What a bunch of wimps. Do you guys want people that smoke to sign releases, skydivers, mountain climbers, scuba divers, bunjee jumpers, people who smoke cigars, people who drive boats, people who use chain saws. Gimme a break.
Trim that lace off your drawers and live a little. Do you think you are going to die with a SE grin on your face because you lived a “safe” life?
Jeeeese, let me ride my bike responsibly, with my own insurance($500,000 U/M and $2 mill in health care limits- is that good enough? Do you wimps have such limits?????) I don’t want nor need your miserly tax dollars. Shove them, wimps.
What freedom do taxpayers have when they have to pay the bills? If this is a “freedom of choice” issue bikers without helmets should waive all taxpayer-supported treatment for themselves and all support for their families.
I’m with you GB. Or, if at the scene of the accident, the biker has head injuries, the highway patrol should just take the guy out of his misery like they do sick animals.
Couldn’t agree more. I feel the same way about motorists who don’t wear their seatbelts. The only good part of this is the natural selection process is back in play.
Bikers, open your wallets. I wonder why nobody is mentioning what this is going to do to the cost of Motorcycle Liability Insurance—especially Uninsured Motorists liability.
Do any of you have any statistics on non-fatal injuries to uninsured motorcyclist? What is the annual dollar burden difference between helmeted uninsured bikers vs. un-helmeted uninsured bikers? How do these numbers compare to uninsured motorists (cars)?
I always read the same responses to these articles.
I’m with you Ivy. As for Biker, your $2M med limit will only pay for a few years of horizontal dependency should you be unfortunate enough be paralyzed from smacking your thick skull on the concrete. Best of luck.
Okay, I’m not going to actually quote him, but the idiot saying that revoking the madate will lead to more people wearing helmets – just because they went through a class – is terrific. How much stupidity can you pack into one person.
They should have added that anybody choosing to ride without a helmet would forfeit all government assistance in the case of an accident and would forfeit any increase in recovery from the other party’s insurance above the 20th percentile required by bikers wearing a helmet. I’m just throwing out a number there, but it seems to me that paying the same amount as is paid for 80% of bikers with helmets is reasonable since they chose the extra risk.
I’m all for living life to the fullest, but you have to be ready to pay the piper yourself, not ask others to pay for you.
All of you who preach to us bikers about gov’t medical assistance and taxpayer burden are acting very narroww minded. First, I would never ride w/o a helmet myself, but I fully support an ADULTS right to do so. This is no more of a risk or “burden” on taxpayers than those who smoke, drink, use illegal drugs, drive w/o seatbelts..etc (the list could go on and on). The base of the arguement is it is NOT the gov’t’s job or mandate to control every aspect of your life and make every decision for you. Want to talk about being a taxpayer burden..look at how much of your tax dollars are wasted each year on “pork programs”. In 2001, the government buried $17 billion dollars for which there was no accountability. It was labeled “unreconciled transactions” and filed away. No one has any idea who spent the money or how. Good job, don’t you think? Think we could do that with our tax returns. RIGHT.
Don’t tell me how to live my life and what is dangerous for me and I won’t tell you to give up your high risk habits.
I’d support the same treatment that has been called for bikers riding without a helmet for others engaging in high-risk behaviors. They get to pay for the results. Government assistance should be very minimal and very difficult to get. People need to plan and take care of themselves.
So, we won’t ask anybody to avoid high risk behaviors and they won’t ask for any money.
And yes, government spending on pork needs to be eliminated.
I do support freedom of choice. In La when the temp is above 80+ a helmet causes heat related problems. Most of the time I will wear one by choice but if heat is a facor I have to et my head cool, Thanks Bobby for all efferts
Some people are just plan ignorant!!! Us bikers and our family and friends pay taxes just like all of you who CHOOSE not ride. Its our health and our lives not yours, so why in the hell do you care?
I’m very sorry that our politicans are to
do away with the helmet law for adults’ I
am a motorcycle rider as well and I think
I’m much safer with a helmet.Regardless
what’s the outcome of this law believe me
I and my passenger will contiune to wear our helmets and I hope that other motorcyclist do the same.
