Remember kids... always wear a helmet. (The almighty bikeradar helmet thread)

Another fine post ed, but you've missed my point.
Is it obvious to you that the commuter in the foreground is a female cyclist?

If it is, well done, but how obvious do you think it is for the buses overtaking from behind?

But no your right, the two women in your picture with shopping bags and long hair clearly makes your point.

Of course you can't tell they're female, because of the amount of equipment they're wearing, that is my point, you'd notice if it is a female if she's not wearing a helmet and/or let her hair down.

So girls.. when you ride home tonight, don't worry about the traffic. Every single car is going to give you a wide berth. Edscoble said so.

Making assumptions based on these sorts of surveys is naive.

I never assumed that, obviously you shouldn't assumed that every car will give you a wide berth, it's just an interesting study about helmets/nodder usage, it also did make a difference.

Like me with my messenger bag that have "DEAF" written in bold helvetica, it make a difference as vehicle now give me a wider berth, However I don't rely on my bag for my safety, I'll still ride with caution as if I'm not wearing that bag, it's nicer to have more vehicle not passing me with inches to spare as frequency as before.