Not helping the cause.

[dirt dobber]

Next time you're out look at riders helments, you hardley see full face. i wear full face (modular). i don't think anything is going to hit the top of my head in a crash it the face (chin & forehead)sides of course, i want to protect. i belive in them.

[dr_bar]

You don't want to wear a helmet, sign a waiver that allows no medical attention at the public's expense. If you still want to ride after that, feel free...

[vito]

Using the possibility of the public paying for medical care after suffering an injury for not using a helmet as the justification for mandatory helmet laws is a dangerous slippery slope. Why not laws that restrict diets to only healthy food, since an uninsured person suffering a heart attack will get treated at public expense? How about laws mandating daily exercise for the same reason? Or more closely to our interests, a banning of motorcycles, and skydiving, mountain climbing and contact sports, etc., etc. There is literally no limit on the restrictions of our freedom that could be "justified" by the rationale of health care being paid for by the rest of us. Freedom includes the right to make decisions and to take risks that others might not agree with. Laws that affect behavior by me that could harm others is one thing; laws that affect behavior that only affects myself is another. In the real world, a number of years ago Ruger, the gun company, stated that its health insurance for employees would not cover care related to a motorcycle accident (some see the extreme irony in this by a company making firearms). Public outcry caused them to reverse the decision. Lets be careful about advocating the signing of waivers or restricting anyone's individual rights.

[dr_bar]

I said they sign a waiver, not the gov't legislate a ban on going helmetless. As to the gov't legislating eating properly, it's already happening in the USA. No toys with food that doesn't meet a certain dietary/nutritional level is already on the books. Canadians have had Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs, confiscated at the border because they don't meet the regulated level of nutrition.

[sapaul]

It's not legislated here but we have a kinda general rule

Don't pat the "procreating" animals

[T-Bird]

Riding without a helmet is the same as playing Russian roulette with an automatic pistol. I oppose government mandates but would not get on two wheels without a helmet nor allow a passenger to do so.

[mogster]

Do you have seatbelt laws over the water? It is compulsory (with a very few exemptions) to wear seatbelts here & I don't let anyone ride in my car without wearing one.

What's so different about wearing a helmet that should make it exempt?

I spent last night operating on a young woman with facial injuries after a car accident. She had been wearing a seatbelt & still got hurt..............but without a seatbelt she might not even have made it to hospital! Surely the same goes for helmets?

[Wrider]

Put it this way... I just finished rolling my truck. My buddy and I both had on our seatbelts, he walked away with a bruised hip, and I walked away with sore shoulders... This after a truck rolled down an embankment, completely over, and landed against some trees back on it's wheels...

A friend of mine was driving through her neighborhood on Saturday, had yet to buckle up as she lives in a very very small town, and a guy pulled out of his driveway in front of her. She was doing around 25 or 30, hit him, and ended up with a mild concussion and a fractured rib (it was broken a few years ago, fractured in the same spot.) For what it's worth, this wasn't her fault, it was still dark, the driver the pulled out did so with no lights on, and was so drunk he ended up in the psych ward of the local hospital.

I disagree with seatbelt laws, but I always wear mine and no one rides with me without wearing theirs.

I'm the same way about helmets, I disagree with the laws, but I always wear mine and no one rides with me without wearing theirs.

Oh and for what it's worth, I've been down once. I hit the ground hard but did not touch my helmet. The only ding on it from that day was from after the crash, I let my head fall back against the asphalt from about 4 inches... Does it mean I think I won't hit my head in any future accidents? Not a chance...

Oh and Mogster, it's not a national law on seatbelts, it's state by state, but yes, most states do require a seatbelt to be worn, including Colorado.

[madjak30]

I'm mixed on my feelings about this one...on one hand I agree with vito & dr_bar...it should be a choice, and if you choose not to you should have to sign a waiver saying that no public money will be spent on what you cause (did the family in NY have to pay for the towing and clean up bill?? never mind the medical bills)...all the other services also cost US money...and I feel the same about helmets and seat belts, the vehicle doesn't move until everyone is buckled in (haven't ridden two up yet, but it will happen this year...so ATGATT)

But would we really feel this strongly about having the gear/seat belt if it hadn't been manditory for most of our lives (depending on age and where you live)...I grew up in BC and the seat belt laws came in around the same time we went metric ('77 ish ??), so I've lived that way most of my life...my friends who grew up in Alberta don't feel the same, they think it should be their choice...they don't like wearing the seat belt, but it didn't become law here until the mid 80s or so...

as for the helmet laws, my daughter is really starting to notice things like this (getting excited about being able to ride a scooter here at 14, is now 13)...last summer we went down to Idaho for Canada Day & Independence Day, as we were crossing the border quite a few bikers were waiting...most of them were packing their helmets into their luggage since helmets are not manditory in that state...my daughter yells out "AMERICANS ARE STUPID"...I was a little shocked and embarrassed, then realized what she was talking about (kinda jumped down her throat a little)...and I had to explain to her that it isn't Americans, it's just some people are "STUPID"...so at 12yo she realized that not wearing a helmet is something that only "STUPID" people do, but would she have felt that way if there was no law where we lived and most bikers didn't wear them??

Things that make you go "HMMMM..."...

Later.

[freebird73]

it wasn't until I felt pain in my lip from my helmet smashing into it that I realized I had fallen off of my bike. There is something to be said for riding in safety gear no matter how hot or uncomfortable it may seem at first. Having that helmet saved my face from what I can only imagine from the scrapes it suffered, from a lot of pain and scarring.
My brother just purchased his first bike and lives in a no helmet state and i am horrified at the thought he would even consider riding without a full face helmet much less go without all together.