ALT-11 Motorcyclists should always Wear Helmets – Disagree
Speaking as a mother who recently lost her oldest son in a motorcycle accident due to multiple blunt head trauma I can honestly say that motorcyclist should NOT be required to wear helmets. Although my son may or may not have been saved by wearing a helmet his girlfriend would not have been saved. Her injuries were to her vital organs. Maybe we should require full body armor rather than just helmets?
Statistics do show that wearing helmets save lives. However, less than half (42%) of riders killed were not wearing helmets. Many fatalities are caused to other parts of the body that a helmet does not protect. It is said that helmets are designed to take the impact rather than the head receiving it. Ask emergency room doctors how many times they have removed a helmet from a seemingly protected head only to find the head collapse after the helmet is removed. Although these stories may be rare they do indeed happen.
Considering the risk of death to a motorcycle rider from not wearing a helmet is less than 50% the choice should be up to the rider. There are benefits to riding without a helmet such as improved peripheral vision and hearing. Arguments claim that helmets improve hearing by blocking out the wind. Think about that statement; if the helmet is blocking out the wind it is also blocking out noise.
I have ridden motorcycles and dirt bikes. I do not ride motorcycles anymore because the thought of falling victim to an inattentive driver scares me too much. I enjoy riding and it is a shame that someone should have to be scared to ride. Statistics also show that over half of accidents involving a motorcycle are the fault of the other person. If a rider is riding carelessly then he or she is asking for trouble but if a rider is obeying the laws of the road he or she should not have to fear riding a motorcycle.
I wear a helmet when I ride dirt bikes along with a chest protector, shin guards and elbow pads. When riding a dirt bike you expect to crash but it is safer than riding a street bike any day - but I wouldn't dream of riding without my protective gear. On the streets you have to worry about other drivers - making it more dangerous then riding on a track. Although on the track you have to worry about other riders as well but they are on equal size vehicles going in the same direction as you. On the street you have to worry about irresponsible drivers crossing your path or running into you.
My son was killed, not because he wasn't wearing a helmet, but because of an irresponsible driver who pulled out into traffic without properly looking both ways. We do not need more safety equipment. What we need are safer more responsible drivers! We need to pass laws that reflect the seriousness of driving. The laws we have now only give irresponsible drivers a mere slap on the wrist and send them back on the streets.
Did you know that when a person is the cause of an accident, unless it is deemed as criminal negligence, the person is allowed to continue driving without any regards to how safe the person drives even after he or she has caused a death? What ever happened to the idea that driving was a privilege and not a right? Having any amount of alcohol in your system after a wreck, using a cell phone while driving or driving recklessly is considered as criminal negligence. When the District Attorney told me this was why they did not press charges against the driver who killed my son I responded with, How is it any less reckless to pull out into traffic without looking both ways? I am in no way condoning drinking and driving but how can complete negligence of abiding safe driving laws be considered any less criminal? The least the law can do is force these violators into defensive driver's education classes before they allow them back on the streets.
We can put drivers in full body armor or make the roads safer by promoting safer more responsible drivers. Unless our drivers become more responsible, people are going to die regardless of how many different safety devices we create or pass laws to wear and use. Safety belts and helmets should always be a choice. Responsible driving habits should be a requirement! Driving is a privilege that should be earned and not given or taken advantage of. If you cannot be responsible then you shouldn't be able to drive!
