Posted on 07/03/2011 8:33:56 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
LAFAYETTE, NY (WSYR-TV) – New York State Troopers say one man is dead after a motorcycle crash near McClary Road and Route 11 in LaFayette on Saturday.
New York State Police say 55-year-old Philip Contos of Parish was part of a protest against motorcycle helmets.
Police say several motorists from the group ABATE (American Bikers Aimed for Education) of Onondaga County had come together to make a point that they didn't need their helmets.
The group was driving south on Route 11 in Lafayette around 1:30 p.m., headed toward Lake Como, just south of the Finger Lakes.
Police say Contos suddenly hit the brakes and lost control of the motorcycle.
According to troopers, Contos was thrown over his handlebars and hit the pavement as his 1993 Harley Davidson motorcycle skidded toward the guardrail.
Contos was still alive when crews arrived at the scene and was transported to Upstate University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to police, Contos was not wearing his helmet, as required by law. Witnesses say this decision was part of the protest.
Police say that based on evidence at the scene and from doctors, Contos would have survived if he had been wearing a DOT-Approved helmet.
(Excerpt) Read more at 9wsyr.com ...
I agree. I will support a law banning motorcycle helmets for motorbikes.
“I must respectfully disagree,if you can prove that you indemnify the public from your bad choices and risk taking, then by all means ride with no helmet.”
Again, I think this is the wrong argument. The problem is that we have a nanny state that protects people from their potential and actual poor decisions at great cost to taxpayers.
This nanny-state is failing, so we get a win-win - more personal responsibility and less government.
I think most folks who choose to ride helmet-less would be more influenced by the potential for directly burdening loved ones should they survive an accident with severe disability than by a government telling them what’s good for them.
When conditions deteriorate, I usually put on a helmet or buckle my safety belt.
It should be my decision, not the states decision.
It's a slippery slope to allow the government to mandate all the dos and don’ts in life. There are some exceptions that come to mind, these have to do with your personal actions infringing on other persons liberties.
One such case is driving while intoxicated.
Oh yes. And since cars account for 98% of all such need for those services it is imperative that automobile drivers buy the same insurance. Don't forget the skiiers, skateboarders, bicyclists... and the most dangerous of all devices... the bathtubbers. And since most deaths in auto accidents are the result of head injuries helmets should be mandatory in cars as well.
They weren't hurt. The deer died instantly. The cops took away the body (for who knows what purpose) but it could have been death all around in that weather.
Yeah, doors on cars give you that same “false” sense of security, but we do it anyway.
Because seat belts keep you in a position where the air bag won't kill you.
Because they are going to have to 'look for' the driver of a motorcycle, anyway, but it is a real pain in the butt to pick up the car and look under it.
Because there is far more revenue to be gained from citing auto drivers for not wearing a strap than there is for citing a motorcyclist for not wearing a lid.
Because car drivers submitted, and motorcyclists have remained a credible political force against such laws.
The bottom line, in either case, is that if the highways were populated with attentive, capable, and undistracted drivers, the need for safety devices would be far less, primarily confined to instances of mechanical failure.
What people don't realize, at least those who do not ride, is that driving with your 'car roof' on your head is tiring, reduces the ability to identify and respond to traffic situations which readily and rapidly develop into life-threatening ones.
If you can avoid a wreck, you need neither seat belts nor helmets.
Now, prayers up for the family and friends of the rider. I wonder if the brake malfunctioned?
Their next protest should focus on repealing the laws of physics.
The speed may be the problem. If you're traveling 50-80 mph and you lay that bike down, that helmet will do nothing more than keep your brain alive till they transport the body to the hospital and pronounce you dead of massive internal injuries.
By the way, folks shouldn't drink, or smoke, eat fatty foods, or charred meats such as bbq or carry firearms, eat eggs more than twice a week, ride in the back of a pickup truck on a country road, chew tobacco, drive over the speed limit, take a tablet from someone elses Rx, watch the butter/eat margarine...no no not margarine, can't take Midol or Tylenol to school....and on and on and on.
Personal liberty means get busy living your own life and stay the hell outta mine.
