Although I fully agree that it is at a minimum foolish to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, I also feel that doing any dangerous activity without the best safety equipment is at best foolish as well. That said when will the governments intervention into my decisions end. How far is the government willing to go to protect me from myself!
Yes, there is the valid argument that my decisions affect others, but there has to be a balance point somewhere. Once I reach the age of majority and can be held responsible for my decisions from that point forward as long as my actions do not physically harm another person or their property it is my life to do with as I wish, no matter how stupid this may seem to another. To this point I fully understand and agree with the rules that require motorcyclists to where proper eye protection, as the failure to do so has a direct causal effect on the operators ability to operate the vehicle and thereby puts others at risk. Wearing a helmet or for that matter fastening a seat belt does not have a causal effect on the ability to operate the vehicle and therefore does not put the public in general at risk. Yes it does have the potential to negatively impact society as a whole due to the impact the decision places upon the medical community and families of the injured parties but if we are going to legislate every activity that has that risk we will all end up like the boy in the plastic bubble.
Do we as a society truly want the government to dictate our actions? To that I say no, the founders of this country long ago fought for freedom and liberty for all individuals and I find it hard to belief that they would approve of legislating decision making.
HEY MATT-THAT’S QUITE A PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISE YOU’VE ARTICULATED….HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND PONDERING SUCH HEADY STUFF? DO YOU STEAL TIME BEFORE GETTING YOUR NAILS DONE OR AFTER A HIT OR TWO OFF THE CRACK PIPE….GET A LIFE, BLIVET!
There’s a thin line as respects what the government (Fed or State) should legislate.
I.E. Why isn’t there a law about not running with scissors? Because your mother should have told you that. When I was a kid no one wore bicycle helmets. Now kids do because their Mom’s tell them to. My State just passed a law to include a same sex marriage prohibition in our constitution!!! Although I’m not gay and I don’t ride a motorcycle and I (generally) don’t run with scissors, I detest the government interfering with personal liberties. If you are stupid enough to ride a motorcycle without a helmet you deserve whatever you get. In summary, EDUCATE DON’T LEGISLATE.
It’s mirthful that although you envisage you appear intelligent by showing your prodigious grasp of the english language, you are still unable to discern my use of sarcasm in a message. In case you missed it again sarcasm was used in this posting as well. See if you can detect it.
I beleive everyone should have the right to chose what they do or don’t do, and that includes riding without a helmet. However, if you chose to ride without one and suffer a serious head injury, why should I and everone else pay for your “personal choice?” Yes, we do pay. Your insurance is made up of everyone contributing to a common cause, paying other’s losses. And when insurance runs out or someone doesn’t have any, then the tax payors pay for it through Medicaid. So before everyone gets on their high horse and yells about their personal freedoms being taken away, what about mine and everyone else who straps one on each and everytime we get on our motorcycles? Your taking money right out of my pocket every year. I think a 200% surcharge on motorcycle insurance would be great for those wishing to ride helmetless otherwise there would be no coverage if you were involved in an accident of any kind and Medicaid would not pay either. If you want to feel the wind in your face and blowing through you hair, sit in front of a fan.
I dont think it\’s fair that people on motorcycles dont have to wear helmets, but people in cars have to wear seatbelts. When seatbelts could actually help kill you. they could get stuck or jam… A helmet can help save someone from getting head injuries. True? if motorcyclist don\’t hace to wear helmets I dont think people in cars should wear seatbelts.
There is a small amount of merit for someone\’s right to choose whether or not to wear a motorcycle helmet. However, it does not take a brain surgeon to realize that a helmet is much more likely to do more good than harm in the event of an accident. Anyone who actually believes otherwise obviously does not have much gray matter there to protect in the first place.
I have ridden motorcycles for 30 years. I have no connetction with any insurance group or motorcycle organisation. I wear a helmet by choice about 1/3 of my riding time. I feel this is a personal FREADOM to make that choice. I also have worn a seat belt while driving for many years before the law said that I have to. I do not believe that the state government of Pa. or any other state has my saftey at the heart of their interest. The government is pushed in that direction by the insurance lobbying groups and the money coming in from them. Just my 2 cents worth
for me it is hard to see how you can compare a seat belt to a helmet. i\’ve been riding for 2 years now, i\’ve wrecked, i\’ve been driving for 5 years, i\’ve wrecked. in my bike wreck i was wearing a helmet that saved my brain and my life. in my car wrecks i wasn\’t wearing a seatbelt. my point is that there are very few wrecks on a bike that don\’t involve your head. i do think seat belts are important but to me if your not wearing a helmet you probably don\’t need one since you already must have brain damage
I am sitting here 3.5 hours after witnessing a biker accident. The last I saw the biker was when they were rolling him into the ambulance. His face was blue – not a good sign. Before that he lay on the ground in the middle of a major highway. His body motionless. His buddies yelling, “Stay with us, man!” All of the blood coming from his body was coming from multiple head injuries.
