"ehsjr" wrote in message
...
Peter Hucker wrote:
On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:58:04 +0100, William Sommerwerck
wrote:


Do the eyelids not automatically close?

Yes -- right on the piece of solder.


Your reactions aren't up to scratch then. They're supposed to close
while the solder is flying towards you.


How do you figure that, without knowing the velocity
of the solder - or even whether one sees and reacts to
it?

And, as to the idea you posted that a bicycle rider can close
his eyelids fast enough - ridiculous. Even an occasional
rider can easily hit 40 mph or more downhill, the object
can be launched from a car's tire at high speed, a bug
may come from the side etc.

You have no way of knowing whether his - or your - reactions
are fast enough for the eyelids to protect from solder splatter
or airborne objects/bugs/whatever while bicycle riding, because
you don't have any data on the speed at which the object
approaches the eye or the distance it must travel or even
whether the conditions allow the eye to detect the approaching
object. Sheesh! Even people walking have gotten stuff in their
eyes, blown by a gust of wind or whatever.

Methinks we may be dealing with a troll here, but eye protection while
operating a vehicle, whether motorized or not, is important for maintaining
control as well as protection from eye injury. The eye rapidly repairs
corneal abrasions, and I have heard that it is the fastest-healing part of
the body. Here is an interesting link:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...70/ai_n6159408

You are probably going to be injured much more seriously by losing control
of your vehicle, rather than the direct result of a foreign object hitting
the eye. It may be unlikely that both eyes would be compromised at the same
time, but it could happen.

If you get steel slivers in your eye, you can use an eye magnet:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/200...magnet_tr.html

And, your government grant dollars at work:
http://www.1ad.army.mil/Safety/Visio...PROTECTION.pdf

More on eye safety:
http://www.eyehealthillinois.org/eyesafety/index.html

Paul