or not we *should* adopt age restrictions....I'd like some more information before I cast a vote.
I assume you mean that unless there is data that "incidents have occurred involving" young riders, you feel there should be no change in the rules. I base this assumption on the fact that if you wanted a rule change regardless of whether or not there were any incidents, then you wouldn't have said you needed more information before you voted. I believe that most members feel the same way but that is JUST an opinion, no more supported by the results of the survey than the opinion that the majority of members favor age limits.

However, If you ask me to pass different legislation regarding juniors
required to wear helmets....abso-freakin'-lutely... Despite what I
believe, I won't vote to force adults to wear helmets. But juniors
..you bet.
Under AERC rules, a "Junior" is defined as a rider who was "under the age of 16 as of the first day of the ride season" and all Juniors, "sponsored or un-sponsored, must wear approved safety helmets". Juniors + helmets isn't an issue.

Logically, the big helmet debate will never be won because it isn't about being pro-helmet vs anti-helmet or pro-requiring them vs anti-requiring them, it's a mixture. LOL! They can't agree because they aren't arguing the same issue! Those anti-requiring helmets seem to think they are valuable, ie, they AGREE with the pro-helmet crowd, while those pro-helmet think that AERC shouldn't require adults to wear them so they AGREE with the anti-requiring helmet crowd So when one says, "let's just agree to disagree", what's really meant is "let's just agree to agree". <big grin>


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Replies
Re: [RC] AERC Survey question on age requirements to ride, Ibiteraaarr