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Motorcyclers Without Helmets

StoveBolts said:
So why are seatbelts required? Why are certain drugs illegal?

If you don't put boundaries around people who don't know how to put boundaries around themselves, then everyone pays the cost for their stupidity. The recent increase in Motorcycle Insurance bears that out.

This being the case, why does the guy who always wears his helmet forced to bear the financial burden of those who choose otherwise?
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Seatbelts and certain drugs are illegal b/c government said they have to be, not b/c I'm a responsible person who has self control. I'm an adult, and I can make the correct choice. If someone can't, then it's on them. I'm responsible for me and my family, not Joe down the road who chooses his own fate. God gave us free will to make our own decisions, and also makes us own up to them. If someone chooses to not wear and helmet and dies, then it's on them.

Motorcycle insurance is cheap. If you can't afford the insurance, you should't be riding a motorcycle or owning one due to poor choice of priorities.

Saying people can't put boundaries around themselves is a cop-out. You learn the best lessons in life by making mistakes and learning from them. Government creating laws for EVERYTHING, and trying to "save" us from something they think is bad is the problem. This is why we are becoming a "nany state" right now. It sounds to me like you have no problem with government telling you how to live your own life. I'm a libertarian, and know otherwise.
 
Without a helmet? doesn't make sense to me.

Reminds me a bit of the young girl who was given the controls of an airplane to fly and she wasn't even in her teens: this was defended in the name of freedom. Then the plane crashed and the tragic little girl was killed.

There is a line the can be crossed when it comes to people using machines dangerously.
 
There's two related issues here: the wisdom of riding without every reasonable protection available and laws that force it. My comments in the OP were to do with the former more so than the latter. Seinfeld had a funny bit about brains that have ceased to function so much that they considered the damage they were doing to themselves and chose to find ways to continue their head-bashing ways rather than stop their head-bashing ways. :lol

Jeff, I was actually on 94, but you see insanity on any highway around here, don't you. Not far from where Jeff lives, just the other day a police car got in a wreck while in pursuit of a biker. The officer is in critical condition last I heard. I'd love to have a bike, but my wife opposes it, and my decisions became our decisions when we got married.

My mother never wears a seat belt, because she believes they pose more of a risk. Crazy lady... I'm hearing the same thing about helmets here. Crazy...

Society has laws to protect people from self-destructive decisions that also have an impact on others. I'm glad it does, too. Anyone who's seen first hand the results of drug abuse can see the wisdom of a society that has laws against drugs. And anyone who knows someone who's dumped a bike and now eats dinner through a straw should know the wisdom of helmet laws. I'm afraid that the lifting of this law in Michigan has placed peer-pressure on bikers to not wear helmets. That would be a shame. :sad
 
Mike said:
There's two related issues here: the wisdom of riding without every reasonable protection available and laws that force it. My comments in the OP were to do with the former more so than the latter. Seinfeld had a funny bit about brains that have ceased to function so much that they considered the damage they were doing to themselves and chose to find ways to continue their head-bashing ways rather than stop their head-bashing ways. :lol

Jeff, I was actually on 94, but you see insanity on any highway around here, don't you. Not far from where Jeff lives, just the other day a police car got in a wreck while in pursuit of a biker. The officer is in critical condition last I heard. I'd love to have a bike, but my wife opposes it, and my decisions became our decisions when we got married.

My mother never wears a seat belt, because she believes they pose more of a risk. Crazy lady... I'm hearing the same thing about helmets here. Crazy...

Society has laws to protect people from self-destructive decisions that also have an impact on others. I'm glad it does, too. Anyone who's seen first hand the results of drug abuse can see the wisdom of a society that has laws against drugs. And anyone who knows someone who's dumped a bike and now eats dinner through a straw should know the wisdom of helmet laws. I'm afraid that the lifting of this law in Michigan has placed peer-pressure on bikers to not wear helmets. That would be a shame. :sad
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many in florida dont. hmm well being the only one here who does get to see the aftermath of these wrecks as well check the scenes and vehicles for the causes i will inquire on helmet safety.
 
You all present very good arguments in favor of helmets, you really do and I appreciate that. The thing is those same arguments can be used against each of us.

Are you a smoker and if so do you smoke in the car or in your home? Smoking inside an enclosed automobile with children inside. Talk about irresponsible parenting! My father smoked up to three packs a day. Never did we ever get into the car and he didn't light up a cigarette. At 50 he suffered his first heart attacks. Exactly one year later on the same date he suffered a second attack. Finally, at 58 he suffered his last. I've been married twice and both have been smokers. Both did the same thing. There's nothing that irritates me more than cigarette smoke when I have a head cold.

Do you ever text, talk on the phone, converse with others in the vehicle, operate the radio or stereo system, eat food, or drink beverages of any kind while driving? If you do you are not attentive to your driving and endanger not only your life but the lives of anyone with you or in other vehicles around you. One of my daughter's classmates died at the age of 16 because she was using a phone while driving rather than paying attention to where she was going. My own daughter drove straight into the ditch because she was fumbling in her pocket digging for her phone rather than watching the road. Fortunately it was winter, she was the only vehicle on the country road, and the snow was deep and cushioned her stop.

