Is it wrong that helmet wearing is compulsory for motorcyclists?

[dylanredefined]

No though it is cutting back on the supply of organs .Young males are the sort of people to take risks on motorcycles and fore go safety gear .they dont call motorcycles donorcycles for naught.

 

[DownwardDog]

Riding along with no lid on is a great feeling until you hit something.

This is true - riding without a helmet on a warm evening feels fantastic. We ride bikes, even though it is dangerous, because it feels better than taking the bus. Riding without a helmet feels even better and is even more dangerous. The state has no moral authority to legislate on my particular risk-reward calculation if I'm not harming anyone else.

 

[Meltingpot]

This is true - riding without a helmet on a warm evening feels fantastic. We ride bikes, even though it is dangerous, because it feels better than taking the bus. Riding without a helmet feels even better and is even more dangerous. The state has no moral authority to legislate on my particular risk-reward calculation if I'm not harming anyone else.

Yeah, I once rode pillion with no helmet (in the early '70s) and it was a great feeling. I'm on the fence there too; it's personal freedom vs. saving lives (which helmets undoubtedly do).

 

[weltweit]

I used to ride with a tiny open face helmet which used to be pushed back partially behind my head by the rushing wind.

Then I hit a car and flew over it into the road where I discovered why these helmets are called "open face", it's because when you fall off with them they "open your face".

Riding motorcycles without a helmet is great and cool and pleasent so we must be saved from ourselves and wearing lids must be compulsory.

 

[Spymaster]

I've gone topless many times overseas but often only for the novelty of not having to wear one.

Generally speaking I'd rather wear a helmet if only to keep all the insects out of my face and hair.

I've also taken quite a few hefty whacks on the lid through non-accident related stuff like stones and a road crap, many of which sounded like they'd have really, really hurt.

 

[Boycey]

not sure wear i stand on this one- i don't ride a motorcycle and don't intend to so will forgo a vote... but does anyone know what the main cause of death in motorcycle accidents is? i know for a fact that in london at least most fatal bicycle accidents a helmet would have made no difference to the outcome- the bicycle/motorcycle analogy may be completely pointless. all the same most motorcycle couriers i know wear every single piece of protective gear they can get whether it's the law or not.

 

[pogofish]

OTOH, I think head/neck injurues are amongst the most common causes of death in M/C collisions in urban areas and I remember that there was indeed a big drop in fatalities after the helmet laws came-in. Conversely, there was also a rise in the number of people left crippled of course. For rural incidents, the causes are much more evenly split, with head injury, thoracic trauma, abdominal and spinal injurries all sitting about equal - This may also reflect the generally higher speeds involved and possibly increased response times for paramedics etc.

I'm ambivalent - I don't think the compulsion is a good thing at all but there is no way you would find me running around in modern traffic without a lid and decent protective gear.

 

[Cloud]

I think it should be up to the individual.

I get a bit sick of all the ridiculous nannying, it's like being a child of the state. I'd like to think I was old enough to make my own decisions.

Increased safety precautions tend to lead the driver into a false sense of security making them even more detached from the reality of what they are actually doing. Pedestrians don't have any form of protection, they are most vunerable to death if involved in an accident with a motor vehicle but we don't all walk around in suits of armor with airbags fitted.

It's just a pretty dumb way of dealing with accident statistics. Driving is dangerous, people should be more carefull not given the illusion that they are safer in some way. It's all pretty hypocritical when you can buy a bike or car that does 180 mph and we have a 60 mph national speed limit.

 

[DownwardDog]

OTOH, I think head/neck injurues are amongst the most common causes of death in M/C collisions in urban areas and I remember that there was indeed a big drop in fatalities after the helmet laws came-in. Conversely, there was also a rise in the number of people left crippled of course.

This just demonstrates that getting rid of helmet laws would save the NHS money - if we're interested in the hypothetical cost argument.

 

[Azrael]

I think it should be up to the individual.

Yep. The right to endanger yourself is a cornerstone of liberty, however stupid said danger may be. The old John Stuart Mill test. The issue of motorcycle helmets is a textbook litmus test of your belief in this.

However it does get tricky when a country has universal health cover, since the taxpayers are being billed for your idiocy. If treatment's refused, it sets a dodgy precedent, and ditto for being billed.

The requirement of some extra insurance like Florida sounds a fair compromise. I wonder who'd be foolhardy enough to take it up?

 

[T & P]

Yep. The right to endanger yourself is a cornerstone of liberty, however stupid said danger may be. The old John Stuart Mill test. The issue of motorcycle helmets is a textbook litmus test of your belief in this.

However it does get tricky when a country has universal health cover, since the taxpayers are being billed for your idiocy. If treatment's refused, it sets a dodgy precedent, and ditto for being billed.

The requirement of some extra insurance like Florida sounds a fair compromise. I wonder who'd be foolhardy enough to take it up?

Probably a good number of Hells Angels- or at least those who would bother with insurance in the first place

I remember seeing images of the funeral procession of that biker who got murdered on the M40 (or whatever motorway it was) a while ago. There were several hundred Hells Angels in attendance. Not a single one of them seemed to be wearing helmets.