Why there are helmet laws....

[DogWomble]

I am a full advocate of bike helmets....

Back wen I was 15 or so, I had a pushbike accident. To cut a long story short, my head hit the ground and the bike flipped three times and landed on top of me, with either the wheel or the seat (I can't remember which) getting me in the back of the head, leaving a nice looking split iun hte polystyrene in my helmet.

Needless to say, the helmet needed replacement. But the $25 expense is certainly better than the alternative outcome, which would have been minimum severe brain damage - considering the impact, I could have possibly died had I not worn a helmet. I was originally thinking "it's only a short ride, I won't bother" but luckily the gods were with me that day and gave me a bit of common sense.

[DogWomble]

So nobody is even a little concerned that next they'll be enforcing mandatory safe sex? 'Cuz you're far more likely to pick up syphillis or AIDS than you are to die falling off a bicycle while riding half a mile to school, after all.

And do you honestly believe that the law won't start requiring that we do these "sensible safety" things on our own property soon enough? When does it end?

We've had compulsory bike helments in Oz now for a good number of years.

Funnily enough, I'm in complete control of my sex life, thank you very much for asking....

[Sasq]

damn pillow biter

[DogWomble]

fkn breeder

[Dilitante1]

Cant call him that yet DW, he dont have any munchkins following him around (yet)

[DogWomble]

I notice the subtle use of the word 'yet'...

Come on, sasq, we need some anklebiter sasqs running around the forum....

[Tjalfe]

I notice the subtle use of the word 'yet'...

Come on, sasq, we need some anklebiter sasqs running around the forum....

at least Let him get through the divoce first

[Gurm]

For those of you who think that such laws won't be passed banning things on our own property, or mandating behaviors on our own property... they already HAVE. It was a rhetorical question, because it's already happening. I'm not being paranoid, the government has little or no respect for private property and personal liberties as it is.

EVERY behavior that they mandate is another step closer to a totalitarian state.

And I'm really not paranoid. I don't walk around shouting about these things, or even worrying about them. But I see each and every bit of control for what it is.

And as for those of you who live places with mandatory helmet laws and your government has NOT gone crazy with power... just remember that we're discussing the USA - where the government has never demonstrated an ability to NOT go crazy with power.

Edit: I wanted to add another thing or two here. Our supreme court often makes decisions that seem to hurt people. They do so in order to NOT set precedent. Other countries have demonstrated exceptional clarity in NOT abusing precedent. Australia is a good example, as are many scandinavian countries. But here in the good ol' US of A, things don't work like that. In other countries they limit the freedom of speech. This usually works out ok, and nobody feels like they're being repressed in Australia or France. But here, we hold the 1st amendment SACRED, because we KNOW that the first time anyone overrides any part of it for any reason, it's as good as gone. A powerful contingent in this country is trying to ban semi-automatic rifles. That is generally a good thing - nobody needs those kinds of guns for defense or sport. HOWEVER, it is the stated goal of many liberal lawmakers to ban ALL handguns - something that the people of the USA do not want. Therefore, we are forced to support the ownership of semi-automatic weapons even if we don't like them, because getting rid of them is the first step towards elimination of all handguns. If it's possible to say "that gun is TOO dangerous, so it is illegal", then it's possible to say "well, ALL shotguns are too dangerous", followed by "all handguns are too dangerous". How is that different from saying "well, riding a motorcycle without a helmet is too dangerous, let's make it illegal" and then proceeding to "riding a bicycle without a helmet is too dangerous, let's make it illegal"... what's the next step there? I think you can guess! And it's foolish and disingenuous to claim that this phenomenon does not occur clear across the board. So inevitably, we WILL see freedoms lost that we'd prefer to not have lost as a result of helmet and seatbelt laws. It's just a question of WHEN, not IF.

[KvHagedorn]

Gurm, do you think any five-year-old should be perfectly free to have a nuclear warhead with a big red detonate button? In theory, this is what the second amendment is all about.. giving the common citizens equal power to rise up against their government, but this is impossible now.. even if hundreds of thousands rose up with their uzis and AK47s, the government could send up a few predators and nuke them from their bunker in Virginia. The spirit of the second amendment is already outdated.. partly because the people willingly divested themselves of this power at the behest of Woodrow Wilson. He started the income tax and presided over WWI, during which the US used all that tax revenue to develop weapons far, FAR beyond what even any normal billionaire could afford to oppose.

So we already started down this slope at least 90 years ago...

And the ideals of the revolution and constitution are like every other ideal that looks good on paper, but doesn't cut it in the real world. That's why nations by definition need a cohesive homogeneous culture, to deal with things in their own particular way, as every country has to do.. but we screwed ourselves out of that as well.. That's why Rome died, and that's what will kill us. It's why we cannot agree on anything and sue each other over hot coffee. It's why our "leaders" are essentially the powerless cuckholds of big corporations.. powerless and soulless, without the slightest connection to the people who elect them and whom they are supposed to serve. At least we can agree on certain very basic things, though.. like to give five-year-olds bike helmets and take away their tactical nuclear missles.

[Jessterw]

Well except for the fact that we've never been a homogenous culture. That was taken care of when our ancestors started setting foot on this continent, hailing from... wait for it... different countries with different cultures.

There have been times in our limited past that we've come close to being what one might consider a homogenous culture, but it was always at the expense of some minority or non-vocal segment of the population.

The rest was pretty well reasonable.

[DogWomble]

Australia is a good example,

I think Gurm has missed a few posts here. He says that the laws will go mad because compulsory helmet laws are being introduced, and then cites Australia as a place where laws don't go mad where it has already been mentioned that we've had compulsory helmet laws for quite some tme

[Dr Mordrid]

The Top 15 dangerous sports in America in terms of ER visits:

1. Basketball: 512,213
2. Bicycling: 485,669
3. Football: 418,260
4. Soccer: 174,686
5. Baseball: 155,898
6. Skateboards: 112,544
7. Trampolines: 108,029
8. Softball: 106,884
9. Swimming/Diving: 82,354
10. Horseback riding: 73,576
11. Weightlifting: 65,716
12. Volleyball: 52,091
13. Golf: 47,360
14. Roller skating: 35,003
15. Wrestling: 33,734

Bikes send half a million people a year to ER's from state conveyance routes and the state shouldn't regulate the safety equipment used thereon?

Hmmmm......

Dr. Mordrid

[KvHagedorn]

update.. supposedly there is no brain injury.

http://media3.steelers.com/article/65305/

[KvHagedorn]

and this..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Rothlisberger

Prior to the accident, in the wake of Kellen Winslow II's crashing of his motorcycle in May 2005, Roethlisberger had been criticized by various NFL members and the media for his preference for not wearing a helmet while riding. Even Roethlisberger's coach, Bill Cowher, lectured him about motorcycle safety. Former Steeler Terry Bradshaw had warned Roethlisberger, both personally when he visited Steeler training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and on television, with advice such as "Ride it when you retire."[5] In a segment put together by ESPN following Winslow's accident, Roethlisberger had said he didn't wear a helmet because it was not required by law, adding, "You're just more free when you're out there and there's no helmet on".

Don't they say that about people when they die.. that now they are free?

[DogWomble]

The question is ... was it just pure luck from a good fall, or "the rule"?