[Willie Green]

They ought do away with the law mandating bicycle helmets for youngsters as well.
All that one did was create an instant market for expensive, designer-styled styrofoam coffee cups that the kids had to wear on their heads. I never could see out how those things actually protect the kids from anything.

[Willie Green]

FYI

[mountaineer]

Should they crack their coconuts, however, members of this staunchly self-reliant bunch shouldn't want to milk the public dole.

Exactly!

[EggsAckley]

"this staunchly self-reliant bunch shouldn't want to milk the public dole."

Don't count on it.

[backhoe]

Willie, I don't think I still have a link to it, but I did some web research of helmets a few years ago, and it seems like the conclusion was it was a kind of crap shoot- sometimes they help, sometimes they cause worse injuries.

FWIW, I rode big bikes on the street for years, and never cracked my head. But in truth, an old riding buddy of mine used to say the same thing- until he whacked his hemeted head on the pavement one day.

What I really think is ( that like with seatbelts ) that the rider/driver should be given the information about wrecks & injuries, and allowed to make their own choice- it's their head.

[lelio]

Motorcyclists without helmets who relish easy-riding "freedom" are a Darwinian argument for improving the species through natural selection.
Instead we're rallying against Darwin and keeping the morons of our culture around to breed when they should of been killed off. What's the result? A stupidier society!

[tdadams]

Boo hoo. The state should not be in the nanny business. Let adults make their own decisions and pay the consequences. Anything that cleans the idiots from the gene pool is OK by me.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Motorcyclists without helmets who relish easy-riding "freedom" are a Darwinian argument for improving the species through natural selection.

Been riding a motorcycle for better than 30 years with no helmet im not about to start now !If you drive defensively your well safe enough.

By the way a cocoanut is a heck of alot harder than someones head ive seen alot of bike wrecks over the years and alot of them were biker error never trust a 4 wheeler because they pay no attention to a biker !

[prisoner6]

They ought do away with the law mandating bicycle helmets for youngsters as well.

HERE HERE! I'll wear a motorcycle helmet if I'm doing some serious riding because I "feel" safer. But as far as I'm concerned it a "personal choice" thing. The same with bicycle helmets - (notice how fewer kids and adults are riding?) - and even seatbelts for that matter.

Do you know the status of SEGWAY in PA? FWIW I'd love to have one and would use it a lot. But so far I think they still come under PA's antiquated traffic laws so you have to have a license, insurance and a helmet.

I'd like to see electric or under 50cc (maybe even 100cc or horsepower limit) bikes and scooters exempted from PA's regulations!

I've spoken with tom Petrone about this and basically it ain't gonna happen.

prisoner6 - still on board Maglev BTW

[The Hon. Galahad Threepwood]

I never could see out how those things actually protect the kids from anything.

I bounced my head off the pavement a few months back, and I was glad I was wearing a helmet.

[radioman]

Riders wearing helmets are 73 percent less likely to die in a crash. They are 85 percent less likely to suffer serious injury

Where do they get these numbers?
I've been searching, but can't find any evidence that states with no helmet laws have higher death and injury rates than states with helmet laws.

[Imal]

Should they crack their coconuts, however, members of this staunchly self-reliant bunch shouldn't want to milk the public dole.

This is the crux of the argument for mandating everything such as helmets, seatbelts, etc.

The solution, however, is not more legislation restricting civil liberties, but the elimination of the public dole.

[goodnesswins]

What I don't understand, here, in Washington, the State...is that we are ticketed if we do NOT wear a seat belt (in cars) but motorcyclists don't have to wear seatbelts......????

[Mr Rogers]

Here's a possible solution - allow folks to ride without helmets, but exempt both the state and insurance companies from paying their medical bills if injured without a helmet.

That way, the only one they will hurt is themselves...and their families.

[FreedomNotSafety]

If I can decide whether or not to wear a helmet can I also decide how to buy my energy? If I am so stupid as to continue to purchase oil (and its derivatives) then I am free to suffer the consequences in 30 years. Who is decides you or the US gov?

[nightdriver]

I chose to wear a helmet. I think it's a good idea, especially when a rock comes out from between a pair of truck duals and conks your coconut. I also think it's a TERRIBLE law.

[maxwell]

They ought do away with the law mandating bicycle helmets for youngsters as well. All that one did was create an instant market for expensive, designer-styled styrofoam coffee cups that the kids had to wear on their heads. I never could see out how those things actually protect the kids from anything.

Well I got konked on the coconut over a decade ago from screwing around on a bicycle, unconscious and convulsing for half an hour and I was even wearing a bicycle helmet. I'd be dandelion juice if I didn't have that thing on. Bashed the helmet in good too. I was durned lucky.

The decision to cap kids up should be left to the parents though. I wasn't even aware that there was any sort of legislation about it.

Motorcycle helmets should be a personal choice as well... It ain't like it's gonna make a whole helluvalotta difference... I personally go full-face and don't have any plans to change that. I guess it does make me "feel" better. Keeps some of the noise and winged life out of my head...

[RJL]

Motorcyclists without helmets who relish easy-riding "freedom" are a Darwinian argument for improving the species through natural selection.

Riders wearing helmets are 73 percent less likely to die in a crash. They are 85 percent less likely to suffer serious injury.

People riding in cars will also be much less likely to suffer serious injury or death. Are automobile occupants without helmets “a Darwinian argument for improving the species through natural selection” as well?

Should helmets be mandated in cars?

[TopDog2]

I hit a deer while riding my bike about three weeks ago. I was only going about 35-40 mph when he jumped out in front of me. I ended up with a shattered left shoulder and a dislocated right thumb. Four hours of surgery, a metal plate and 14 screws later, I might get back full motion in about a year.

The week before, another guy hit a deer just down the road from I nailed mine. He is still on a ventilator I'm told and might not make it.

I was wearing a helmet and he wasn't. From the chunk of fiberglass that is missing from my helmet, I'd guess I'd be in the same shape as he is if I had decided not to wear my helmet that day.

All that said, I think helmet wearing should be up to the individual as long as they are an adult.

[gorush]

Twenty states require all riders to wear helmets, three have no law at all, and 27 allow adults to ride without helmets.

Riders wearing helmets are 73 percent less likely to die in a crash. They are 85 percent less likely to suffer serious injury

These stats are misleading as you must also include the odds of being in a crash in the first place, which reduce the aforementioned percentages to single digits at most, and probably to fractions of one percent. Laws made to protect one from oneself used to be assumed to be unconstitutional, in todays socialistic atmosphere that is sadly no longer the case.

[Jeff Gordon]

Those under 21 are not mature enough to responsibly court early death or disability.

Yet they are mature enough to serve and die in our Armed Forces?