Live Free, and Maybe Die When You're Hurled Through the Windshield

Last week the New Hampshire legislature once again rejected a law requiring people to wear seat belts. New Hampshire is the only state that has not passed a seat belt law, preferring to forgo the federal funds that reward such legislation. A state senator who voted against the bill explains:

The citizens of New Hampshire don't like to be told by anyone else what to do. It preserves New Hampshire's way of not succumbing to the bribes of the federal government and New Hampshire's belief that every adult can make his or her own choices in life.

In November 2005 issue of reason, I examined the reasons why seat belt laws are much more widespread in the U.S. than motorcycle helmet laws.

Comments

[Chuck]

The citizens of New Hampshire don't like to be told by anyone else what to do. It preserves New Hampshire's way of not succumbing to the bribes of the federal government and New Hampshire's belief that every adult can make his or her own choices in life.

Yeah, right. I guess that's why they keep declining to pass medical marijuana legislation.

[Taktix?]

Yeah, right. I guess that's why they keep declining to pass medical marijuana legislation.

Pwned! Next thread.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Not wearing a motorcycle helmet makes as much sense as not wearing a seatbelt. Some people claim that in bad motorcycle accidents, a helmet just makes that person a better organ donor (as the brain survives while the body is shredded, keeping some organs intact for a while), but what about all the minor accidents where a helmet prevents a low-sider from scalping himself (also wear leathers so you don't scalp the rest of your body). Dropping a bike has got to be much more common than hitting a moving or stationary object and that is the main protection the helmet provides. These laws, while stupid, do point out that some people just don't believe in statistics if they wouldn't do this stuff if not for fear of a fine.

[Lamar]

I've never understood the anti-helmet people. I ride bikes, and you can't tell me that a skid lid is killing your motorcycling experience. Then again, motorcycling is seen by many as an act of rebelliousness, so I guess trying to impose rules on that subset of people is a vain effort.

[Dan T.]

From the article:

But the Senate, which Democrats control 14 to 10, did pass an amendment to another safety bill that sets up a commission to encourage seat belt use and study accident statistics.

In other words, the People's Republic of New Hampshire won't compel you to wear a seat belt, but they will take your money at gunpoint to line the pockets of bureaucrats who are charged with figuring out how to merely convince you to do it.

[Ramsey]

I love the anti-helmet crowd. I wear one on a bicycle, motorcycle, moped, and my horse. I have too much money invested in this brain to not have that sort of cheap insurance on it.

On the other hand, traumatic brain injuries do make for good organ donors, and it is probably less expensive to support a vegetable than to execute a prisoner. When there is no natural selection just allow people the right to self-select genetic fitness. Darwinian self determination perhaps?

I just think that there should be tiered insurance policies, where the consumer could chose to pay more for a no seatbelt/helmet policy, and insurance companies are allowed to financially rape your family if the operator fails to employ those devices on a normal policy. I think that the actuary tables would quickly shift to absorb some of the more egregious externalities in the system.

[Other Matt]

In other words, the People's Republic of New Hampshire won't compel you to wear a seat belt

You should try Merry Land, the attitude here is "Sit down and shut up, we know what's best for you" They won't take your money at gunpoint, they'll just pilfer your bank accounts and attach your wages. Guns are much too dangerous to allow people to have 'round here. They might get uppity.

New H would be a breath of fresh air.

[Jack]

I still think the shortage of supply in organ markets is the reason motorcycle helmet laws aren't universal

Dan, trolling is more effective when you are consistent. More people fall for it and get genuinely angry

[Chris S.]

There is a huge difference between far fetched but plausible plans and plans relying on physical impossibilities. Believing that blowing up a fuel line will destroy several city blocks and JFK Airport falls firmly into the latter camp. This deserves about as much media attention as attempted presidential assassinations using voodoo dolls.

[Chris S.]

Damn, wrong thread.

