Piggybacking on the seatbelt question: do you think motorcycle riders/drivers should have to wear helmets?
Asked by
jca (
36062
)
October 4th, 2008
this is similar to the seat belt question. concerns big insurance bills for trauma or death as opposed to individuals’ rights and freedoms. by the way, i personally feel motorcycle riders and drivers should have to wear helmets. i also wear my seatbelt.
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16 Answers
My answer depends on my mood in that moment. I agree with both sides. I also do both and would want my friends and family to do the same.
As a rider, I always wear a helmet. Not because I have to, but because it’s more comfortable.
In different states there actually isn’t a helmet law. (e.g. Ohio)
So, in this instance my comments would be the same, albeit milder. With the caveat that I think that there should be helmet laws nationwide.
Yeah, working as a 911 dispatcher I’ve heard too many gruesome details of motorcycle accidents. That’s what makes me very pro fining and pro helmet law.
In ERs I have commonly heard motorcycles referred to as organ donors. Not the drivers, the bikes.
I was in Ohio and on a bikle run on the night the helmet law was repealed. I thought it was so cool to “feel free” having the wind blow through my hair, and I enjoyed the night just for rebelion’s sake. But now (older and wiser) I can’t understand why anyone would want to take that risk.
While I agree that it’s ill-advised to not wear one, people have a right to do stupid things. Like not wearing seatbelts. Personally, I always wear one, but why should my government require me to? My choosing not to wear protective equipment is not interfering with other motorists’ rights. The extreme majority of human affairs shouldn’t be any of the government’s business.
I ride and ALWAYS wear a helmet, even in no helmet law states. I do not think it should be legislated however. I agree with Joey.
I’m even more ambivalent on this one. It could be argued that seat belts save other lives, besides just the belted. Helmets can only help the rider, no one else. I don’t think it should be a law. However, I’m secretly (well not anymore) glad that it is ; )
The question is why wouldn’t you want a helmet on riding a motorcycle? I mean come on if you fall your done. Anything could happen. I do not care how experienced you are.
I personally always wear a helmet. My cousin was in a wreck as a teenager and wasn’t wearing a helmet. He sustained brain damage and has never been the same. Now, 30 some years later, he still serves as a grim reminder to always wear one.
However, I’m against helmet laws. The government doesn’t need to control every aspect of our lives. Whether to wear a helmet or not only concerns the rider (and whomever else may be stuck with their medical bills, should the worst happen).
Divalicious: but aren’t we all stuck with their medical bills, indirectly, in the form of all our insurance rates being higher?
@jca: Yes, but we are also stuck with higher costs for all the other stupid choices people make: smoking, drinking, eating fatty food. Where do we draw the line?
maybe the line is what’s enforceable (spelled right?). like you can’t easily enforce what people eat (since they can eat in the privacy of their homes), same with drinking (although you can enforce drinking and driving, you couldn’t enforce what people drank in private), fatty foods same thing, you’d have to follow someone 24/7 to enforce their eating habits. but you can enforce someone on a motorcycle without a helmet on.
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