I would say rider choice...only because if they are stupid enough to ride without one, then lets weed out the short stalks....lmao

Darwinism at its finest! FTW!!

Personally, i would never go anywhere without gloves, a helmet, and my jacket minimum...im big on gloves cause i dont want this happening again:

 

People can't make informed decisions without knowing the facts. Your uncle bob telling you that a helmet killed his best friend, or losing out on the wind in your hair isn't knowledge.

If we believe people HONESTLY know what they're doing then fine, be free to do what you choose. I don't believe that the majority of people do know what the whole truth is... and so will choose based on the wrong information... so as a result, I think we need helmet laws. I also believe in small bikes for new riders so I guess I'm a stinking hippy taking away your freedom

 

Balancing individual rights vs. society's rights is always a ticklish situation. In this instance I feel the argument thatan individual has the right to destroy himself (or herself) without regard to others is a selfish one. EMTs, doctors, nurses, parents, siblings, friends - all have been mentioned in previous posts and won't be gone over here. But cost to society is also a factor. Often the cost of care isn't covered by insurance, and that cost is also often well beyond individual abillty to pay. Oneaccidentrecently resulted in costs exceeding $2,000,000 over several months. Insurance quit at $1,000,000. The gentleman's house was taken by the hospital as partial payment. The rest? Fund raisers? Medicaide?

Inour area, after a low speed get-off, a riderspent some thirtyyears in a nursing home totally paralyzed before passing away in his forties. In addition to the emotional burden on parents, relatives and friends this situation presents a financial burden on parents, and society at large.

Of course the effectiveness of a helmet in each instance could be argued. In the first instance, where braindamage from impact was a major cause, a helmet might have helped. In the second, where spinal cord injury was the major problem, a helmetprobably wouldn't have, but we'll never know for sure.

In a personal vein,a friend from my teenage years took a quick spin on a dirt bike one night sans helmet and left a widow and infant child behind. No injuries except where hehit his head on a rock. He'd be here had he been wearing a helmet.

Exception can betaken to the argument that a helmetless rider is a danger to none but himself. A grasshopper in the face, a blast of dust in the eyes, a tossed-up pebble from a tire - all can be a distractionthat leadsto an accident, one thathas the chance ofinvolving other vehicles and injuries or death to others.

Helmet laws arenot a bad thing. They protect society as well as the rider.

 

+1 to Dram. Personally I think our fire crews should just leave people in their wrecked cars if they were too stupid to wear a seatbelt. I think we should just leave the guy's brains on the road where he fell off his bike, too and move on to help someone who hasn't needlessly risked themselves foolishly.

The same holds true for extreme sports folks. You want to jump off a smoke stack, go right ahead. Just don't ask my crews to come get you off when your canopy gets caught on a post. You want to go climb a mountain with no safety precautions, don't ask for rescue personnel to go find your bits afterwards.

In case it wasn't clear, I support helmet laws.

 

donks IMO...i cant even fathom the idea of why you wouldnt wear gear...

 

While i really hate my freedom of choice to be taken, there are certain laws that i dont have a problem with, seatbelts and helmets being 2 of them.

 

Part of me is with Redz. If they want to spill their brains, f_ck em. Don't need that in the gene pool. However, that is shortsighted, selfish, and ignorant on my part. I l.ike the laws and I don't feel I am getting any of my inalienable rights taken away. The laws are basically saying, "Help me to help you...HELP ME TO HELP YOU!"

 

I keep getting an "internal server error" message when I try to vote. My unofficial vote is to support helmet laws, but only because they keep insurance rates low. Do I wear my seatbelt? Yes. Do I do it because it's the law? No.

 

I think of it like seat belt laws. You have stubborn people out there who no matter how much you prove that seat belts save lives, will still not wear them. Same with helmets, you have those riders that just won't wear helmets because they're "uncool" or they're flat out retarded. No matter how much you prove to them that helmets save lives, they still won't wear them. That's where the laws come into play.

So do I support the law, yes. Just because it protects some stupid people from their stupid decisions. There's a lot of good people out there who just make stupid decisions, and that's what the law is there for.

 

ok here is my .02. first off i wear my helmit all the time. not only is it the law but well..............it protects me of course, however with that said there have been a few times i haven't warn my helmit while rideing around. personaly i think you should have the choice to wear your gear or not. it is not a safety thing it is a freedom thing just like with seat belt. now before i you start going " well then drinking while driveing should be legel and so should drugs and all shorts of stuff " have you ever heard of a wreck that was caused by not wearing your helmit and that only. no it is speed, drinking and driveing and the list goes on as the cause. the death is causted because of someone not wearing there gear........not the accedent. if you don't want to ride with your gear............... and if you die then it is your falt. he or she could have prevented it but they didn't want to. like so many people have said "let them weed themselfs out". i am going to keep wearing my gear because it had saved my life a few times but i would like to have the choice. So I do support bikers choice. Just my .02 cents.