[Another Phil]

LIT,

As a motorcycle rider, I wholeheartedly agree that not wearing a helmet is asking for trouble. I'd recommend wearing a full-face helmet; I wouldn't want to continue living if I were to lose my jaw in an accident.

However, I think the point is that people should be free to make asinine decisions as long as they aren't violating the rights of others. That doesn't change the fact that riders who don't wear helmets, or only wear thin brain buckets, are morons.

[Stevo Darkly]

I have never ridden a motorcyle*, but I have heard some bike riders claim that wearing a helmet interferes with peripheral vision and hearing, and it makes them nervous to ride in traffic with their vision and hearing impaired. Any comments?

Just asking. As I said, I am too big a pussy to even ride a motorcycle in the first place.

* Okay, not entirely true: I just remembered that when I was in high school one of my friends let me ride his motorcycle up and down the street a few times. All I remember was that it was fun and that my friend kept yelling, "Brakes! Put on the brakes!"

[MP]

I'm actually surprised. The local news and various polls had been making it appear that there was strong public support for this legislation.

Glad, but surprised.

[Warty]

The vision thing is somewhat true, but you hear better with the helmet on, since it blocks a lot of wind noise.

The only real downside to wearing a helmet and leathers is how expensive the damned things are. I demand subsidized assless chaps!

[jp]

I wouldn't want to continue living if I were to lose my jaw in an accident.

Really? I tend to think I'd have to lose a lot more than my jaw before I'd rather be dead (most days, anyway).

[Pro Libertate]

Why any motorcycle rider would pass up the opportunity to wear a Pickelhaube is beyond me.

[pigwiggle]

I have never ridden a motorcyle*, but I have heard some bike riders claim that wearing a helmet interferes with peripheral vision and hearing, and it makes them nervous to ride in traffic with their vision and hearing impaired. Any comments?

I've ridden with and without. It's true; a helmet is a significant limitation. I've also wrecked without one. I saw stars for a couple of hours and have a bald spot on the back of my head. So I only ride with a helmet in light or no traffic. Too dangerous otherwise.

[Schultz]

You don't have to ride a motorcycle to wear a Pickelhaube. Or to have a bald spot.

[R C Dean]

I demand subsidized assless chaps!

Herrick? Is that you?

[highnumber]

ProGlib,

My next door neighbor doesn't wear the Pickelhaube, but his helmet does look like a German stormtrooper's helmet.
(When he's not wearing that, he wears a little leather biker's cap. He also has the leather chaps and the little leather vest with the Judas Priest patch.)

[Terry]

Jacob FUCK YOU.
Do you really believe that New Hampshirens are so stupid that they need the state government to tell them to buckle up for their own safety?
Your headline implies exactly that.
If so, what are you doing at Reason?

[tarran]

Dan T.

In other words, the People's Republic of New Hampshire won't compel you to wear a seat belt, but they will take your money at gunpoint to line the pockets of bureaucrats who are charged with figuring out how to merely convince you to do it.

You're absolutely right. Disgusting, isn't it?

[highnumber]

Terry,

YOU FORGOT THREE THINGS:

1. CAPITALIZE EVERYTHING.

2. CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION.

3. WHO'S WITH YOU IN THE LIBERTARIAN MILITIA?

OTHER THAN THOSE THREE SMALL QUIBBLES, GOOD JOB, TERRY.

[Dan T.]

You're absolutely right. Disgusting, isn't it?

It is a horror beyond contemplation.

[highnumber]

Now, seriously, Terry, I know subtlety is lost on you, so never mond.

[Paul]

and the little leather vest with the Judas Priest patch.)

Is your neighbor aware that Judas Priest is a gay heavy metal band?

[dj of raleigh]

I lost my long hot post about this,
but let me sum up my view this way.

If I rode into New Hampshire today
I would not take off my seat belt!

