Natural Selection

Yes, it is hyperbole and thats the problem with dumbass America. You sound like the adults that spoke out against wearinga seat belt becasue they "wanted to be thrown from the vehicle to safety" or "If I crash into a river I don't want to have to undo my seat belt to swin to safety". Two totally ignorant arguments as when thrown from a vehicle at speed you hit hard objects at speed. When you hit water at speed its like hitting concrete. Also reminds me of the "yeah, I don't want to wear a helmet becasue it may casue a neck injury". WTF? Seriously? Your are worried about your neck when your head has been smashed on the ground?

As far as that article goes, read between the lines. The real point the dudes opinion is motorcycling seems like the one high risk hobby that very few take serious with safety, thus number of deaths are higher than they actually should be. I loved his response to the haters and thought he approached a toboo subject with some of the neanderthals who ride motorcycles very well.

As long as the ignorant are supported via silence or masked behind statements of supposed threats to personal freedom; well the ignorant will always lead and win.

BZ

 

I'm sorry Bubba and no I didn't just wake up, but Tink has taken the bit in his teeth and ran so I'll sit and observe. If you insist on trotting out that seatbelt argument every time then for me it's "asked and answered"

If one is really prone to fretting, fret about all these 49cc scooters they are letting anyone ride on the roads these days. We call them DUI cycles around here and they average about one death week.

 

The only questions I see you asked me were civic ones regarding government. Yet, since you appear to be conservative in thinking I didn’t think you really needed me to answer as conservatives are supposed to understand what we were founded upon. I mean that’s what Sarah Palin says anyway.

The only dog I have in this fight is the motorcycling community does not police itself. Tink you and I may agree on the importance of safety gear and wear ours all the time. However, the real issue is how we have been polluted with the whole post modern “I’m OK your OK” don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings when we call them out on bad decisions. Instead we criticize then when the person we object to gets pissed we dive behind the “Let those who ride decide” to escape culpability on making people accountable for bad decisions. We can’t have it both ways Tink, if someone’s wrong, they’re wrong. As I brought up before and nobody touched it, if someone you knew removed the seat belts, air bags and other safety features we would ask what the hell they were doing? If they responded “The Gov’mint ain’t gonna tell me what to do” we’d laugh and think the person was a little off their rocker. There would be blogs and threads mocking such an individual. But with motorcycles this is some weird taboo you can only poke and touch so much before the William Wallace “FREEDOM” is screamed in ones face. The Constitution does and can protect bad ideas within a certain context. But it does not protect against stupidity against others and even the individual. Shoot yourself in the leg and when the cops show up tell them you are a danger to yourself. You’ll probably find yourself locked away under laws written by the few to protect the many. But for some reason the State has a compelling reason to protect you from yourself.

So what if I have to wear leathers per law, so what if I have to wear a helmet per law. You ask where does it end? Sensibly is wear it ends brother, it isn’t that hard to see. If the motorcycle lobby is powerful enough to repeal helmet laws, its powerful enough to keep anything crazy from really happening.

For the record, I’m not advocating for mandatory safety laws with motorcycles. I just am not offended at them as much as others it seems and it would be nice to show other countries that we don’t need laws to do the right thing.

If there are any questions I have not answered, please list them and I’ll do so.

BZ

 

I only use the seat belt thing becasue it was something once widley despised that is now widley accepted and the government did not take over nor did the sky fall. I think if all 50 States passed a mandatory helmet law the results would be the same. Nothing more.

Oh, and since we are close the the beach...yeah the scooters are scootin some asses here too. Well, bear people think they are bicycles with engines. Waht could possibly go wrong?

BZ

 

My argument hasn't changed and Tink's is the same. Bikes are inherently dangerous and unnecessary as transportation in this country. So let's just ban them.

I know that sounds like helmet laws absurdly extrapolated, but don't underestimate safety Nazis. No amount of gear worn by riders is going to convince non-riders bikes are safe, and they're in the majority.

Better to convince the new riders you train the importance of gear, that will do more good than anything else since it includes more than just helmets. Whether you like it or not, many places have decided that helmets are choices.