I am a passenger on the back of the bike w/ my husband. Even with the passage of this bill, WE will ride with helmets anytime we are on the open road. Short trips in town may be w/o a helmet but bad things do happen close to home also. I wish the bill would include the signing away of insurance coverage if injured while riding w/o a helmet, that way I know short or long trips, they would all be with a helmet!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I’ve read all these posts and all you guys who say “sign the release” are, for lack of a better word, idiots. Like “Biker” says, you drive w/o a seatbelt, sign here, surfing, sign here from shark attacks, etc. Should you make a law for them to wear “shark suits”? I say yes, only fair! After all, its for their protection and easing the taxpayers burden! The sign here list could go on and on. I ride, and I will ride with my helmet. Its a choice. I’ve been in a couple of bike accidents, and EVERYONE of them were the vehicles fault, not mine. AND I was glad to be wearing my helmet! They usually use the “I didn’t see the bike” excuse. Life is a risk, you jump in your car, seatbelt or not, sign here. Anything you do in life, from boat riding, to sky diving to any other high risk/extreme sport, buy your own insurance and sign here! That’s what you’re telling bikers to do!! Hmmm, it’s a little different now that you realize you do high risk things too. Ride that JetSki, helmet & lifejacket, or sign here! Just regular plain old boating, lifejacket, and YES, a helmet! OH, and no drinking while fishing…high risk! SIGN HERE!!!! Pump gas and talk on your cell phone…sign here, baby! It’s dangerous and a high risk! Changing radio stations while you drive…sign here sweetheart, you’re putting others at risk when you divert your attention from the road. It’s not just talking on the cell phone that is dangerous! See where this could all ultimately lead too?
All we, as bikers are saying is, it’s our life, let us live it, to make our own decisions and keep your laws off my head! I for one, will continue to wear my “brain bucket” and ride, ride, ride!
The way I see it is if you want to wear a helmet then wear it. Nobody is stopping you, but the biker lifestyle is to live free and we already live in a country where we have lost most of the freedoms that we had because we didnt stand up for them. What is it going to hurt you if i dont wear a helmet. I am a grown man and it is my choice. That helmet may save your life , but it is unlikely. That is the risk that you take when you clime up on that eagle. Soldiers are fighting for our freedom so that politicians can take them away, so instead of whining about your seatbelt,and b*tching about smoking in public, why dont you support the repeal of the laws that they are trying to give back to us.
First off I have very good medical and life insurance , second of all I don’t recall any of you other tax payers ever paying my medical bills and third of all most people that can afford a $20,000 can afford insurance and be allowed to decide if we want to wear a turtle shell on our heads if we want to , if you do want to wear one fine , I think you should also wear one while in your car also because you sound very afraid of living as much as you do of dying , let those who ride decide , thank you Govenor Jindal !!!
i personally will continue to wear a helmet but i cannot stand a law that tells me i got to for my own safety.i lost a freind wearing one of those novelty helmets is as good as nothing. but i still feel like dont tell me what to do for me for my safety.
I think the decision to wear a helmet is the biker’s choice and should not be a politician’s. As for me, i will ride with a helmet but i like having the choice.
Freedom to choose. As most motorcycle accidents are from auto drivers claiming “Oh, I didn’t see the bike” then let them pay medical cost. After all, isn’t it the same as saying, “I didn’t know the gun was loaded”.I do not like riding with a helment, and when I drive my car or bike, I do not dress in preparation to wreck. Good defensive driving regardless of what kind of vehicle you operate determines the outcome. Oh yes, did I mention the other guy!!!!!!
Laws put into effect should be instituted by the people of whom it affects and not by government. The government is of the people, by the people, and for the people…remember. When we get away from this, then we submit to communism or socialist rule. Isn’t this why we fought so many wars. When government rule against the will of the people, then we have no freedom. Mr. Champayne, you are paid by the people as a servant, not as a ruler. You have the right to ride with or without a helmet or not ride at all. Because you were elected or appointed, do not let your judgement interfere with our freedom.
I was raised in Blanchard, LA, but have lived in PA for over 40 years. I am a Biker with 7 motorcycles in my garage. I am a member and an officer in A.B.A.T.E. of PA. I don’t wear a helmet. When people ask me why they have to wear a seat belt if I don’t have to wear a helmet, I have the answer. Establish an organization, hire a lobbyist, spend 35 years, thousands of man hours and dollars, build relationships with Legislators in the State House, create repore with Governors, and earn the right for Freedom of Choice. ABATE did that, and in 2003, we Modified the law for Helmets in PA! Is seatbelts your complaint? I just gave you the answer.