[VM]

*imagines what Highnumber's neighbor's lawn looks like...

imagines.

imagines.

hier

[Kwix]

Paul,
I am pretty sure that's what Highnumber was insinuating.

Terry,
Take a chill pill(I recommend Valium, but what ever you can get is good)and read other articles from Mr. Sullum and this magazine before you have a coronary.

[tunnelhead]

Terry - two things:

1. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Jacob was trying to imply that no residents of New Hampshire wear seat belts about as much as he was trying to imply that they'd all die in car accidents. Take your meds.

2. It's New Hampshirites.

[VM]

CALM DOWN, TERRY!!!!!

[Pro Libertate]

It's New Hampshirelings.

I don't see the point of wearing a German helmet in America, if you're going sans spitze. Now, if bikers wanted to wear pirate hats, that would be cool, too.

[s.m. koppelman]

Because the owners of fully privatized roads woiuld never impose seatbelt requirements.

[ed]

I wear a helmet to bed, just in case.

[highnumber]

I thought it was The New Hampshirettes.
I think Phil Spector produced them.

[Vermonter]

It's New Hampshirelings.

We call em New Halflings.

[Pro Libertate]

Vermonter,

The "Shire" in "New Hampshire" was screaming for a Hobbit joke, but I just didn't have it in me today.

Have you seceded, yet?

[VM]

Vermonters call 'em New York Dolls

(d'oh - Phil didn't do them)

[Vermonter]

Oh, I warn't talkin just about Hobbits. I was also makin a joke about the stature of New Hampshire men. As opposed to us Vermonters o'course.

[Live Stoned or Die]

Yeah, right. I guess that's why they keep declining to pass medical marijuana legislation.

Maybe they're not doing it because they don't want to do what YOU are telling them to do. How bout them apples?

[highnumber]

Oh, and about my neighbor:
Yes, he knows that Rob Halford is gay. He is cool with that. Although happily married to a woman, he thinks the leather boy stuff is funny and kind of fun. He digs the 50/60s biker shtick and loves 80s heavy metal. He's a veteran, so lay off!

[MP]

How many Vermonters did it take in 1937 to screw in a light bulb? 500. 499 to form a rural electric co-op, and one to go to the store to buy a bulb.

[Blue]

Actually, whether it's smart to wear a seatbelt isn't the issue. It's just a matter of who owns your body. You or Big Brother. Not much different from the abortion thing. A little surprised to see how many Big Brother cheerleaders are on a libertarian board.

[Ken]

Good for New Hampshire. They really are interesting at times.

[mediageek]

"I wouldn't want to continue living if I were to lose my jaw in an accident."

Yeah, but think about how much fun it would be to greet trick-or-treaters at Halloween!

[Pro Libertate]

Have they restored the Old Man in the Mountain, yet?

[MP]

Have they restored the Old Man in the Mountain, yet?Nope. And we never will.

[highnumber]

A little surprised to see how many Big Brother cheerleaders are on a libertarian board.

Other than Dan T., who else appears to be a "Big Brother cheerleader"? Names and quotes, please.

[highnumber]

and DRINK!

[Mike Wazowski]

What's the article is ignoring here is that New Hampshire may be the lowest in seat belt usage, but is smack in the middle average for deaths per 100 miles of road.

Once you get away from the part of the state that commutes to Boston every day (and would be concidered Massholes) everyone drives friendly. It was very creepy when i went from Connecticut up there for college.

[mediageek]

"Other than Dan T., who else appears to be a "Big Brother cheerleader"? Names and quotes, please."

Meh. I heard that season 4 wasn't so bad.

[joe]

Mike W.,

Massachusetts is way down the bottom of that list.

You'll have to find some other explanation than us Massholes.

I say you blame the moose.

[D.A. Ridgely]

Gimme a B!

Gimme an I!

Gimme a G!

What's that spell?

What's that spell?

What's that SPELL?

[highnumber]

BIG?!

