"Helmet? I don't need no steenking helmet!"

[devildog1]

It bothers me when someone wants to CHOOSE to do something unsafe and/or illegal (ride without a helmet) and force everyone else to pay for their mistakes when they crash.

Aaron Z

Let me guess here Aaron, humm, I would guess your a liberal Democrat, and your a follower of Chucky S, and Kristen Jelly Bowl and obama is your hero, I'm correct ain't I ?
DevilDog

 

[Gator6x4]

Now repeat slowly after me: “I am not responsible or accountable for my actions”, “I am not responsible or accountable for my actions”. It is absurd for anyone to think otherwise. I personally do not have a problem standing and watching someone jump off a fifty story building. I do have a problem with being asked to clean up after the entertainment is over though.

 

[aczlan]

Let me guess here Aaron, humm, I would guess your a liberal Democrat, and your a follower of Chucky S, and Kristen Jelly Bowl and obama is your hero, I'm correct ain't I ?
DevilDog

Close, but no cigar

Aaron Z

 

[TripleR]

Not to mention we have to define dangerous.

Skydiving may seem obvious. But what about snowmobiling or even operating a tractor.

I had a teacher tell me it was just plain stupid to go into a silo to level it off after filling it because of the silo gas. I asked him how it should be done and he had no response except that it was stupid to do it.

Point is we could never define dangerous or risky.

Good points; I just looked up "Most Dangerous Occupations" and farming/ranching was number four.

There are posts after posts on here about people injured/killed operating tractors. There are a bunch of threads about mowing on slopes and some on logging/clearing timber, another dangerous occupation/activity.

I for one don't make a dime off of the vast majority of what I do on any of our tractors, yet it appears that I am placing myself at risk for fun/relaxation/self satisfaction.

I am sure I am the only one who does this, so I guess it doesn't count. I should probably sell my tractors, Rhino, Grizzly along with all my equipment and just let the weeds and grass grow.

I keep reading stuff that I am also more at risk from my own firearms than in using them to protect myself and family, so I guess I need to sell all my handguns. I don't subsistence hunt, so there goes my deer rifle.

My truck is safer for me, but more dangerous to the Prius drivers, so I don't know what to do there; may have to sell that too.

 

[crazyal]

Count me out on that one, money is not so important to me that I can abide human suffering to save a few bucks.

It's not the money I mind so much it's the fact that our government is not for profit. Good in some was but when the money means nothing to them (because they never worry about the bottom line) then it gets wasted. Our elected leaders spend it in places that will buy them the most votes. But I digress.

 

[crazyal]

Back in the day, I raced dirt bikes. (Enduros and Hare Scrambles) One of my sponsors was a bike shop near here. The owner had a sign made up to promote sales of higher end helmets. It pretty much summed up my thoughts on wearing helemts on a motorcycle.

"If you have a $20 brain, wear a $20 helmet"
"If you have a $500 brain, wear a $500 helmet"
"If you have NO brain, wear NO helmet"


Not sure what this means, but I wore a $300 helemt with a $500 paint job.....

A group of us formed a club, leased a farm, and held AMA sanctioned Hare Scrambles. We had a rule that was strictly enforced. If you were caught so much as just sitting on a running bike while NOT wearing a helmet, you were banned from the property. Anything less than that would have been a proverbial shot in the foot to the image of the sport.

A group of us use to put on an AMA hare scramble up here. Fun but lots of work. We ended up just making a weekly meet club that had about 10 local tracks we would ride on every Thursday night.

 

[crazyal]

You might want check your sources. Several studies show otherwise (and disprove the flawed study that agreed with you):
Motorcycle helmets reduce spine injuries after collisions; Helmet weight as risk to neck called a 'myth'
Q&A: Motorcycle helmet use laws (see the drawbacks page and citation 8)
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pubs/811159.pdf
http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/Traf...les/Associated Files/MotorcycleHelmet2005.pdf

Aaron Z

All I know is when I raced dirt bikes I started off with a cheap helmet. I figured since it was going to see lots of abuse it would be cheaper to just replace it often. After about a year and a half I bought an expensive lightweight helmet for special events. After switching back and forth a few times what I found out is that extra weight plays a big part in how hard your head hits things and how much strain gets transferred to your neck and spine.

Back then your choices were fiberglass or kevlar composite. A fiberglass helmet would weigh more than 5 pounds, or about half the weight of the human head. When you fell (if you could) it's a natural reaction to try to hit the ground with your shoulder and use your neck muscles to keep your head from hitting the ground.

I don't care how many studies someone does to try and prove their point, I lived it and I've learned. I choose to wear a helmet because it's worth it to me.

 

[crazyal]

So how many of us here grew up not wearing a helmet while riding bicycles? Or while skiing? Or how many other sports? How would you feel if the government said before you could even sit on a bicycle you need to have a helmet, safety glasses, and shin/ elbow guards on?

 

[BlacknTan]

I'm not a biker, but if I was, I'd PROBABLY wear a helmet most of the time.

I Am a driver. I wear my seatbelt SOMETIMES. Not because it's the law, but I sometimes feel it helpful to my long term survival, and it's SOMETIMES necessary in the silly little cat and mouse game with law enforcement.
Seatbelts are the law in N.Y., but school buses carry our children on the roads completely unprotected, and often with less tham competent and attentive drivers
I used to be a smoker. I gave it up 30 or more years ago for my own health and that of my family. I still consider pricing a socially undesirable habit out of existence to be both morally reprehensible and a burden on the less financially well heeled. As with most things in life, the monied classes do not care about the cost of tobacco products, and will still be able to enjoy their vices to the fullest!
I use alcohol... Rarely to excess anymore. I don't advocate drunks driving, but if society truly cared, it would be easy enough to curtail by posting a cruiser outside a bar at closing time, or at random. But, other considerations enter into the mix, and they are usually monetary... Surprise.. Surprise!

In short, rules are meant for the masses... The sheep amongst us. The upper classes always have more freedom and choices simply because they can afford it. It's pie in the sky to think that laws are applied evenly.

 

[Skyco]

For those that think helmets should be required, how about an age limit on motorcycle riding ... say 55? Certainly the average 55 year old doesn't have the reaction time of an average 20 - 30 year old.

Whoa there beppington....I'm over 55 and I promise you I can ride better and safer than a huge percentage of youngsters I see on the road, and I don't ride an overweight ill handling cruiser either

And really maybe it is the car drivers who need to stop at 55 since their vehicles have more mass and are much more deadly to others....at least on a bike the vast majority of the time an accident only kills the rider.

Maybe we shouldn't allow any older more experienced airplane pilots either...

I think you missed the point................ and BTW They do require airline pilots to retire at 60!

No I think you missed the point. I have no problem with testing drivers after 55 to see if they still have the ability to safely operate a vehicle. To say a flat age of 55 fits everyone is just wrong.

BTW the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots is 65 not 60, never mind we were talking about 55 and I said airplane pilots not airline pilots.