The government doesn't need to legislate every aspect of life as if they are babysitting the adult population.
We are already incredibly over-lawed, the government passed yet another 80,0000 laws, rules and regulations last year.
Smaller government = personal liberty.
fine with a helmet, crippled without one
fine with a helmet, dead without one
crippled with a helmet, dead without one
And all the cases where the helmet doesn't really matter.
The insurance companies would like helmet laws if the first two outnumber the third.
I've heard one reason for the seat belt law vs.lack of a helmet law is that once you need a helmet the wreck is over for the motorcyclist. In a car you still have a ton or two of rolling metal which is far better to have a driver able to steer and brake rather than be thrown out of driving position.
A Corpsman buddy of mine once told me that during his tour of duty in Okinawa, they'd always be bringing in Marines who were racing about the gravel roads on motor bikes, wearing only shorts.
There got to be so many, he got ticked off at their stupidity and started giving 'em less and less pain killer before digging out the imbedded stones.
In general, I agree with you. If I end up with something terminal, I don’t intend to use my public health insurance.
However, public roads are different, for none of us have the means to build our own roads therefore, by necessity, it is a public expense and nobody should have the right to cause the public to bear the costs of foreseeable possibilities like like motorcycle accidents. Nobody is requiring you to buy a motorcycle, and if you do buy one, you should be bearing the costs of the risk you are undertaking.
He is an idiot. Does he think he won't get caught with the bike and slide with it? I don't know where this "lay her down" crap started but it's a load of dung. Better to stay on the brakes. Even better get a bike with ABS and keep on the brakes.
And anyhow how does one "lay it down"? Do they practice? I'd love to see that. A buncha clowns in a parking lot practicing "laying down" their $20K Harleys.
Then the person needs to give up riding motorcycles all together. Helmet or no helmet, this is an inherently dangerous activity that could lead to severe injury or death regardless.
Personal liberty. If your actions do not infringe on another, you should not be subject to scrutiny of others, especially Uncle Sugar.
To be clear, my position is that helmets have saved countless lives. Safety equipment should be used at all times no matter the activity, but should not be mandated by the government as if to have big brother government babysitter.
I agree with you, but society shouldn’t have to bear the costs of your liberty.
>>Nobody is requiring you to buy a motorcycle, and if you do buy one, you should be bearing the costs of the risk you are undertaking.<<
There are private insurance policies to cover you. I agree, your activities should not infringe on another.
This includes “public” insurance, private is another story.
These policies are priced in such a way as to cover the level of risk.
Now, want to lower insurance rates dramatically? Get the 20 million illegal aliens out of this country and from behind the wheel on our highway and byways.
Just had to throw that in.
It’s an adult riders right...I support.
But you should wave liability rights unless blatant and insurance companies should have right to reject...mine does
if I’m killed on motorcycle or sky diving or private plane ownership and i did not notify Northwestern agent then they can refuse to pay the 2.5M I carry...it’s plainly written in
I have owned:
Kawasaki 750 H2 2 stroke triple tricked
Suzuki GS1100RS tricked
GPZ 1100 triple bored over and gassed and hand pipe
all extremely fast bikes ....even today
and I wore a helmet...if not I woulda died way back
I just got back from 6000 miles out west...saw plenty of folks without helmets...cool..fun...I might do it some on a thumper type road bike say in Chama or somewhere
but it’s foolish, no question
my 11 year old rides a KTM motocross 65...he wears a helmet
A fellow I know bragged about the pain he endured from a bike accident, which required more than 600 stitches. He then said he will continue to ride the same way. Although he seems reasonably intelligent otherwise (owns a successful business at 21), motorcycles do not contribute to his IQ.
Personal liberty should not vanish just because Uncle Sugar feels the need to babysit.
Don't you just feel....a tiny lil bit that the government makes rules, regulation and laws that cause one group or another to bear the cost of others folks liberties?
Off topic I know, but I could certainly lay out the case for duplicity in government. Lots of it.
You know...it’s nice to see one sad thread of death by less than cautious accident
and hardly any:
“they had it coming”
cackles about Darwin and cleaning the gene pool etc
guess a lot of freepers ride
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.