lrd@sri-unix (12/16/82)
A quote from GREG's article: "... I support everyone's right to be stupid, as long as no one *else* suffers directly." Have you ever been the first to arrive at the scene of a serious accident involving an unhelmeted rider? I have, and suffered directly! Among other things, I lost a perfectly good, and expensive, lunch. I can't count the number of times I have seen someone taking a young child out for a nice motorcycle ride -- with no helmet. Education, rather than enforcement, is the ideal answer. However, we don't appear to be using this effectively. On fair-weather days here in Illinois, unhelmeted riders are in the majority (foul weather seems to restrict the riding population to the serious motorcyclists, almost all of them helmet users). Before becoming actively involved in motorcycle safety education, I agreed with Greg -- let them kill themselves. I have changed my opinion for a number of reasons: - Insurance rates, for motorcyclists as a class, don't NEED to be as high as they are. This affects me directly. - The general public's attitude toward motorcyclists is noticeably different in areas, and countries, where safety considerations are mandated and enforced. This affects me directly. - The worse the safety record, the greater the probability of uninformed beaurocrats pushing for all kinds of restrictive measures (look at Joan Claybrook, recently with the DOT). This affects me directly. Helmet use legislation, while probably needed, would be too discriminatory against a minority of road users. I would welcome legislation mandating helmet use as part of a law requiring seat belt use in all cars and busses on roads where the speed limits are higher than typical urban speed limits. Many countries do this, and it works! L. R. DuBroff BTL -- Naperville, Illinois
ber (12/17/82)
#R:ih1ap:-11500:harpo:7000004:000:672 harpo!ber Dec 16 20:58:00 1982 Last time I was riding through the backroads of central Pennsylvania I was struck by a large stinging insect which lodged itself between my haed and my helmet. I nearly wiped out on gravel trying to stop and get the %%$#*&^# helmet off my head to free the monster. I was stung on the ear before I could get it off. Point: What are the chances of a projectile causing an accident because use or non-use of a helmet. Before we get too far into this, helmet law discussions were the very first topic in this news group. Shall I post the archives or shall we just drop it here and lobby our legislators and our courts to express our varied opinions. brian redman