Posted on 11/16/2010 3:37:26 PM PST by WOBBLY BOB
Washington (CNN) -- The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday called on states to require all motorcycle riders wear helmets.
The announcement, made at a news conference in Washington, is part of the NTSB's "Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety" -- an initiative directed at state governments.
The board added motorcycle safety to the list this year and dropped recreational boating safety -- an area it said improvements have been made.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
“The gubbermint is there to protect me against myself and make sure I have a “social net” to fall back on. It’s in the Constitution, didn’t you know that?”
Just what we need,Some unelected pinhead calling the shots!
I have taken bees, wasps, and yellow jackets to the face at speed. The first time it happened, I thought I'd been struck with a spent bullet- I almost came off the bike. There wasn't a stinger sting- it was just raw mass at speed. I picked the bits of it off of me later- so I was able to identify it. The second time I took a hit between the top of my goggles and the helmet. That felt like a rock out of a wrist-rocket. It produced about five miles of really vile language- it hurt like a sonofabitch.
Now, imagine taking a hit like that squarely in an unprotected eye. The eye will be destroyed and you're going to come off the bike at speed trying to claw what's left of it out of your head because you've got a yellow jacket inside of your eyeball.
Nightmare. No thanks. I always wear a helmet, but I have a horror of riding without my eyes covered. If my helmet went missing off of my parked bike a few miles from home- I'd chance it. If my eyewear disappeared, I'd walk somewhere and buy at least some plastic shades or something to get me home.
While stationed in Hawaii—which does not require helmets to be worn—I had a date with a girl who was afraid of motorcycles. So the plan was to ride over to Waikiki where she lived, park the bike, and hang out around there. However, once she saw me pull up, she changed her mind and wanted to go for a ride. That was no problem. I could hand over my helmet to her, and I could ride helmetless. Perfectly legal. It turns out she loved bikes, and every subsequent date included a cruise.
Once I was out of the service, I moved back to NYC. There are helmet laws there. This same scenario I encountered in Hawaii happened a few times. Except that once I had to say no because it would take too long to ride back home and grab a second helmet. Another time I simply risked getting pulled over. She loved the short ride. I didn’t as I was constantly scanning for cops. That was probably rather dangerous for her, as I spent more time looking in my mirrors and down side streets than I did looking ahead for hazards. It’s a serious infringement on my freedom, these helmet laws.
Eventually I bought a bike with a sissy bar so I could just shove a spare helmet on it. Lost two helmets that way. One fell off while riding, one was stolen. That’s the nature of the big city. If I want to see a movie, I either have to carry in a big f’n helmet and keep it on my lap with my popcorn and soda, or I have to leave it out on the bike and hope no one snatches it. The whole time I’m trying to relax and watch a movie, I’m stressing over whether or not I’ll have to sneak home without getting pulled over.
I now have a steady girlfriend, and she has her own helmet. It’s too nice to leave on the back of the bike, so I can’t even pick her up from work spur of the moment. We have to plan ahead of time whose house she’s leaving at. As if the two of us aren’t mature enough to make the decision that we can risk riding five miles at no faster than 30 mph without a helmet. I’m glad the government has stepped in to discipline us. (I have two riding without helmet tickets to my name so far.)
If nothing else, helmet laws have converted me from an authoritarian conservative to a libertarian conservative.
that's how it is here in MN. you have to wear eye protection,but not a helmet.
good ol’ Rolley!
Right on, Bob.
As a biker who prefers to usually ride without a helmet, but has to wear one in Virginia, I’ll quote an expert: “Helmets save lives - but not many.”
Even a full-face helmet will rarely save a life in any motorcycle accident above 45 mph. The human body just isn’t designed to absorb the shock of hitting solid objects at that speed, and internal injuries will almost always kill if an object is hit regardless of helmet.
No one has ever done statistical research on how many lives are saved by wearing helmets, mainly because it would be so difficult to determine whether a helmet would have saved a life or not. Doubtless there are some accidents where helmets save lives. But they appear to be few.
But if the gov. can dictate helmets, where do the safety protection requirements stop, as many here have said? Take the logic to its conclusion, and I should never leave my home. Just like taxes.....how much is enough?
A true story I love is a biker friend rides his V-Twin Yamaha to work 12 months a year, wears a full-face and “Robo-Cop” superman suit. He is a nurse anesthetist in the area’s largest public hospital and works in the ER. Initially his co-workers would say, “Look! Motorcycle accident!” every time someone was brought in from one.