[Lou Sussler]

"...the point is that people should be free to make asinine decisions as long as they aren't violating the rights of others."
"It's just a matter of who owns your body. You or Big Brother."

True to a point, I would personally be more comfortable with repealing helmet and seat belt laws if we also remove the obligation to give state of the art medical treatment to save people's asses (or at least try). Whether you're insured or not, if you are in an MVA, the state is going to transport you to a hospital and take care of you. The cost difference in treating a seatbelt or helmet wearing motorist versus one who isn't wearing such safety devices is staggering and we all pay for it.

[Number 6]

There is a fair question about who pays for the morons who don't wear seat belts or helmets. If their insurance company is willing to do so, good. But there are plenty of folks without any sort of insurance who wreck their cars or bikes. Those folks end up in hospitals, facing bills they can't possibly pay.
Declining to treat them is not an option. I occasionally work on an ambulance and can testify that we never, ever, check insurance cards before we haul someone. By the same token, emergency departments can not discharge or transfer a patient until they are at least stable.
What happens is this: health care providers charge more to those who can pay in order to make up the shortfall.
This is not, repeat, NOT, an endorsement of seatbelt and helmet laws. Nor is it a call for nationalized health care. I'm just pointing out that there are some externalities to consider.

Also, I do believe that people who don't wear seatbelts or helmets are morons. I still have a father thanks to a motorcycle helmet. I'm still alive to appreciate that thanks to seatbelts.

[Number 6]

Lou- The state doesn't always pay. The hospital and ambulance services are often left with the cost of providing care.

[JW]

Bill the drivers/riders for services rendered and garnish if needed.

You want the freedom? No sweat. You get the responsibility too.

BTW, when I had my bike, I never rode without a full face helmet, even before helmet laws. It's an uneeded law, but I like to think I'm smarter than the average congressgritter.

[Pro Libertate]

Speaking just anecdotally, the worst drivers I've ever encountered were in Massachusetts. Look, someone going eighty in the emergency lane! With gravel shooting up at my car as they pass!

An acceptable helmet alternative is any face-covering helmet from Star Wars.

[Terry]

Yea N.H.!! Keep the government outtta our busness! If I dont want to wear a seat belt its my choice to be less safe, if I want to smoke, make me pay higher medical premiums! But keep it MY choice! How about ENFORCING traffic laws like obstructing traffic for the idiots on cell fones for starters! Or better still pass great laws like Texas and the pervs that rape children go to the head of the line for the death penalty! I love that one!

[Paul]

He digs the 50/60s biker shtick and loves 80s heavy metal. He's a veteran, so lay off!

Highnumber:

I wasn't suggesting anything bad about your neighbor. It's just that I grew up in the eighties and remember all the camaro-driving mullet-heads who blasted Judas Priest while doing brodies in the parking lot. It was the eighties and frankly, who knew? But then I moved to an urban enclave with a high gay population, became a little more worldly, and then one day I looked back at Judas Priest and thought "Hang on!!!"

Sure enough, they 'came out' (or at least front man Rob Halford did-- good lord, did he really HAVE to come out- I mean, how more obvious could you get?!!) forcing a large group of camaro-driving mullet-heads (not known for their tolerance of the alt-sexually oriented) to rethink their affection(!) for Mr. Halford.

[Lurker Kurt]

brodies?

Is that a doughnut or are they laying a patch of rubber?

[Preemptive Troll]

Failing to wear a seatbelt is not a victimless crime. Do you know how many people are injured each year by bodies flying out of car windshields? Your right to become a projectile ends at my nose.

[kwais]

Judas Priest rocks

[joe]

Pro Libertate,

I'm not questioning that Massachusetts drivers are among the nation's worst. NYC drivers may edge us out, but it's a bang-bang play. Literally, sometimes.

I'm just saying that the quality of a state's drivers doesn't correlate very closely with its accident rates. Road layout and traffic patterns are more important.

Fortunately for Massachusetts.