He was not wearing a helmet.
A car had pulled out in front of him when his biked impacted the side door. The bike stopped. The biker’s body continued through the air at what would probably be the 45 MPH speed limit. The impact of his body on the road was about 30 feet beyond where the bike stopped.
Had he been wearing a helmet I am certain his head injuries would have been less significant than without. I haven’t been able to learn his condition. But the last I saw, if life persists, there will be many months of rehab.
I do agree with you on this situation, I am doing a speech in a speech class about motorcyle helmets and should they be worn. I really never thought about this subject until I started doing research. The reason I picked this subject was because my sister in law just lost her 38 year old brother due to a motorcycle accident and not wearing a helmet. I do think that yes it is a freedom of choice of wether you want to wear it our not, but why would you want to do this to risk your life. If anyone can give me any other views or opinions on this I would appreciate it. Thanks
well ok I can agree with that if we do the same for every thing else. We should just limit to motorcycle riders. there are people dieing everyday from car crashes the law should be write that you must wear a helmet when you are driving any motor vehicle. Alao it should be a law that cell phones and musical devises should not be used while driving. these things cause accenteds also,which relates to injuries and death. the goverment should also in act
law to lower the speed limit on all roads to 35 miles hour just think of the lves it would save and also the fuel we would save. if you beleave personal freedom of choice should be set aside to save lives, then you would have to agree these would be good laws and should be passed
A lot of head injuries occur in car accidents. Should all car drivers then wear a helmet? It would surely lower everyones insurance, at least a little.
You will never see this happen, why? Because the lawmakers and the insurance geeks all answer to a higher authority. It would mess up their wife’s hair and that isn’t going to happen. Not all bikers are stupid. I wear my helmet when I feel it is the right time to do so. look around you most bikers are wearing them. Let Darwins logic kick in, the smart ones will survive. Let nature’s take control. don’t pass more laws.
Although I fully agree that it is at a minimum foolish to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, I also feel that doing any dangerous activity without the best safety equipment is at best foolish as well. That said when will the governments intervention into my decisions end. How far is the government willing to go to protect me from myself!
Yes, there is the valid argument that my decisions affect others, but there has to be a balance point somewhere. Once I reach the age of majority and can be held responsible for my decisions from that point forward as long as my actions do not physically harm another person or their property it is my life to do with as I wish, no matter how stupid this may seem to another. To this point I fully understand and agree with the rules that require motorcyclists to where proper eye protection, as the failure to do so has a direct causal effect on the operators ability to operate the vehicle and thereby puts others at risk. Wearing a helmet or for that matter fastening a seat belt does not have a causal effect on the ability to operate the vehicle and therefore does not put the public in general at risk. Yes it does have the potential to negatively impact society as a whole due to the impact the decision places upon the medical community and families of the injured parties but if we are going to legislate every activity that has that risk we will all end up like the boy in the plastic bubble.
Do we as a society truly want the government to dictate our actions? To that I say no, the founders of this country long ago fought for freedom and liberty for all individuals and I find it hard to belief that they would approve of legislating decision making.
I totally agree soon the government will be limiting how much salt I am allowed to eat because it could be unhealty
IT SEEMS TO ME IF THESE IDIOTS WANT TO RIDE AROUND WITHOUT HELMETS WE SHOULD LET THEM…..IN ALL PROBABILITY, THEY’RE ALREADY BRAIN DEAD!
HEY MATT-THAT’S QUITE A PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISE YOU’VE ARTICULATED….HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND PONDERING SUCH HEADY STUFF? DO YOU STEAL TIME BEFORE GETTING YOUR NAILS DONE OR AFTER A HIT OR TWO OFF THE CRACK PIPE….GET A LIFE, BLIVET!
There’s a thin line as respects what the government (Fed or State) should legislate.
I.E. Why isn’t there a law about not running with scissors? Because your mother should have told you that. When I was a kid no one wore bicycle helmets. Now kids do because their Mom’s tell them to. My State just passed a law to include a same sex marriage prohibition in our constitution!!! Although I’m not gay and I don’t ride a motorcycle and I (generally) don’t run with scissors, I detest the government interfering with personal liberties. If you are stupid enough to ride a motorcycle without a helmet you deserve whatever you get. In summary, EDUCATE DON’T LEGISLATE.