I moved to South Louisiana about 8 years ago and sold both my bikes because of the mandatory helmet laws here. I have since purchased and built 3 more and hate the helmet that I am required to wear to enjoy the freedom that I fought and served this country for. I am very pleased and hopeful for the passage of this bill to GIVE ME(THE RIDER) THE CHOICE! Laws are designed to protect the individual from the masses, not to protect them from themselves. This said, I do not agree with the idea that riders should end up as “yards of the state” if they become injured while riding. I would not have a problem with a mandatory provision that requires each rider without a helmet to carry (and have proof) medical insurance with a $20K-$100K coverage for personal medical. Think about it. A lot of working folks have insurance through their employer that would already meet this requirement and this would equally protect the state from the primary complaint of cost associated with the potential ijury. If we elimiate the excuses, like this one, then the politicians will have no choice but to pass the bill. I am also an advocate of “PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY” this is another thing that seems to have been lost over the years.
Did anyone ever think how they put helmets on our heads and make us wear seat belts but not one SCHOOL BUS HAS SEATBELTS for our kids!!!!!!!!! GO FIGURE!!!!!!! Put your kids in your own private car without a seatbelt and you get a ticket!!!!!!! What a confused world we live in!!!!
Now that the Senate has just not adressed the helmet law I hope that all of the motorcycle riders, group together to get the ones that support not letting us have freedom of choice out of office. It may take time but if we ( the motorcycle community) pull together we can win this. Last weekend I rode to Harahan from Denham Springs and in the heat a helmet was a hazaed. I wear a helmet by choice but if the weather is 90 + I need a break.
What a bunch of wimps. Do you guys want people that smoke to sign releases, skydivers, mountain climbers, scuba divers, bunjee jumpers, people who smoke cigars, people who drive boats, people who use chain saws. Gimme a break.
Trim that lace off your drawers and live a little. Do you think you are going to die with a SE grin on your face because you lived a “safe” life?
Jeeeese, let me ride my bike responsibly, with my own insurance($500,000 U/M and $2 mill in health care limits- is that good enough? Do you wimps have such limits?????) I don’t want nor need your miserly tax dollars. Shove them, wimps.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the wind in your hair, good hearing………………
Freedom at last
What freedom do taxpayers have when they have to pay the bills? If this is a “freedom of choice” issue bikers without helmets should waive all taxpayer-supported treatment for themselves and all support for their families.
I’m with you GB. Or, if at the scene of the accident, the biker has head injuries, the highway patrol should just take the guy out of his misery like they do sick animals.
Couldn’t agree more. I feel the same way about motorists who don’t wear their seatbelts. The only good part of this is the natural selection process is back in play.
Bikers, open your wallets. I wonder why nobody is mentioning what this is going to do to the cost of Motorcycle Liability Insurance—especially Uninsured Motorists liability.
Do any of you have any statistics on non-fatal injuries to uninsured motorcyclist? What is the annual dollar burden difference between helmeted uninsured bikers vs. un-helmeted uninsured bikers? How do these numbers compare to uninsured motorists (cars)?
I always read the same responses to these articles.
Yeah, Freedom to die. Fine with me, just sign this release so the taxpayers don’t have to foot the bill as you lay in your vegetative state.
I’m with you Ivy. As for Biker, your $2M med limit will only pay for a few years of horizontal dependency should you be unfortunate enough be paralyzed from smacking your thick skull on the concrete. Best of luck.
Okay, I’m not going to actually quote him, but the idiot saying that revoking the madate will lead to more people wearing helmets – just because they went through a class – is terrific. How much stupidity can you pack into one person.
They should have added that anybody choosing to ride without a helmet would forfeit all government assistance in the case of an accident and would forfeit any increase in recovery from the other party’s insurance above the 20th percentile required by bikers wearing a helmet. I’m just throwing out a number there, but it seems to me that paying the same amount as is paid for 80% of bikers with helmets is reasonable since they chose the extra risk.