[mediageek]

For an article that got linked from Fark, you'd think there'd be more commentary than this.

[Paul]

I'm not questioning that Massachusetts drivers are among the nation's worst. NYC drivers may edge us out, but it's a bang-bang play. Literally, sometimes.

Bah, my guess is everyone claims "their" drivers are the worst. After living in several geographically diverse areas, the worst drivers I've ever experienced are in El Paso, TX. Bar none.

Oh, and on the helmet law thing, I'm not a big fan of mandated laws (motorcyclists overwhelmingly kill themselves and no one else-- funeral: closed casket), but wearing a helmet is overwhelmingly a Good Thing(tm). During the summer, we get these almost daily where I live:

"I knew it was going over. I tried to lay it down, with the bike sliding in front of me."

Magnotti's motorcycle hit a tree, the State Patrol reported. Magnotti was thrown off with enough force that he was knocked out of both shoes. His girlfriend arrived in time to see pieces of motorcycle flying into the air.

Magnotti thinks a heavy jacket and helmet that he bought with the bike saved his life. He admits his inexperience caused the crash.

"The bike seemed like it was easy to ride," he said, "but at a sharp curve at 65, 70, it wasn't so easy."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003733627_motorcycle04e.html

[highnumber]

Paul,

I'll bet my neighbor was one of those mullet wearing Camaro drivers. It's all right now. I lent him Boaz's Primer and he agreed with everything he read. Still gets excited when he finds Priest or Maiden LPs at the used record shop, though.

[El Blog del Loco Solo]

After living in several geographically diverse areas, the worst drivers I've ever experienced are in El Paso, TX. Bar none.

A-ha. A-HA! I think I know the reason why...

[Pro Libertate]

joe,

Never underestimate the driver's intent to kill as a factor.

Preemptive Troll,

Especially if such projectiles are wearing their Pickelhaube.

[andyinsdca]

Didn't NH just pass an indoor smoking ban?

So much for Live Free or Die.

[composite]

It preserves New Hampshire's way of not succumbing to the bribes of the federal government and New Hampshire's belief that every adult can make his or her own choices in life.

Just a question, because I'm too lazy to find out myself, but isn't the reason most states raised the drinking age to 21 because of, um, "bribes of the federal government"? Or did NH raise the drinking age of its own accord....

[The Wine Commonsewer]

...but I have heard some bike riders claim that wearing a helmet interferes with peripheral vision and hearing, and it makes them nervous to ride in traffic with their vision and hearing impaired. Any comments?

Stevo, I AM surprised. I can see you on a Harley.

I'm drinking wine today instead of fertilizing pine trees at Forest Lawn courtesy of a Grant Daytona Snell Approved motorcycle helmet.

I rode tens of thousands of miles on a pocket rocket in my wasted yoot and I don't buy off on the vision and hearing impairment claims. Not then, not now. Do you know what the wind whistling in your ears at 60 mph sounds like? I do. It's much quieter with a helmet.

I'll tell you what makes you nervous in traffic. It's when your sitting at a red light and the guy roaring up behind you doesn't hit the brakes 'til he's 30 feet away and you have visions of traction with years of physical therapy to follow.

I don't ride any more. Too chicken these days.

Ramsey: Why are bike helmets so stupid looking?

I'm not sure what benefit my kid's cheesy bike helmet is going to be if she's hit by a car. If she falls down on the pavement, well, okay, but if she's pitched through the air after being hit by some jerk going 40mph and then lands head first against a curb.

[The Wine Commonsewer]

Oops, hit submit

S/B

I'm not sure what benefit my kid's cheesy bike helmet is going to be if she's hit by a car. If she falls down on the pavement, well, okay, but if she's pitched through the air after being hit by some jerk going 40mph and then lands head first against a curb, I think she's a goner.

[The Wine Commonsewer]

the worst drivers I've ever experienced are in El Paso, TX. Bar none.

