Helmet laws - for or against

[grymlocke]

I like helmet laws, but also agree that the choice should be with the rider. I know that if I hadn't been wearing my helmet when I went down, I wouldn't have a face. Almost ALL the damage to my helmet was on the front from the top of the visor to the chin (visor was actually shredded into little pieces).

I like the laws because they sorta force you into habits that you may take for granted until they save your "O Ring".

like seatbelts....I've gotten into the habit so much I feel naked if I don't click it same with a helmut, a bicycle is the only thing I ride without one....

[Apollofrost]

you don't live in CA do you?..they ARE trying to dicates eating habits, sex and a smoke....

Ugh, I'm moving back there in a few weeks. I love the diversity but hate the over regulation. They just banned smoking in the entire downtown where I used to live. Now they want to make it so you can't smoke in your apartment if it's close to another one because the smoke might waft over to bother your neighbor.

I don't even smoke and this pisses me off.

[BlueBomber]

needs another option: "I don't care either way, i'll wear my helmet no matter what"

\/\/

[BlueBomber]

my dad has another idea. He thinks that the rider should not be required, making his own bad choices, but they should require a pillon passenger SHOULD be required to wear them.

I don't want to get into the long version of his reasoning, but basically it's probably not guy on the backs fault guy up front rides like an "O Ring", and guy up front should have an investment in his passengers bodily safety.

\/\/

[grymlocke]

you don't live in CA do you?..they ARE trying to dicates eating habits, sex and a smoke....

Ugh, I'm moving back there in a few weeks. ...

I sure hope your not talking about Peoples Republic of Davis, they'll arest you for snoring to loud....San Fransisco requires restaurant menu's to list nutrition info for the items listed (like those little labels on stuff you buy at the grocery) and get this folks....
...some of those gated communities that people think they're same in (at the expense of individuality) BAN BIKES! they're are several lawsuits already pending against home owner associations and their CC&R's for that.....

[Apollofrost]

Ugh, it's just getting too squeaky clean at the expense of anyone who doesn't fit the mold.

Don't smoke, don't wear anything we call offensive, MEAT IS MURDER!

Unless of course you're a minority, then it's bend over backwards time. A girl in my home town kept getting harassed by the other kids because she was Mormon. They would make outright nasty comments and the school did nothing even after her parents repeatedly asked for them to please put a stop to it. So one day when a kid asks her if she had a few moms ( polygamy jokes are sooo clever ) she goes "That's so gay," and is promptly suspended.

Now it's not OK to use "gay" as a derogative, but that's not the issue. The issue is that they didn't do anything about constant harassment and religious intolerance after repeatedly being asked to do something about it, yet they suspend this girl for insulting another minority because that minority happened to be the hot issue at the time.

This for me sums up Cali nicely:

The vocal people like to be offended, they fear anything that might not be politically correct (unless it's said by another minority, then it's OK to laugh.),

and

"holier than thou" health conscious vegan a**holes will berate you over your choice of lunch(or if you smoke) while wearing leather belts and shoes made my little Asian kids in sweatshops.

It's way out of control, but I'm moving back because:

I love the diversity: Different sub-cultures and cultures mixing to a point where you can find whatever or whoever you click with.

The food: You can find whatever type of food you can imagine, and you can always get good fresh fruit year round (I've missed that).

The weather: It snows in my home town once every 20 years, and it's never super hot.

The acceptance: I like being able to walk through the mall dressed however I like and have people give me a thumbs up if they like it, or just be quiet if they don't. Yes, you will get hecklers if you walk around in a trenchcoat, but it's a lot rarer there than it is where I currently reside.

So there are a lot of things I strongly dislike about Cali, but the good things outweigh the bad, at least for me they do.

That is all.

[flw]

First I believe that just like seat belts, helmets should be required for all ages.

Second for those that say it doesn't cost the rest of us anything, your wrong. If your father is having chest pains and your waiting on the paramedics but their not available due to a motorcycle rider that decided to take out a bridge etc... with his trusty steed.

Now every minute counts, and you just have to wait.

[Johnj]

Yea...or you could have been forced into the guardrail by some cage who didn't stop and the paramedics are with your father who has chest pains.

Every minute counts equally.

[t_bonee]

First I believe that just like seat belts, helmets should be required for all ages.

Second for those that say it doesn't cost the rest of us anything, your wrong. If your father is having chest pains and your waiting on the paramedics but their not available due to a motorcycle rider that decided to take out a bridge etc... with his trusty steed.

Now every minute counts, and you just have to wait.

Or maybe you had your lid on but a rail on the bridge impaled your gut and completed missed your helmet covered head.

If your going to use that type of reasoning, then you go ahead and stop riding your bike all together. The risk of any kind of accident happening, lid or not, will tie up paramedics keeping them from those who really need them. Oh yeah, stop driving in your cage too. You might have an accident and require some paramedics to care for you that could otherwise be used for caring for some guys chest pains.

[Flting Duck]

my dad has another idea. He thinks that the rider should not be required, making his own bad choices, but they should require a pillon passenger SHOULD be required to wear them.

\/\/

Point of itnerest: I have rented a 250 enduro in Kathmandu, Nepal a couple of times. Their helmet law is that the rider must have a helmet but it's optional for passenger.