I’m all for living life to the fullest, but you have to be ready to pay the piper yourself, not ask others to pay for you.
All of you who preach to us bikers about gov’t medical assistance and taxpayer burden are acting very narroww minded. First, I would never ride w/o a helmet myself, but I fully support an ADULTS right to do so. This is no more of a risk or “burden” on taxpayers than those who smoke, drink, use illegal drugs, drive w/o seatbelts..etc (the list could go on and on). The base of the arguement is it is NOT the gov’t’s job or mandate to control every aspect of your life and make every decision for you. Want to talk about being a taxpayer burden..look at how much of your tax dollars are wasted each year on “pork programs”. In 2001, the government buried $17 billion dollars for which there was no accountability. It was labeled “unreconciled transactions” and filed away. No one has any idea who spent the money or how. Good job, don’t you think? Think we could do that with our tax returns. RIGHT.
Don’t tell me how to live my life and what is dangerous for me and I won’t tell you to give up your high risk habits.
I’d support the same treatment that has been called for bikers riding without a helmet for others engaging in high-risk behaviors. They get to pay for the results. Government assistance should be very minimal and very difficult to get. People need to plan and take care of themselves.
So, we won’t ask anybody to avoid high risk behaviors and they won’t ask for any money.
And yes, government spending on pork needs to be eliminated.
I do support freedom of choice. In La when the temp is above 80+ a helmet causes heat related problems. Most of the time I will wear one by choice but if heat is a facor I have to et my head cool, Thanks Bobby for all efferts
Some people are just plan ignorant!!! Us bikers and our family and friends pay taxes just like all of you who CHOOSE not ride. Its our health and our lives not yours, so why in the hell do you care?
When will we be able to ride without the helmet?? July 1?
I’m very sorry that our politicans are to
do away with the helmet law for adults’ I
am a motorcycle rider as well and I think
I’m much safer with a helmet.Regardless
what’s the outcome of this law believe me
I and my passenger will contiune to wear our helmets and I hope that other motorcyclist do the same.
I am a passenger on the back of the bike w/ my husband. Even with the passage of this bill, WE will ride with helmets anytime we are on the open road. Short trips in town may be w/o a helmet but bad things do happen close to home also. I wish the bill would include the signing away of insurance coverage if injured while riding w/o a helmet, that way I know short or long trips, they would all be with a helmet!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I’ve read all these posts and all you guys who say “sign the release” are, for lack of a better word, idiots. Like “Biker” says, you drive w/o a seatbelt, sign here, surfing, sign here from shark attacks, etc. Should you make a law for them to wear “shark suits”? I say yes, only fair! After all, its for their protection and easing the taxpayers burden! The sign here list could go on and on. I ride, and I will ride with my helmet. Its a choice. I’ve been in a couple of bike accidents, and EVERYONE of them were the vehicles fault, not mine. AND I was glad to be wearing my helmet! They usually use the “I didn’t see the bike” excuse. Life is a risk, you jump in your car, seatbelt or not, sign here. Anything you do in life, from boat riding, to sky diving to any other high risk/extreme sport, buy your own insurance and sign here! That’s what you’re telling bikers to do!! Hmmm, it’s a little different now that you realize you do high risk things too. Ride that JetSki, helmet & lifejacket, or sign here! Just regular plain old boating, lifejacket, and YES, a helmet! OH, and no drinking while fishing…high risk! SIGN HERE!!!! Pump gas and talk on your cell phone…sign here, baby! It’s dangerous and a high risk! Changing radio stations while you drive…sign here sweetheart, you’re putting others at risk when you divert your attention from the road. It’s not just talking on the cell phone that is dangerous! See where this could all ultimately lead too?
All we, as bikers are saying is, it’s our life, let us live it, to make our own decisions and keep your laws off my head! I for one, will continue to wear my “brain bucket” and ride, ride, ride!
I wear a helmet. But riding 2 blocks to the store just makes you sweat. Wearing glasses makes it worse
The way I see it is if you want to wear a helmet then wear it. Nobody is stopping you, but the biker lifestyle is to live free and we already live in a country where we have lost most of the freedoms that we had because we didnt stand up for them. What is it going to hurt you if i dont wear a helmet. I am a grown man and it is my choice. That helmet may save your life , but it is unlikely. That is the risk that you take when you clime up on that eagle. Soldiers are fighting for our freedom so that politicians can take them away, so instead of whining about your seatbelt,and b*tching about smoking in public, why dont you support the repeal of the laws that they are trying to give back to us.