I'll see your El Paso drivers and raise you, two DC cabbies.

[crimethink]

Maybe it's just me, but the bicycle accidents I've had have never involved moving cars. Drivers in parked cars opening the driver door right before you pass doesn't count, and this happens A LOT, especially with cars with tinted windows. You're also much more likely to hit a mailbox or run over a hard-to-see car part in the road than to be hit by a car. Drivers are usually too cautious, if anything, when they see a bike.

Now, the people who ride their bikes on the wrong side of the road and get hit by a car trying to make a right turn deserve whatever they get.

[dj of raleigh]

> Massachusetts drivers are among the nation's worst. NYC drivers may edge us out...El Paso...DC...

[dj of raleigh]

> Massachusetts drivers are among the nation's worst. NYC drivers may edge us out...El Paso...DC...
----------------
Come to North Carolina when it snows.
"I floored it and it still wouldn't go."

[Timon19]

RE: worst drivers...

We're talking about within the US, right?

[The Wine Commonsewer]

We're talking about within the US, right?

We are all soooooo ethnocentric. 🙂

[The Wine Commonsewer]

Now, the people who ride their bikes on the wrong side of the road and get hit by a car trying to make a right turn deserve whatever they get.

An interesting observation. Back in the Pleistocene, before riding a bike was way cool, we used to ride our bikes all over Hell's Half Acre. We always rode on the wrong side of the road. Figured it gave us a leg up on approaching problems. By the same token, we also figured it was our job to watch for guys making right turns. I can't imagine trusting that a car overtaking my backside is going to a.) do the right thing; b.) not hit me. Dude, when you ride legal, you are at their mercy.

[Lieber]

"Bill the drivers/riders for services rendered and garnish if needed."

What sort of wages do brain-damaged ex-bikers typically earn?

[The Wine Commonsewer]

What sort of wages do brain-damaged ex-bikers typically earn?

Point well taken but it sounds as if you assume that somehow the state must ensure that compensation for something is guaranteed to the injured party. In reality, that isn't always the case. Nor should it be.

As Stevie Crown is fond of intoning: Ya pay yer money and ya take yer chances.

[Asharak]

I don't see a need for seat belt or motorcycle helmet laws at all. If you're dumb enough not to wear either, you deserve what might come to you.

And I agree with The Wine Commonsewer about bicycle helmets. Why do most of them make the people who wear them look either gay or mentally and/or physically challenged?

[fondit]

As a rider, I can testify that wearing a helmet does affect your vision some. But does the small vision impairment outweigh the danger of not wearing the helmet at all? I'm not sure about that. Then there's this issue: wearing a helmet might give off a false sense of security, so riders might be more likely to ride somewhat less carefully than if they didn't wear one (I'm talking about the non-biker gang types).

[Dan T.]

There is a fair question about who pays for the morons who don't wear seat belts or helmets. If their insurance company is willing to do so, good. But there are plenty of folks without any sort of insurance who wreck their cars or bikes. Those folks end up in hospitals, facing bills they can't possibly pay.
Declining to treat them is not an option. I occasionally work on an ambulance and can testify that we never, ever, check insurance cards before we haul someone. By the same token, emergency departments can not discharge or transfer a patient until they are at least stable.
What happens is this: health care providers charge more to those who can pay in order to make up the shortfall.
This is not, repeat, NOT, an endorsement of seatbelt and helmet laws. Nor is it a call for nationalized health care. I'm just pointing out that there are some externalities to consider.

Interesting post, #6. You give several really good reasons why we need seatbelt/helmet laws but then are careful to disclaim that you endorse them.

Why not? Do you really think that violating supposed right to not follow the most basic of safety rules infringes more upon the liberty of the people than sticking them with the costs of providing emergency health care?

