Helmet Law!

[Thinker62]

One caveat though, everyone under the age of 21 should be required to wear a helmet.

Good point.... that would protect my crazy 20 year old cousins from goin capless.

Let me get this right...tell an 18 year old he is smart enough to live on his own, to vote on our country's future, and to make life and death decisions in Iraq, but you can't be trusted to make an intelligent riding decision.

I voted against...but I think it should be all or none. If you are old enough to get a license, you should be subject to the same rules as everybody else.

 

[Dr Geekenstein]

Thinker, I am spot on with your opinion re: old enough to die for country, S/B old enough to make helmet decision.

Although I am 47 now, I clearly remember 1973, right out of US Army Boot Camp, still 17 years old, and cannot go into a bar for a beer but can be sent to Viet Nam to die for my country

Helmet Law here in Texas, no requirement to wear one. I do because I want to, you can go with or without and I care not. For those poor souls in Helmet Law states, sorry it is not your choice, should be.

Funny thing here in Ft Worth though....I can ride a 'Busa without one, but cannot ride a BICYCLE without one...same in Dallas...what the heck is wrong with our politicians ???

Don't think I need to tell anyone what I voted..

 

[sageronin]

I guess that I'm in the minority here ... I would vote for a helmet law. No philosophical reasons, just makes sense to me.

S R

 

[RaiderDm]

No helmet law for me. Goverment should be for me not against me. Law is to protect me from others, not from myself. Just my opinion.

 

[VaBusa]

I'm a minority here as well...guess having kids that I strap in car safety seats and wearing a seat belt every single time I get in my car shows me that not all laws are bad or in place to have "control" over me...

I wouldn't mind if there were a helmet law...

 

[HP Junkie]

totally against one, give them that much control and the next law will put hp limits on bikes.

 

[Racer 222]

I would vote against it.  I think it should be left up to person riding

I would agree but who pays medical bills of people severly injured? Only so much is paid by the person's insurance. Taxpayers pay the rest. It is a shame that you would have to be told to put a helmet on...

Marc "Howlin Mad"

 

[SLEEPERBUSA]

Marc,
I don't understand that statement.
MY health insurance pays 80% and "I" pay the rest.
Maybe some providers are different???

I am against it, BUT, ONLY if the person is covered by health insurance.
Shouldn't make BIKE insurrance go up. If you are gonna crash, you're gonna crash with, OR without the helmet on.

 

[mcoyote]

Well, I suppose if I lived in a lid-optional state there'd be a bunch of eligable track bikes I could pick up cheap -- just some new plastic here and there, safety wiring, etc. I'm sure the former owners' families and insurance companies will part with them for cheap .

 

[mcoyote]

...I don't understand that statement.
MY health insurance pays 80% and "I" pay the rest.
Maybe some providers are different??? ...

Er, moot point, really.

Emergency services are tied up, increasing response times for everyone else, and trauma center assets are occupied squeegying up brains instead of scraping out some road rash and send the rider on their way.

Plus, all of our insurance rates are affected because (as the insurance market is designed) we are sharing the risk that others choose to accept. Not my cup of tea. Families of clueless riders will also be in very unfortunate positions.

Yeah, it was the (to be deceased or incapacitated) rider's choice, but we long ago accepted in this country that the government is allowed to save us from our own stupidity (e.g., speed limits, automotive licensing, safety standards, etc.).

 

[NCBusa2001]

I vote against, although I will always ride with my lid (recently saved by one, bad karma to go without one now).

People should be allowed to choose. Lets see if Dawin's theory of natural selection is correct. Chris

 

[monsterspeedfreak]

Let me get this right...tell an 18 year old he is smart enough to live on his own, to vote on our country's future, and to make life and death decisions in Iraq, but you can't be trusted to make an intelligent riding decision.

Maybe it's just the 20 year old I ride with.......it's not so much that he can't make an intelligent riding decision........it's more to do with the fact that every single day he tells me he's invincible......and I'm pretty sure that would be an incorrect assumption........what do you think.
If you gave him the option he would deffinately not wear a helmet all the time........and we're all wise enough to know that it only takes one mishap to end a life.
Some, "deffinately not all"... young people may not remember  how fragile life is in the spur of the moment thought.
Example: My cousin jumps on his dirtbike about three weeks ago to go for a quick spin around the yard.....after 10 or 15 mins of riding he decides that he's gonna try and cross the 15' wide ditch between the house and the street which requires riding down the bank onto the culvert then blipping the throttle heavily to make it up the bank on the other side.
2nd attempt he looses control on accent and that's all he remembers.
He flipped over backwards hitting his head on the rocks below, knocking himself unconscious......unfortunately he slipped into the water and nearly drowned....no one was nearby to hear or see this happen....but I pulled in just as he was pulling himself out of the ditch.
He walked up to me soaked from head to toe with a serious headache and very large bump on his temple.
It only takes one small mistake, as we all know and life could end.
My feeling is that when we are young and don't have a wife and kids at home we may not always think about how quick death can come knocking.
I love this kid to death....he's my best friend for life, and I don't want to loose him due to carelessness.....maybe I'm being selfish hey.
I know that when I was 20 I took huge risks and ended up with a fairly bad migraine condition due to head trauma.....because of no helmet.
I'm not an un-intelligent person, and neither is my cousin....we just made youthful errors.......errors that I would deffinately not make at my present age.
Of course non of us are perfect, we all make mistakes daily....but I'm sure "most" of us make less mistakes at 30 than when we were 20.......or is that just me???



