See if this makes sense....

[Plaidman]

So this is on the cover of my state's newspaper.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/o...150.xml&coll=7

Basically, its about the mandatory bicycle helmet law. A customer was blasting it, saying it stupid. That anyone that's too dumb to know how to ride a bike should just die to weed out idiots.

Then he rants on to say since people die more from automobile accidents, its drivers that need to wear helmets.

(As far as I know, he's not a bike rider).

I mean . Then again, this is the same asswhip who cried loudly at how his business of X years went under, and he was forced to take a 18 dollar an hour job, when he feels he should make twice that. Minimal.

I really really dislike this customer.

[Samaliel]

There are words coming out of his mouth, but they don't make any sense.

[IT Grunt]

I compare it to the seat belt law myself. True, what are the chances that you'll end up in a car accident when you go out? For the average person, it's remote, but the chance is always there. The seat belt is one of those things you never think about, until it's just saved your life. Bicycle helmets are the same way, as far as I'm concerned. That guy's just an idiot.

[rerant]

I don't bike ride a lot but when I do I don't like wearing a helmet. I know it's stupid, but I don't wear one on the one or two times I go out a year.
However, if it was the law I wouldn't bitch. That's the law and if you don't like it you can always scrap your bike for parts.

[LadyAndreca]

Nope, doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Someone needs to teach this guy about Newton's Laws and practical applications. (Maybe demonstrating them on him...)

Me, I'll stand behind helmet laws, but that's just from personal experience. My parents wouldn't let me ride without a helmet as a kid, even to test a friend's shiny new bike. Eventually I was uncomfortable without a helmet on a bike.

In middle school, I went over the handlebars going downhill at full speed and landed on my head. There were 4-inch-long, quarter-inch deep gouges in my helmet. But I walked away with nothing but a headache and a bit of road burn on my elbow and knee. (Okay, I admit it, I ran home screaming bloody murder because I was scared and hurt.)

[Geek King]

My take on bike hemet/motorcycle helmet/seatbelt laws has always been: If putting your silly butt back together is going to cost taxpayer money, then the government gets to make some laws.

Most of these laws are at least partly based on studies that show that non-fatal accidents incur more medical bills for the unhelmeted/non-seatbelt wearing. Those costs are also more likely to outstrip the insurance carried by the victim, so the hospitals are usually out that cash, which means they submit for government reimbursement. Which comes from the taxpayers, ultimately.

Cold? Yes. But just about every one of those laws was sold, at least in part, to the legislators using those traffic safety and unpaid hospital bill studies.

[SuperB]

I'm a huge believer in the fact that it's usually the *other* guy on the road that you have to worry about.

[Balgram]

Huh. I never wear a helmet if I'm going someplace within a 3 block radius, or campus. Helmets are itchy and annoying and positively ruin my hair. This would matter if I ever actually bothered to care about my hair, of course.

Going across town, biking at night, biking in adverse conditions...helmets are important. I may not like them, but I'll wear them.

If it was the law I'd take up attaching a helmet-lock to my bike (somehow, somewhere, it MUST exist).

[wagegoth]

If I can find the link I'll post it, but here's the story anyway. A college student wrote an op ed piece (or something similar) for his local paper complaining about the seat belt law. Hated it, thought it unnecessary, restricted his freedom, yada yada yada. Karma struck less than a year later when he was killed in a car accident, while riding in the back seat of a vehicle without a seat belt. He should have received a Darwin award.

Goody, it was on Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/autos/accident/seatbelt.asp

[Bradester]

If I can find the link I'll post it, but here's the story anyway. A college student wrote an op ed piece (or something similar) for his local paper complaining about the seat belt law. Hated it, thought it unnecessary, restricted his freedom, yada yada yada. Karma struck less than a year later when he was killed in a car accident, while riding in the back seat of a vehicle without a seat belt. He should have received a Darwin award.