 

Most, if not all laws, are their to influence people to do the right thing:wink:

BZ

 

Bubba's actually a pleasant reasonable man once you get him off helmet laws. :wink:

 

I'm surprised you haven't learned by now that's his raison d'être

 

So I live on a border of two states that one has a eye protection law only (Illinois) and one that has no restrictions at all. If your windscreen is big enough, it counts as eye protection. Do I wear my helmet? sometimes, yes, but not all of the time. I don't like being told by our government what I should and should not do as far as my personal safety. I don't believe in the seat belt law, but I have had friends, very close friends, killed because they didn't wear it. Would I wear otherwise? Probably. But on those hot summer nights where I just go down the street, no helmet is needed.

 

It is, but church members use the same tired arguments anti-helmet people do. Just repleace "government" with "church" and you have the same conversation.

BZ

 

Honestly? Yes! I rode without a helmet. Years back, Maryland had no helmet law. Everytime i hit the beachi rode without a helmet. I was yong and DUMB. I did it though. I also did other shit that was dumb and life jepardizing. I grew up and do ...well...some things the right way.
I now think you are stupid to not wear a full faced helmet. My opinion not the government's. Walking around without a lower jaw would prolly suck.

I am not one for the gov telling me what to do. I do think the heavy handed suggestion (law) to be safe is a good thing.

 

No one here is anti helmet..............I could ride without one if I choose. I choose to wear it. I think my Scorpion is as cool as hell. I couldnt care less if others choose not to, its their head, and you cant save em all. I prefer to lead by example rather than by legislation. Allowing for choice in life means that by definition you acknowledge some will make poor choices. Some things do not lend themselves quite so readily to a free for all attitude, others you can live with. Life is not black and white, its innumerable shades of gray. There is no doubt of the effectiveness of helmets as safety devices, all arguments attempting to prove otherwise are anecdotal and specious. Arguments that poor choices drive up insurance rates ignore the fact that we are already in a higher risk pool of activities.

You cant legislate morality, or intelligence. In every state that has helmet laws some people wear helmets that are as ineffective as safety devices as baseball caps.

I can make no argument whatsoever against helmet laws based on a helmet's effectiveness as a safety device. Provided its actually a helmet .

Every time I rode without a helmet it was a stupid thing to do. So what. So was dating certain women, ingesting certain substances, purchasing certain vehicles, and jumping off of certain things. I have no excuse, I was trying to enjoy myself.

Stop with the self righteous blather, I aint buying for a second that any of you have never done anything dumb. Next you'll be telling us you didnt inhale, never jack off and believe in Santa Claus.....Never argue with a pig, it wastes your time and annoys the pig. Leave the clowns without helmets alone, theyll learn soon enough, or they wont.

 

I rode without any pants one time, but that's a whole other story. I was required to make a fast getaway. It's the one time the seat vibration was rather welcome.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't give a damn about this guy that died. Sorry if I have a cold heart, but these folks are just asking to be made an example of. Sure, I've had friends die on bikes, some with a helmet, some without. Could the one without a helmet help that a car crossed the center line and he had to swerve to miss... no, but the helmet may have saved his life when he went tumbling into a ditch. Yes, I 100% agree that it is a person's right to decide whether or not they wear a helmet or seatbelt, but It's also my opinion that it is retarded if they decide not to. Whatever, the gene pool needs weeded out somewhere along the way. But either way, motorcycling is a danger we accept everyday as riders when we swing our leg over a bike, with or without a helmet.

Oh fuck yea. I was just in Myrtle Beach a week back. The scooter rentals are out of freaking control there. Anyone can jump on one for a couple hundred bucks a week. I dont know how many accident and near misses I saw all week. One whole family had them. The dad came in first and put his feet down too early, which pogo'd the bike side to side while he was trying to stop. The boy came in relatively smooth, but the daughter came flying in and almost cleared out the dad from behind, just barely bumping his rear wheel. Then the mother came flying in splitting the lane between the father/daughter and the son, and went flying about 10 feet out into the intersection. If cars had already been flowing through the intersection she would have been hit, or she would have cleared us out as we walked through the cross walk. I was shocked at what I just saw.

The friend I was with is also a rider. As we walked past them in the cross walk he had no problem telling them that they needed to practice a bit in parking lots before they killed themselves or someone else. I think they were too embarassed to say anything. I definitely agree with him, but I would have never had the balls to say something out loud.

 

Its high time we all took a stand against riding naked........except if you are Kate Beckinsale.