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ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

While talking with his chief advisor, the Baron noticed that more and more people were riding bicycles around Lilliland. There were even several stores that rented bicycles to tourists. The tourists liked to go sightseeing on their bicycles.

However, the Baron noticed that there were reports of a large number of bicycle accidents. Upon further investigation, the cause of the accidents involved a problem with the bicycle chain that drives the bicycle forward and stops the bicycle when it is needed. When the chain breaks, the bicycle does not work and represents a very serious hazard to the rider and the people nearby. The bicycle chain that breaks all too easily is the cause of the accidents.

The manufacturer was called to investigate all these accidents. At first, the manufacturer stood by his chain and tried to blame the accidents on careless riders. But the evidence was too great and the manufacturer was not allowed to sell his bicycles in Lilliland until they passed normal safety tests.

The Baron felt that he had gotten nowhere with the manufacturer and decided to go one step further. If the manufacturer would not stand behind the safety of his product, then a special requirement had to be passed. Henceforth, all bicycles that were sold in Lilliland had to have two forms of brakes, the standard pedal and a hand brake on the handlebars.

The manufacturer objected that it would cost too much money and they could not make one bicycle just for Lilliland. But when other countries heard of the idea of two independent breaking systems, it became very popular. Some of the mountain bike trails were very steep and somewhat dangerous and good brakes were vital for safety’s sake.

The Baron spoke with the Professor about whey the manufacturer was so reluctant to make his bicycles safer. The Professor surmised that it was the old profit motive. “Make it cheap and fast and don’t care much about anything else.”

The profit motive was important, the Baron agreed, but the safety issue was the most important of all. Since mostly all children save their money for a bicycle, it must be manufactured to be very safe.