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Monday, May 14, 2012

MICHIGAN - New helmet law not all it's cracked up to be.....IT`S AN AMENDMENT, TO THE OLD LAW..

OFF THE WIRE


 http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/opinion/pnr-new-helmet-law-not-all-its-cracked-up-to-be-20120508,0,2803842.column
New helmet law not all it's cracked up to be
Neil Stilwell
May , 2012
The motorcycle riders’ lobby has finally prevailed in a decades-long struggle to ride the open road with the wind blowing through their hair unfettered by a helmet. Riders have fought long and hard for this freedom and I congratulate my biking brethren for winning their right to ride as they please. Neil Stilwell

Yet, it leaves me with many questions. I can ride without a helmet in Michigan — but not without goggles? For bikers, the helmet issue is a matter of personal choice and freedom. They say they are only hurting themselves, so the choice rightfully is theirs to make. To give their position more fuel, bikers and their special interest groups leaned hard on the tourism aspect of motorcycling. They argued that Michigan’s helmet law kept bikers from other states — most without mandatory helmet laws — away from our beautiful peninsula. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet for 1,000 miles, then being forced to don a lid just to ride into Michigan, makes our state unattractive to out-of-state riders. Lugging around a helmet anywhere else upon a motorcycle beside on one’s head is not impossible — but it’s tricky, potentially damaging to a motorcycle’s finish and consumes precious luggage space. Michigan now joins 31 other states that do not require helmets, including neighboring states Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Good for bikers, good for tourism? I’m not convinced. The no-helmet law’s insurance requirement of $20,000 for personal medical pay aboard a motorcycle sounds woefully inadequate to cover a helmet-less head injury. However, this $20,000 may be a lot more coverage than bikers have now, since medical pay of this kind is optional today. It will be mandatory for helmet-less riding and maybe all bikers will decide to boost their coverage as a result of this law. Enforcement of the no-helmet insurance and two-year experience provisions of the law will be problematic. Insurance companies and the state will need a way for bikers to readily prove both to law enforcement officers. One stone to the head at even 35 mph ought to be enough to convince any rider about the benefits of using a helmet. I’ve seen too many fellow riders’ helmets cracked open after a crash like a chicken egg to change my mind about riding without one. I don’t need a highway traffic engineer’s study or a neurosurgeon to tell me a helmet is better than no helmet when it comes to any potential head injuries. I think bikers ride in Michigan because it’s beautiful riding — the helmet law won’t change that, will it? Would you chose to visit New Hampshire just because adults there don’t have to wear seat belts? The new helmet law opens all sorts of questions about other personal freedom choices. Such as, where do snowmobilers fit in? Why can’t they toss their helmets aside? They are not even riding on highways, after all. But in Michigan, at least, head protection is law. Should recreational boaters say “no” to life jackets aboard their crafts as a matter of personal choice? What about waterskiers? They are required to use a life jacket. Why can’t they choose freedom? What of automobile seat belts? Certainly this is a matter of personal choice but the Legislature took that choice away decades ago and even made driving without a seat belt a primary offense in Michigan — as have about half the other states. Snowmobile helmets, life jackets and seat belts prevent injury and even save lives — it’s ludicrous to argue they don’t. However Michigan has no “opt out” for these tried and true safety devices we’re all forced to use. Michigan motorists can’t simply buy more expensive insurance and take off our seat belts. I understand why bikers want a choice. I just wonder how the Legislature plans to address demands for freedom of choice by the rest of the motoring and recreation-loving populace who can make the same basic arguments bikers successfully made.