Goody, it was on Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/autos/accident/seatbelt.asp

I didn't realize that happened in Lincoln- or that the original op-ed was published in the Daily Nebraskan while I was a student at UNL. I don't remember any of it.

I should pay more attention to the news.

[MrSmiley]

As a kid I flipped off my bike and went tumbling head first into the pavement. As a result I lost some 3 hours of memory for that day (parts of it were fuzzy like a dream) and didn't look particularly good covered in blood... not to mention the visit to the hospital. Since then I've been wearing a bike helmet pretty constantly.

[Arm]

My take on bike hemet/motorcycle helmet/seatbelt laws has always been: If putting your silly butt back together is going to cost taxpayer money, then the government gets to make some laws.

Most of these laws are at least partly based on studies that show that non-fatal accidents incur more medical bills for the unhelmeted/non-seatbelt wearing. Those costs are also more likely to outstrip the insurance carried by the victim, so the hospitals are usually out that cash, which means they submit for government reimbursement. Which comes from the taxpayers, ultimately.

Cold? Yes. But just about every one of those laws was sold, at least in part, to the legislators using those traffic safety and unpaid hospital bill studies.

*Finally*, someone else who gets it. If people want someone else to be responsible for wiping their nose and ass when they mess themselves, then the caretaker damn well gets to choose the diapers.
...I wish I had a more pertinent story or something. But most of the cyclists around here follow the helmet laws- even the motorcyclists, though they'll often as not zip down the highway in a helmet, T-shirt, and shorts.

Though I did concieve of an alternate use for my bike helmet as a kid. We watched a rappelling demonstration when I was small, and I thought that was fantastic. We had a tree we were allowed to climb (the rule was no higher than the roof of the house unless an adult was watching) so I, operating on the assumption that anything not immediately fatal could be repaired, put on my bike helmet, grabbed some ropes, and went up the tree. And thus it was my biking and *climbing* helmet.

Not that it mattered; I hadn't paid enough attention to how they used the ropes, and I couldn't figure it out before my parents caught me. All I managed was dangling a few feet off the ground

(I did learn how to rappel when I enlisted in the Army, eventually. And it is just as much fun as it looks, or more)

[Ironclad Alibi]

I compare it to the seat belt law myself. True, what are the chances that you'll end up in a car accident when you go out? For the average person, it's remote, but the chance is always there. The seat belt is one of those things you never think about, until it's just saved your life. Bicycle helmets are the same way, as far as I'm concerned. That guy's just an idiot.

If I can find the link I'll post it, but here's the story anyway. A college student wrote an op ed piece (or something similar) for his local paper complaining about the seat belt law. Hated it, thought it unnecessary, restricted his freedom, yada yada yada. Karma struck less than a year later when he was killed in a car accident, while riding in the back seat of a vehicle without a seat belt. He should have received a Darwin award.

Goody, it was on Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/autos/accident/seatbelt.asp

These posts reminded me of something sad that happened about 30 years ago. I was working for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. One of the people in their public affairs office that was involved in promoting the use of seat belts was killed by his seat belt on the way home from work. He was slumped down in the passenger seat taking a nap with his seat belt on. When the accident happened, the seatbelt went up under his rib cage causing massive internal injuries. He didn't recover. Such is fate. I still wear my seatbelt everytime I get in the car.

[Sonoma]

So this is on the cover of my state's newspaper.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/o...150.xml&coll=7

I about had coffee up my nose when I got to the quote about wearing a helmet on MAX (the region's light rail trains) in case the train stops suddenly. Last time I knew, when MAX stops suddenly, there's not a great chance for your head to meet the pavement. If you're in a bike collision, there's a very good possibility of that happening, often at great speed. Even yesterday when we had a train car with sticky brakes, everybody managed to keep on their feet as the train jerked to a stop. They did pull it out of service for repair once the problem became known.

[jerkface11]

I was born with a mother I don't need the government trying to do her job.