Motorcyclists should always Wear Helmets – Disagree
Personally, I wore my helmet when it was not required by law. However, that is my principle. Perhaps I did so to please my mother, or maybe it made me feel safer, like a security blanket. It would help protect my head if it were bouncing off the road, but it does not really make riding my motorcycle that much safer.
It bothers my cousin that I wear an open-face half-helmet. He even sent me a picture of a guy who survived a crash, but whose chin and lower face were essentially sanded off by the road. He asked if I wanted that to happen to me. Of course, I would prefer that it not happen to me. That he tries to persuade me is fine. I would take issue, however, if he were to tell me I had to wear one.
I do not want to die in a motorcycle accident. Actually, I do not want to die from anything. My helmet may help me survive a crash, but, ultimately, it will not save my life. While I have that life, more than anything else, I want to live freely on my own terms. I also do not want to be the cut-off line for morality. It is none of my business if others choose to not wear helmets.
From those who support government being our mamas, also comes the argument about the costs caring for those who suffer head injuries. Though it is likely that some who suffer brain damage without helmets may not have suffered brain damage with helmets, some of those who die without helmets would suffer brain damage with helmets. Human frailty what it is, it truly just raises a threshold.
The only beneficiary from helmet laws is the government. If someone dies in a motorcycle accident, the helmet law did not save his or her life whether he or she was wearing a helmet or not. If they were not wearing a helmet, they do not get a ticket. People who get tickets for no helmets are those who were not killed in accidents, so the helmet laws also did not save their lives. The law merely derived revenue from them for the government.
Unquestionably, there have been lives lost forsaking helmets, but any life spared by wearing a helmet will ultimately be lost to something else. What is questionable is how worth living are some of those spared lives. The answer is individual to each survivor, and not for me unless it pertains to me. If or when it does pertain to me, it will be my business, not anyone else's.
The arguments for helmet laws are based in parenting and greed. The arguments against helmet laws are based in liberty and personal responsibility. I would happily join brother and sister bikers to protest helmet laws. However, I would do so wearing my helmet. I would expect them to grant me the freedom to exercise that liberty.
