I know it probably doesn’t exactly apply to unicyclists as cars generally give us several feet of room but this is an interesting read anyhow:
Whoa, deja vu.
Oops, that post is from a couple months ago I guess that’s why I didn’t see it. Still an interesting article especially for people who missed the first one.
Oh yeah, I know. It was just one of those things where it seemed kind of familiar, but at the same time, not really.
I’m still wearing a helmet though.
I saw the first thread and I have to disagree that it applies to unicycles.
With or without a helmet most every car gives me plenty of space. I think the risk of getting hurt due to traffic is higher on a bike though cause there are soooooo many rubber neckers with a uni.
I’ll wear my helmet. It protects me from more than just falls. Now that I sit higher on my 29 there is always a stray tree branch. Trees don’t yield. 
I have read the article before.
I have also experimented a little bit this winter. Not helmet/no helmet but bike/uni. I got hit twice riding my bike this winter but never got hit riding my uni in similar circumstances. I didn’t use any kind of measuring tool or anything but i found that cars passed approximately twice as far from me on my uni and even further if i was waving my hands in the air keeping my balance.
If you want more room on the road make it look like you will fall in-front of the next car to go by and they will give you a full lane. 
This doesn’t say what I meant it to say. :o
I meant that with or without a helmet cars give me plenty of room when I am on my uni. Also that rubberneckers probably cause more accidents looking at a uni than a bike.
I also like what saskatchewanian said about waving your hands. I gotta keep this in mind when I want a little more room. 
How can I trust results contrived by a researcher that specializes in traffic psychology and managed to get hit by a truck and a bus in the course of the experiment? I think this guy’s had at least two too many blows to the head.
I agree which is why i mostly ride on the footpath or empty carparks to avoid the dangers of being hit by a car/bus or truck. 
True. Bicycle results don’t translate directly to us unicyclists, at least as long as we remain rare, which should be for quite a while. However for me, though most cars give me plenty of space, not all do. Some people just drive like there’s nothing next to them, and others seem to deliberately drive close because they find it entertaining.
That is my experience from my commuting to work. The vast majority of drivers gave me plenty of room, but they’re not the ones you have to worry about. When I ride in different places, such as around Lake Tahoe, the drivers there seem much more attentive and reasonable. Of course this is a flat, straight road vs. a narrow, curvy, hilly road with no shoulder. Yes, on the Tahoe ride we have to share the lane with cars, so we all have to pay more attention…
I agree. I imagine if someone wanted to do a study they would probably find an increase in car accidents around unicyclists compared to bikes as some people get fixated and then rear-end accidents can happen.
More media
John Stossel picked up on the research article, too:
I guess it depends on how you’re using your uni, but the injuries I’ve seen would not have been affected by helmet use. Then again, most of the folks I know…well…we’re very beginner-esque and struggle hopping up steps and attempting to ride backward or even idle.
paranoia beats helmets
I wave at most cars that pass. Slow neighborhood mine. I wear wrist wraps, no helmut. Maybe one car a month cuts kinda close. Getting hit would suck so bad, even with a helmet.
I have ridden motorcycles for 30 years, with a full face helmet. On the uni, it’s so slow.
I feel safe with no helmet. I have such a strong fear of that one car in 10,000 that we all pass every few years. I’m kinda ready for that car…
I find my strike ratio of bikers with helmets surplusses the bkers without helmets 20:1
WHOA. 