BTW......What's the legal drinking age in the States?

 

[SLEEPERBUSA]

Monster,
I hadn't even thought about that side of it.
I was only thinking of the "personal" medical bills.

But come to think of it. If you crash, with, OR, without a helmet, you are prolly gonna use the same ambulance and the same emergency tech, no?

Maybe the exception would be the squeegy cinerio???
It would make that situation a little less time consuming, all the grey matter in 1 bucket.

 

[monsterspeedfreak]

Maybe the exception would be the squeegy cinerio???
It would make that situation a little less time consuming, all the grey matter in 1 bucket.

Eww...grim thought Sleeper.

 

[dezzy7]

I'ld vote a RESOUNDING NO!!! Typically I always ride with a lid, but when i'm cruising in Myrtle Beach for bike week or just hanging out there i don't --But i may get one of the DOT approved german gestapo chrome helmets in the future. Either way I want a choice. NC has a mandatory helmet law. SC has one if you are under 21, over 21 its the riders choice.

I agree all of us share in the cost of insurance and all that jazz. We also share in the cost of educating kids but all of us don't have kids, and all of us don't get a child tax credit at the end of the year. Ok let me just get to the point otherwise I'll go on and on about this --The Government was not designed or established to make local laws or to rule the people on that level (which is why i think is does such a bad job doing it). Nor was it intentionally designed to protect us from our own stupidity (another reason why it doesn't do it that well).... However the more rights and privalges we are willing to give it the more Gov't will take.... Whether it be grey matter or terrorist or patriot acts history has shown that once a people begins to give up its rights for government protection it has to fight/overthrow the government to get those rights back. ITs a shame that some people make stupid decisions but that what freedom is all about-the right for people to make their own decisions regardless of what others think as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others.

But then I guess its alright to allow the government to curtail the activites or choices of one group by mandating particular choices and actions....as long as it doesn't affect me or my group... Well what if for safety's sake motorcycle's were limited to a topped speed of 75mph, or perhaps something more realistic suppose for the sake of the enviroment emission standards were regulated by the government in such a way that all aftermarket exhaust were illegal???

 

[HP Junkie]

Well what if for safety's sake motorcycle's were limited to a topped speed of 75mph, or perhaps something more realistic suppose for the sake of the enviroment emission standards were regulated by the government in such a way that all aftermarket exhaust were illegal???


thats my point ,people who dont care to speak up on issues and try to keep freedom of choice always cry after something is taken from them (example; 2 stroke motorcycles ,trailriding closures/ roadless initiative).

 

[jetset]

I'm aginit until you reach the age of 18 you should be required to wear one after that you're on your own.Its your llife.

 

[Wayneswa]

I guess that I'm in the minority here ... I would vote for a helmet law. No philosophical reasons, just makes sense to me.

S R

Not to bash your decision although you sound like you would vote "for" because it's the right thing to do. (Wear a helmet that is).
But if the law is defeated and you are not required to wear one doesn't mean you can't. Don't take away someone elses freedom because you would wear one. Let everyone make their own choices not YOUR choices.

 

[Wayneswa]

For.....or we wouldn't be able to buy insurance for less than $10K a year.  Hell, they're trying to exclude (blacklist) top-end sportbikes now. Imagine what the insurance lobby would do with the inevitable squidly carnage that would take place in the absence (nationally) of any helmet laws.  All those affluent 18-25 year olds who wipe out that new Gixxer 1K (with 50 miles on the clock) would also be smearing their gourds all over the pavement.

That question is an easy fix. Do what Texas does and require a certain amount of coverage if riding without a helmet. And require anyone under 21 to wear a helmet.
That question is for insurence legislation not helmet use!

 

[Racer 222]

Marc,
I don't understand that statement.
MY health insurance pays 80% and "I" pay the rest.
Maybe some providers are different???

I am against it, BUT, ONLY if the person is covered by health insurance.
Shouldn't make BIKE insurrance go up. If you are gonna crash, you're gonna crash with, OR without the helmet on.

What I am saying is for those who can't pay there own bills! I was in the hospital for 12 hours and it cost $21,000 dollars. I was told that I payed for the next 2 people who couldn't. That was from the doctor. So that is what I mean by the taxpayer paying it.

Marc