If you ride without a helmet that factor should be taken into account in calculating your insurance premiums
It’s mirthful that although you envisage you appear intelligent by showing your prodigious grasp of the english language, you are still unable to discern my use of sarcasm in a message. In case you missed it again sarcasm was used in this posting as well. See if you can detect it.
I beleive everyone should have the right to chose what they do or don’t do, and that includes riding without a helmet. However, if you chose to ride without one and suffer a serious head injury, why should I and everone else pay for your “personal choice?” Yes, we do pay. Your insurance is made up of everyone contributing to a common cause, paying other’s losses. And when insurance runs out or someone doesn’t have any, then the tax payors pay for it through Medicaid. So before everyone gets on their high horse and yells about their personal freedoms being taken away, what about mine and everyone else who straps one on each and everytime we get on our motorcycles? Your taking money right out of my pocket every year. I think a 200% surcharge on motorcycle insurance would be great for those wishing to ride helmetless otherwise there would be no coverage if you were involved in an accident of any kind and Medicaid would not pay either. If you want to feel the wind in your face and blowing through you hair, sit in front of a fan.
I dont think it\’s fair that people on motorcycles dont have to wear helmets, but people in cars have to wear seatbelts. When seatbelts could actually help kill you. they could get stuck or jam… A helmet can help save someone from getting head injuries. True? if motorcyclist don\’t hace to wear helmets I dont think people in cars should wear seatbelts.
There is a small amount of merit for someone\’s right to choose whether or not to wear a motorcycle helmet. However, it does not take a brain surgeon to realize that a helmet is much more likely to do more good than harm in the event of an accident. Anyone who actually believes otherwise obviously does not have much gray matter there to protect in the first place.
Tom, Very well said.
I have ridden motorcycles for 30 years. I have no connetction with any insurance group or motorcycle organisation. I wear a helmet by choice about 1/3 of my riding time. I feel this is a personal FREADOM to make that choice. I also have worn a seat belt while driving for many years before the law said that I have to. I do not believe that the state government of Pa. or any other state has my saftey at the heart of their interest. The government is pushed in that direction by the insurance lobbying groups and the money coming in from them. Just my 2 cents worth
for me it is hard to see how you can compare a seat belt to a helmet. i\’ve been riding for 2 years now, i\’ve wrecked, i\’ve been driving for 5 years, i\’ve wrecked. in my bike wreck i was wearing a helmet that saved my brain and my life. in my car wrecks i wasn\’t wearing a seatbelt. my point is that there are very few wrecks on a bike that don\’t involve your head. i do think seat belts are important but to me if your not wearing a helmet you probably don\’t need one since you already must have brain damage
I am sitting here 3.5 hours after witnessing a biker accident. The last I saw the biker was when they were rolling him into the ambulance. His face was blue – not a good sign. Before that he lay on the ground in the middle of a major highway. His body motionless. His buddies yelling, “Stay with us, man!” All of the blood coming from his body was coming from multiple head injuries.
He was not wearing a helmet.
A car had pulled out in front of him when his biked impacted the side door. The bike stopped. The biker’s body continued through the air at what would probably be the 45 MPH speed limit. The impact of his body on the road was about 30 feet beyond where the bike stopped.
Had he been wearing a helmet I am certain his head injuries would have been less significant than without. I haven’t been able to learn his condition. But the last I saw, if life persists, there will be many months of rehab.
I do agree with you on this situation, I am doing a speech in a speech class about motorcyle helmets and should they be worn. I really never thought about this subject until I started doing research. The reason I picked this subject was because my sister in law just lost her 38 year old brother due to a motorcycle accident and not wearing a helmet. I do think that yes it is a freedom of choice of wether you want to wear it our not, but why would you want to do this to risk your life. If anyone can give me any other views or opinions on this I would appreciate it. Thanks
well ok I can agree with that if we do the same for every thing else. We should just limit to motorcycle riders. there are people dieing everyday from car crashes the law should be write that you must wear a helmet when you are driving any motor vehicle. Alao it should be a law that cell phones and musical devises should not be used while driving. these things cause accenteds also,which relates to injuries and death. the goverment should also in act
law to lower the speed limit on all roads to 35 miles hour just think of the lves it would save and also the fuel we would save. if you beleave personal freedom of choice should be set aside to save lives, then you would have to agree these would be good laws and should be passed
A lot of head injuries occur in car accidents. Should all car drivers then wear a helmet? It would surely lower everyones insurance, at least a little.
You will never see this happen, why? Because the lawmakers and the insurance geeks all answer to a higher authority. It would mess up their wife’s hair and that isn’t going to happen. Not all bikers are stupid. I wear my helmet when I feel it is the right time to do so. look around you most bikers are wearing them. Let Darwins logic kick in, the smart ones will survive. Let nature’s take control. don’t pass more laws.