Elephant Rider

Elephant Rider is a partnership for bike safety that has included informative events at Showtime Studio and Coffee, a display at the Eco Fair during the 2026 Saint Paul Classic Bike Tour and an exhibit at Now Bikes and Fitness in Arden Hills. It was inspired by a recent ER trip in which I found my helmet prevented significant injury.  It is also inspired by the fact that I know four people who have experienced permanent brain injuries from bicycle accidents. Elephant Rider wears a "NO MORE!" armband to remember bicyclists who have died due to unsafe driving (distracted, dooring, speeding, and/or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, etc.).  Elephant Rider is also a clever way to reuse many items that might otherwise wind up in the landfill.

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By placing the Elephant Rider at your event or in your bike shop for a week or two, we hope it will help us have conversations about helmets, increase community connection around the issue, increase helmet use, and significantly reduce bicyclist injuries and deaths.

 

Here's what we know:

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1. Just by wearing a helmet, you cut your chances of a brain injury by over 50%.

2. Injuries while riding e-bikes and e-scooters are rising.

3. Riders and walkers are less safe in the US than in other developed nations, and it is getting worse.

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It's time for us to turn the tide.  Let's do our part to make bike riding safer for us and the next generation.  Wear your helmet, and encourage others to wear theirs!

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​​​Why an Elephant Rider?

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One reason is that we need to talk about "the elephant in the room:" the fact that we need to wear our helmets, encourage others to do the same, and be defensive riders and drivers.  The other is that it can be a reminder about how hard it can be for us to change our behavior, even when it is in our best interest.  In their book Switch, Chip and Dan Heath offer the "Elephant and the Rider" as a metaphor for understanding persuasion and why lasting change is difficult for us. The Rider represents our conscious, rational prefrontal cortex (the "planner", the 1-5% we are aware of) and the Elephant represents our emotional, instinctual limbic system (the "doer", the 95-99% we are not aware of). Even though the Rider provides direction and planning, the massive Elephant brings its own motivation and behavior, often overpowering the Rider’s best made plans, requiring the Rider to construct a new narrative to explain the most recent action.

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We can bring about lasting change if we connect personally and emotionally on this issue and set achievable goals for ourselves.