+1. Tell that to me after my accident when my melon bounced off the concrete like basketball. Anything but a full face would have left me mangled/dead.

 

Nobody is saying that wearing a helmet is a bad idea, but talking away an individual persons ability to choose to wear one is. Not having a law forcing helmets does not mean you can't wear one.

I don't need laws to tell me to wear one and I don't see why people that have never worn one think they have the right to tell me to do so.

Those who have worn helmets still don't have the right to tell me I have to, just as I don't have the right to tell them not to.

 

When it comes to privileges, the people with the power to grant them kinda do 74demon.

People are trying to look out for their fellow man... at least some of them genuinely are. Maybe they lost a friend / coworker / family member who chose not to wear a helmet. Maybe they saw an accident and it affected them.

Before anyone says it, yes there are people pushing this only for some personal gain. Money, political power, vengeance against bikers... but there are people who just give a chit about others.

 

But seriously. I think the culture of 'everyone helmet up' will go of the way of the seatbelt. Everybody does it, without even thinking about it. Your actions (not necessarily YOU the one reading this) may have a profound impact on the younger generation that will hopefully keep this sport going well after we are all dead. I'd like to see all them with a bucket on their head as well.

And for all those touting that your on a slippery slope of losing your freedoms? I think helmet laws are the least of your concerns. Don't let that whole NSA thing slip out of your minds too easily.

Oh, but what do I know. I live in a commie country with helmet laws and I don't have freedoms. Gotta go, time for my two minutes hate.

 

The discussion is about helmet LAWS, not helmets. No one here is saying helmets don't save lives - a helmet saved me from becoming a vegetable. But the statistics don't lie - the LAWS (I'll leave the word helmet out of it so as to not confuse you) in fact don't save too many lives. Look at the link - it's not biased, it's just the stats. Saving a handful of people per state per year in a country where over 6600 people die per day is not significant. That's all I said. That's all the article is said.

The government is only doing this for 1 reason. The only reason is to save money to the tax payers. That's it. When this law doesn't end up saving too much money over a few years, which it won't, the government will enact more laws. All you need to do Kuro, is look at the EU and UK. The helmet debate came up in the '70's. It was made mandatory in the UK in '73. Look where they are at now. Now the discussion is Hi-Viz gear and anti-tampering bans. They barely beat it this time.

And do you honestly believe the government should have acted like your mother, stepped in and said, "Hey Kuro, the bike is too powerful for the streets, you can't have it."? And as we go further down the slope, "Hey, Kuro, motorcycles are too dangerous for the street, you can't ride them". Do you honestly believe that's the government job to do so?

It's not the responsibility of anyone but yourself to keep you safe from yourself.


No, there isn't. All you, me, and everyone here is to the government is a number. That's it and that's all. When you have politicians start legislating under the guise of "caring for others" to enforce laws, it's intrusion to the "n" degree. As nice as it would be for someone in Washington to care about us motorcyclists - they don't and really, they can't. They aren't doing this so that you can make it home to your loved ones (it's just a by product of their intentions - it's a selling point).

If you really do care about others (and I know you do), encourage them to wear a helmet like you say you do. I do the same, I encourage people to wear helmets. But I'll never force people to do it through a law. It's not the place of anyone - even a government - to do so.

Unfortunately - it's all or nothing. You either leave personal responsibility up to people and encourage them to make the right decisions, or you force them to do what a faceless government thinks is okay (even if it differs from what you think). When you give just one little issue, the case is instantly made for any aspect of your life to any degree. Look at the lunacy in NYC (limiting salt, sugar, drink sizes, etc). This is the same exact thing - just in a different area of your life.

 

Good Lord you're wrong. If "everyone does it", why the hell are we spending millions of dollars to try and convince people to keep wearing seat belts? Our fed government is spending $500 million over 4 years , and then states are also spending their own money as well. Mass. spent $1.4 million a year to do so.

And it's the young generation that they're targeting because they're the ones being killed - teenagers. No matter what parents, schools, and PSA's have taught them - it doesn't work.

Big Bucks to Buckle Up


$1.4 Million Spent on Seat Belt Campaign With Dismal Results | WCVB Home - WCVB Home


And stop with the whole baiting thing because you live in Canada. I'm the first to admit that Canada (even before Obamacare here) was more economically free than America despite the fact that they have huge welfare programs and socialized medicine.


Helmet laws are the tip of the ice-berg when it comes to motorcycles, so yeah, I think I'll dig my heels in. You're right to point out that we have tons of problems with the slippery slope in our country. Thanks for making my point as to why we should make this the line in the sand.

 

When it comes to privileges, the people with the power to grant them kinda do

The hell they do. They are elected to represent me, not run my life for me. They have very selective hearing and enforce their own agendas under the cover of "protecting" us. If they continue to do things their way, the only thing we will be allowed to do is pay taxes.

They need to spend more time on things that matter instead of prompting me to donate my cash to fight the waste of my tax dollars by people who get paid with my tax dollars.

 

When it comes to privileges, the people with the power to grant them kinda do

- absolutely but only if there's enough lobbyists with corporate funds pushing them through.
All they need to do is tie helmets to the AR ban, budget approval and a debt ceiling hike and
all will be "normal" , well at least by todays standards.

Gee looks like I'm being cynical !

 

Sorry but I'm don't find the stats you give very valid, Conrice. PA kinda has a helmet law. And its "enforcement" is purely secondary. It's just an extra ticket on top of whatever you were stopped for. It even strikes me odd that if you take a MSF course, a helmet isn't required.

Those stats say nothing about how the law is actually enforced. PA is a great example. Because it is possible to legally ride without a helmet, cops do not stop anyone for not wearing a helmet. Other states I know have strict helmet laws where going without one is a reason to stop a biker. If a law isn't enforced, how is it supposed to affect the stats?

Or a better question would be is: what happened to fatalities in the states that went from no helmet law to a strictly enforced one

 

Um, no Kuro, PA does NOT have a helmet law.

50 State Helmet Law Review


They repealed it in 2003. Before 2003, it was mandatory, after 2003, 21 and over riders can choose to not wear a helmet. When you look at any online article - all you see is that the deaths are up over the 10 year period.

But it's just overall fatalities that are up. Registration has grown even further. Per rider - deaths are actually down - SINCE THE REPEAL OF THE HELMET LAW

Motorcycle deaths in Pennsylvania climb in 10 years since repeal of helmet law | TribLIVE