[Skallagrim]

If the cost of medical care after an accident is the justification for having seatbelt and helmet laws, then I want laws against overeating, supersize portions, and fatty foods. I am sick and tired of paying for the "diabetes epidemic" and other obesity related diseases of my fellow americans who havent the sense to do the obvious and stay thin. Anyone so stupid as to let themselves get fat needs a government wake up call, 60 days on a work detail sounds good to me, how about you?

[Ramsey]

Bicycle helmets do look a little cheesy and flimsy, but I am an absolute believer in the Snell standard level lids. A friend and I were riding down a steep hill at 35mph, she was just recently returned to riding after 5 years or so. 200 yards past the bottom of the hill I stopped to take a photo and she slammed into me at full speed. She claimed she was looking to the side and never saw me. She didn't even touch her brakes.

I am 6'6" and 240lbs (2m and 110is kg), and it blew me off my feet. She spun midair and landed solely on the back of her head. The helmet was completely shattered, and she walked away with a mild concussion. I have never seen anyone hit their head that hard, and I was a paratrooper in the Army, used to hitting the ground hard.

She is alive solely because I insisted that she wear a helmet. Sure, it saved her from her own inept riding, but it saved her.

[Jason]

I would agree with a few points. I think helmet technology really needs to catch up with the 21st century. Helmets look pratically identical since they started making them.

The thing is seat belts while annoying, do not impair your ability to operate your vehicle. However a full motorcycle helmet does impair your perhipheral vision and hearing. They are also hotter than hell to wear.

I do wonder if it is possible to create a more 'open' helmet that is more comfortable to wear and give better visual and hearing. I know some snowboarding helmets are soft normally, but when impacted immediately harden to provide protection. Maybe those are not practical at higher speeds?

[Dan T.]

If the cost of medical care after an accident is the justification for having seatbelt and helmet laws, then I want laws against overeating, supersize portions, and fatty foods. I am sick and tired of paying for the "diabetes epidemic" and other obesity related diseases of my fellow americans who havent the sense to do the obvious and stay thin. Anyone so stupid as to let themselves get fat needs a government wake up call, 60 days on a work detail sounds good to me, how about you?

While I agree that the government needs to address America's health problems (after all, the government helped to create it), you have to consider the costs of any law compared to the benefits.

Obviously, sending every overweight American to fat camp would be very expensive and rob the economy of most of our workers.

However, given that there are basically no costs associated with requiring drivers to utilize a safety feature that comes standard in all cars and the benefits are tremendous.

So we'd be pretty stupid to not pass this law, especially when the main argument against it is the childish "you can't tell us what to do"...

[mrspeabody]

"Just asking. As I said, I am too big a pussy to even ride a motorcycle in the first place."

But man enough to admit it.

[VM]

Stevo is definitely man enough.

A true gentleman.

[MP]

So we'd be pretty stupid to not pass this law, especially when the main argument against it is the childish "you can't tell us what to do"...

Let's hear it for Utilitarianism! Hip h... (oh, cheering serves no utility. I'll stop now.)

[PintofStout]

Always wear a helmet for game shows, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpGw45FyvaU

[VM]

Pint - great! love that show!

[PintofStout]

And they were ALL wearing helmets...

[Skallagrim]

Ok Dan, how about then we just pass a law requiring a simple physical test (at the individuals expense - remember there is a cost to seatbelt manufacuring and installation too) and then just fine everybody who fails the test, say $500. Actually makes money for the great sata--er government, and encourages the "responsible" thing.... My god, I just know that he will soon start advocating for this, WHAT HAVE I DONE?

That people like Dan T really believe what they say makes me happy I only have about 30 more years on this planet. I figure it should take them at least that long to make life unbearably "sensible."

[Amy Alkon]

Wear a helmet, don't wear a helmet, it should be your choice. But, if you're not going to wear a helmet, and you don't have medical insurance or piles of bucks, please keep a card in your wallet telling the EMTs to leave you as human huevos rancheros on the sidewalk so the rest of us don't have to pay to put your Humpty Dumpty ass back together.