First off I have very good medical and life insurance , second of all I don’t recall any of you other tax payers ever paying my medical bills and third of all most people that can afford a $20,000 can afford insurance and be allowed to decide if we want to wear a turtle shell on our heads if we want to , if you do want to wear one fine , I think you should also wear one while in your car also because you sound very afraid of living as much as you do of dying , let those who ride decide , thank you Govenor Jindal !!!
i personally will continue to wear a helmet but i cannot stand a law that tells me i got to for my own safety.i lost a freind wearing one of those novelty helmets is as good as nothing. but i still feel like dont tell me what to do for me for my safety.
I think the decision to wear a helmet is the biker’s choice and should not be a politician’s. As for me, i will ride with a helmet but i like having the choice.
Freedom to choose. As most motorcycle accidents are from auto drivers claiming “Oh, I didn’t see the bike” then let them pay medical cost. After all, isn’t it the same as saying, “I didn’t know the gun was loaded”.I do not like riding with a helment, and when I drive my car or bike, I do not dress in preparation to wreck. Good defensive driving regardless of what kind of vehicle you operate determines the outcome. Oh yes, did I mention the other guy!!!!!!
Laws put into effect should be instituted by the people of whom it affects and not by government. The government is of the people, by the people, and for the people…remember. When we get away from this, then we submit to communism or socialist rule. Isn’t this why we fought so many wars. When government rule against the will of the people, then we have no freedom. Mr. Champayne, you are paid by the people as a servant, not as a ruler. You have the right to ride with or without a helmet or not ride at all. Because you were elected or appointed, do not let your judgement interfere with our freedom.
I was raised in Blanchard, LA, but have lived in PA for over 40 years. I am a Biker with 7 motorcycles in my garage. I am a member and an officer in A.B.A.T.E. of PA. I don’t wear a helmet. When people ask me why they have to wear a seat belt if I don’t have to wear a helmet, I have the answer. Establish an organization, hire a lobbyist, spend 35 years, thousands of man hours and dollars, build relationships with Legislators in the State House, create repore with Governors, and earn the right for Freedom of Choice. ABATE did that, and in 2003, we Modified the law for Helmets in PA! Is seatbelts your complaint? I just gave you the answer.
Thanks Bobbie Jindal, You proved you beleive in choice as You campained. That’s why I voted for you.
I moved to South Louisiana about 8 years ago and sold both my bikes because of the mandatory helmet laws here. I have since purchased and built 3 more and hate the helmet that I am required to wear to enjoy the freedom that I fought and served this country for. I am very pleased and hopeful for the passage of this bill to GIVE ME(THE RIDER) THE CHOICE! Laws are designed to protect the individual from the masses, not to protect them from themselves. This said, I do not agree with the idea that riders should end up as “yards of the state” if they become injured while riding. I would not have a problem with a mandatory provision that requires each rider without a helmet to carry (and have proof) medical insurance with a $20K-$100K coverage for personal medical. Think about it. A lot of working folks have insurance through their employer that would already meet this requirement and this would equally protect the state from the primary complaint of cost associated with the potential ijury. If we elimiate the excuses, like this one, then the politicians will have no choice but to pass the bill. I am also an advocate of “PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY” this is another thing that seems to have been lost over the years.
Geez…
I have read but still dont understand , when can we stop wearing helmets and what will be required ?
Did anyone ever think how they put helmets on our heads and make us wear seat belts but not one SCHOOL BUS HAS SEATBELTS for our kids!!!!!!!!! GO FIGURE!!!!!!! Put your kids in your own private car without a seatbelt and you get a ticket!!!!!!! What a confused world we live in!!!!
Now that the Senate has just not adressed the helmet law I hope that all of the motorcycle riders, group together to get the ones that support not letting us have freedom of choice out of office. It may take time but if we ( the motorcycle community) pull together we can win this. Last weekend I rode to Harahan from Denham Springs and in the heat a helmet was a hazaed. I wear a helmet by choice but if the weather is 90 + I need a break.