He silenced them when he began saying, “Look! Car accident!” every time one came in, and they were 20x as many in number.
Have to disagree with you. And the fedgov themselves back me up on this.
In a ten year study from 1990 to 2000, the fedgov compiled what stats they could. I think it was called the FAR study. Don’t ask what it stands for, I can’t remember any more.
Now, here’s the shocker. They found that a helmeted head injured biker cost more to hospitalize than a helmetless head injured biker. The report got buried in some vault, but I think its still available.
Now, before your knee starts twitching to a chin cracking jerk, here’s why: Helmetless riders may die. Dead is dead, dead is cheap. Helmetless head injured riders for the most part can be rehabed to some point of self sufficiency. For example, Garry Bussey. Even though they may not look so good, for example Garry Bussey.
A helmeted head injured biker most likely will live and even look pretty good, and that’s the really expensive part. The helmeted head injured biker usually sustains A CATASTROPHIC NECK INJURY THAT ENDS IN PARALYSIS that requires hospice care 24/7. Rehab is extremely rare.
The bottom line is that helmets kill and cripple on a huge scale. But because its a NECK injury and not a head injury, its swept under the rug. That’s why NTSB ran away from their own report.
This major point is why many state legislators found for repealing mandatory helmet laws.
ALSO,
NTSB, by it’s actions, are breaking a law that was passed under Bill Clinton, that prohibits them from lobbying. I guess they figure in this climate of lawless bureaucrats run amok in DC, they don’t have to follow no steenkin law.
Yes, there is another side to the coin, and sometimes it holds a dark secret.
Most states that do not mandate helmets DO mandate goggles or windshield, for precisely that reason.
How many of the motorcycle related patients were actually wearing a helmet when the accident happened?
If you go head first into a car, a wall, a pole (I think you get the idea here) you die, you are not a patient somewhere. When your brains leak out of your skull, you die.
The truth is that when we modified the helmet law here in PA, fatalities went on the decline. And have done so for every year since.
NO one knows why for sure, but the thinking among us riders is that when going lid free, you slow down, put your radar antenna up, and drive more carefully.
I know, I’ve experienced the feeling myself.
But the one fact is, helmet’s efficacy has found to top out around 16mph. After that, the incidence of neck trauma starts to climb significantly. Over 40 mph, its a crap shoot. Over 50 or 60, it really doesn’t matter.
Saw an accident, guy got hit head on by a drunk. Tore him mostly in half. The headline? Biker Dies in Crash, He Was Not Wearing a Helmet!
Some things never change.
I can't think on my own and I'm irrational, that's why I need a government bureaucrat and politician who will not be corrupt and think in best interests make these decisions for me.
Ever notice-
In the US our entire Constitution and Economic model is based on the “rational person.” Economics 101 teaches that, just like courts use a reasonable standard and rational person for their basis.
In socialism there is no rational person.
What's next? Maybe we need to suspend elections too? People in this country are obviously not smart enough, not experienced enough to make such a decision and we should have professionals and trained experts run our lives, right? Socialism is the world upside down.
Excellent post! I must compliment PA bikers as some of the most resolute in the nation.
A year ago I was in PA taking care of my mother who was dying of cancer. I saw bikers on the road every day, and I’m not just talking about the nice days. November in Western PA can be nasty, and was last year. I saw guys on the road every day regardless.
Invest in bubble wrap and NERF.
I’m with you. I’m utterly against nanny state helmet laws, but I never ride my motorcycle or bicycle without one. But it is my choice. And if I have to ride a few blocks without a helmet, I don’t have to worry about the brownshirts.
“Yeah,
I can’t think on my own and I’m irrational, that’s why I need a government bureaucrat and politician who will not be corrupt and think in best interests make these decisions for me.
Ever notice-
In the US our entire Constitution and Economic model is based on the “rational person.” Economics 101 teaches that, just like courts use a reasonable standard and rational person for their basis.
In socialism there is no rational person.
What’s next? Maybe we need to suspend elections too? People in this country are obviously not smart enough, not experienced enough to make such a decision and we should have professionals and trained experts run our lives, right? Socialism is the world upside down.”
Nice post and right on, Thank you.
I would bet that most of those patients WERE, in fact wearing helmets.
Those without helmets never made it that far.
Based on the premise that ‘we shouldn’t have to pay for their foolish decisions’, helemts should be outlawed
I guess you confirmed my suspicions.
Helmets should be outlawed, or we will all ‘end up paying for their foolishness’.
Yeah, I got a helmet, but once the ol’ lady saw how much insurance I carry she hid it......
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