Do you ever tailgate the vehicle in front of you? Next time your on the road, use the 3 second rule a few times to check. I think you'll surprise yourself. You not only endanger your own life, you endanger the lives of everyone in the vehicle with you, everyone in the vehicle in front of you, and everyone in the vehicles around you in all lanes. How many multiple car pile-ups do we hear about? It happens all the time. Why? Because people are foolish, irresponsible, and careless enough to follow too close to have enough time to react in a situation.

Do you ever use the shoulder or worse, the right turn lane, to pass a vehicle making a left turn especially at high speed? This is one of my pet peeves. I was the third vehicle behind a school bus one time. The bus stopped to wait for oncoming traffic before making a left turn. We were behind it when all of a sudden this fool comes flying past us at highway speed on the right turn lane. Lucky there wasn't a vehicle in the on-coming lane making a left turn. No helmet would have saved them.

Do you ever exceed the speed limit, roll through a stop sign, or make a turn without signalling first?

Are you a hunter and especially do you hunt within 1000 yards of another hunter? Projectiles can travel a long way even through a forest. Are we fools for not wearing Kevlar and a bean pot?

Do you allow your children to operate power tools, the lawn mower, etc? What makes them qualified? Fingers are lost real fast when something goes awry.

What about all the dangerous chemicals in our homes? Poisoning is one of the leading causes of accidents in the home. To use chemicals at my place of work requires special safety training.

We do things all the time that can be and are potentially lethal. These things cost all of us money, hardship, stress, sorrow, pain, etc. You label me as irresponsible and selfish and rightly so but let's not forget that when we point a finger, there are three pointing back at ourselves. It seems hypocritical to me.
 
I wear a helmet when riding, and can't imagine not wearing it. But I don't think the state should mandate it, and here in Connecticut there is no helmet requirement. I learned to ride on Guam while in the navy, helmets were required there. I did dump the bike there once on a VERY wet and slippery road, and was glad I was wearing the helmet.
 
After re-reading my last post, it might appear as though I'm trying to defend my choice by pointing back. Not so. I just have a hard time understanding why we choose to make some laws to protect each other from ourselves while ignoring other equally dangerous activities and in some cases even more dangerous and costly.
 
WIP, just about everything you listed in your post are illegal. :yes

And don't get me started on parents who smoke with children who have no say in the back seat. Marinating children in a smoke-filled car should be illegal, IMHO. :bigfrown

It's ironic that I'm typically very adamant that government needs to stay out of the details, slim down and stop over-reaching. I wouldn't call anyone out for "having the audacity" to oppose helmet laws. I see your point of view. You believe this decision should be put in the hands of the bike owner. I just think the scales are tipped in favor of the law when I consider the innocent people impacted by a biker who dies or spends the rest of his life unable to care for himself because he chose not to wear a helmet.
 
WIP, just about everything you listed in your post are illegal.
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Yeah, good point. I am now left speechless. Does it count that I still feel the same way?

Honestly, when I rode sometimes I wore my helmet and sometimes I didn't. I liked it when it rained or was cold but on sunny warm days there was nothing more enjoyable and relaxing than ridin' with the wind. I really wouldn't want society to take that away from riders.
 
What about bugs in your face? That's the real reason I'd wear a helmet. I don't like flies in my teeth!
 
Chris. said:
To quote an Australian advertisement on TV-

If you don't need a head you don't need a helmet.
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To interprete the advertisement:

If you don't want to get arrested - buy government helmets and wear then:D
:lol
;)
(Just kidding)

Helmets are good. Wear yours to bed if possible.
 
WIP, just about everything you listed in your post are illegal.

And don't get me started on parents who smoke with children who have no say in the back seat. Marinating children in a smoke-filled car should be illegal, IMHO
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Mike,

Here in NJ there are some municipalities who have passed laws making it an offense to smoke with children in the car. I don't recall the cutoff age. It's a shame we have to institute laws because of bad parenting. :shrug

We also have cell phone restrictions, but we are talking about helmets here, right? ;) I don't care much about the laws as much as it is about me not being much of a gambler. Me? I'll always wear one; I even wear one while bicycling. :yes
 
Vic C. said:
Mike,

Here in NJ there are some municipalities who have passed laws making it an offense to smoke with children in the car. I don't recall the cutoff age. It's a shame we have to institute laws because of bad parenting. :shrug

We also have cell phone restrictions, but we are talking about helmets here, right? ;) I don't care much about the laws as much as it is about me not being much of a gambler. Me? I'll always wear one; I even wear one while bicycling. :yes
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vic you cant even pump your gas into your car in that socialist state you live in.
 
Hey, no worries. We have others doing it for us, which means more jobs. Plus, we have the lowest gas prices in the country to boot. :D

It's a win/win situation. :yes
 
Vic C. said:
Hey, no worries. We have others doing it for us, which means more jobs. Plus, we have the lowest gas prices in the country to boot. :D

It's a win/win situation. :yes
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yah know i can figure that out but no thanks your property taxes is way higher. i paid 560 usd last year on my house. its estimated at 45k with the homestead exemption. and you pay way more. i know.

http://www.trentonnj.org/Cit-e-Access/webpage.cfm?TID=55&TPID=11951

compare my house to these buildings and homes i have a lot that is on 1/10 of an acre.yes i didnt see any my type but still. sheesh.
 
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