Going Helmetless? Get Your Head Examined!
June 14, 2006 on 7:40 pm | In Local, Main |
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about motorcylces — which is a little strange since the last time I was on a cycle it was in college as a passenger.
The recent accident involving Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger might have something to do with it. Or maybe it was the loud complaints — perhaps even noisier than the machines themselves — about motorcylces this year from the residents of Kent.
Both incidents set me to thinking about the sanity of motorcyclists, particularly those who ride without helmets, as Roethlisberger did when he collided with a car at a busy intersection and was jettisoned into said vehicle, smacking his head on the windshield and breaking his upper and lower jaw, fracturing his nose and various facial bones, losing two teeth and suffering a 7-inch gash on the back of his head. All for the pleasure of feeling the wind run through his hair. It is a phenomenon that’s hard for me to relate to, especially since I am not a thrill-seeker and have little hair left.
Unlike New York and Massachusetts, adult motorcyclists in Connecticut (and evidently Pennsylvania) don’t have to wear a helmet while speeding down the highway. Click here for a list of states and their laws regarding helmet use. The absence of such a law is reportedly the result of fierce lobbying of the Connecticut General Assembly by motorcyle rights groups such as the Helmet Law Defense League. That’s right, to some people this issue is more important than world peace. Go figure …
My observation, gleaned from 16 years of living here, is the absence of such a law makes Connecticut a magnet for weekend cycle warriors. Park yourself some Saturday at the state line on Route 7 just north of the Troop B State Police barracks in Canaan and watch the cyclists coming down from Vermont and the Albany area. They stop at the wide shoulder there and take off their headgear, revealing a broad smile born of the prospect of zipping all the way to Port Chester unprotected.
My Libertarian instincts typically steer me away from paternalistic laws such as those governing the use of helmets. I believe people have the right to do stupid things so long as it hurts no one else. As the old saying goes, “You made your bed; now you must lie in it.”
But the soundness of this philosophy quickly crumbles when the subject of motorcycle helmets rears its head — so to speak. When a motorcyclist suffers a traumatic brain injury — or any injury made worse by the absence of safe headgear — we all feel the adverse financial consequences. This is because of the inevitable increases in medical insurance rates brought on by the extraordinary expense of treating and rehabilitating the victims.
I suppose we could say to cyclists, “Go ahead and ride without a helmet, but when you are wheeled into the emergency room with a life-threatening head injury you will be turned away because, after all, it was your decision to do something foolish.” Of course, that would be inhumane, so we are back to square-one.
Ergo, to protect the rest of us from paying for your risky behavor, you must wear a helmet in the Nutmeg State from now on. Got that, Mr. Hell’s Angel? Uhh … just kidding, sir. But the rest of you should have your heads examined.
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I couldn’t agree w/you more. When I lived in Boston, I bought a used ‘motorcycle’ (50 cc Yamaha) from an opera singer who felt it was affecting her throat. I put 3,000 miles on that bike around Boston and off to the north shore. Definitely glad to wear my helmet. On Mem Drive on way to work one day, a car crossed behind me expecting that I could just give my bike the gun to get away. But I was already at full tilt on flat road (40mph) and the car skimmed my tail-light! I was petrified. That Nov. my bike was stolen from the Mass Eye & Ear parking lot where I had it chained to some post. Probably a good thing. I did enjoy wind thru my hair on my regular 2-wheeler though.
Comment by Sandy Fiebelkorn — June 15, 2006 #
there are already a slew of “paternalistic” laws on the books, one more could not hurt. or it could be the nail in the coffin of our freedom. it just depends on how you look at it.
Comment by fred — June 15, 2006 #
I agree with you that it’s foolish not to wear a helmet if you are travelling at any serious speed on a motorcycle. But when we decide to legislate that risky behavior, should we also go for bicyclists, or skiers, or sledders, or high divers, or jart players. Yeah, some of those are ridiculous, right? But the point is where do we draw the line. I’m pretty sure your health insurance argument is specious. Your insurance isn’t paying for my head injury; mine is. And I believe it is actuarially low (that is not one of the 100 questions they ask in the insurance application). I think the valid argument is for mufflers; ie a decibel limit. Thanks for the blog, Terry.
Comment by peter halle — June 15, 2006 #
Hmmmm….while you’re at it, write a law requiring bicyclists to wear helmets, and/or another one making it harder to get a driver’s license. Here in Germany the drivers are generally so good and conscious of bikers, that helmets don’t feel as necessary - not to mention the generous bike lanes here. Whereas Cadillac-drivers on Route 44 would sooner run you into the bushes than give you your portion of the lane, if I remember correctly.
If people are afraid of losing their freedoms, they are free to break the law, safe in the knowledge that it’s not really worth it for cops to enforce such laws. Probably costs just as much to the state to enforce them as it would to pay for the occasional unlucky motorcyclist to regain consciousness.
In short, I feel strongly both ways
Cheers.
Comment by Tom Schuman — June 15, 2006 #
I seem to remember a kid riding a scooter around Southboro, Mass, long flowing locks waving in the wind. Wonder who that was?
Comment by Jake — June 16, 2006 #
Don’t feel strongly about helmet laws, but I do know that the number of middle-aged guys playing Hells Angels on weekends who wipe out on their bikes is a disproportionately large percent of such mishaps. Anyone my age with a family who’s riding a bike without a helmet should know that he is way more likely to have a mishap than the average biker.
Hey, what about a blog on drivers over age 80? Certainly a local issue!!
Comment by Yankee — June 19, 2006 #
One night last summer driving south on I-91 from Hartford to New Haven, we had a bunch of motorcyclists who flew past us, popping wheelies, all helmetless. I was going around the speed limit (65-70 mph, anyway) and they went past like we were standing still… had to have been at least 100 mph. I almost had to get off the road and breathe into a paper bag, I was so blown away by this.
People certainly do have different mindsets. I won’t even back my car out of the driveway without my seatbelt on, but obviously many people are totally comfortable never wearing one at all, even though they know the odds of surviving a crash go way down without one.
Jane in Guilford
Comment by gsingjane — June 22, 2006 #