Despite push from safety Nazis to reinstate helmet law, common sense prevails

OFF THE WIRE

http://www.examiner.com/civil-rights-in-harrisburg/despite-push-from-safety-nazis-to-reinstate-helmet-law-common-sense-prevails-1Despite push from safety Nazis to reinstate helmet law, common sense prevails November 22nd, 2010 10:58 am ETMore often then not it seems that our lawmakers do not act in a way that is in the best interest of the people, but every now and then, it comes as a surprise when they actually do exactly the opposite of what one would expect. In 2003, Governor Ed Rendell repealed the helmet law for motorcycle riders in Pennsylvania. Naturally, that law was not without provisions none that a reasonable person would contest. In order to ride a motorcycle without a helmet in Pennsylvania, riders must be at least 21 years of age and have a minimum of two years riding experience or pass a safety course. In the past, motorcycle riders across the nation were required to wear their helmets when riding their bikes; however, all that changed in the mid-1990s when the federal government no longer required states to adhere to the mandate which back then meant that in order to receive full federal highway funding. At that point, it was up to each state to decide whether or not to require helmets. Only 20 states have mandatory helmet laws while the other 30 have repealed the law but not without some limitation such as those that Pennsylvania adopted.
Even after the helmet law repeal, there has been much debate over the past seven years as to why the federal government needs to change the law back to the way it once was or at least finding a creative way to make it a law that riders must wear their helmets on the road. Medical professionals and other safety officials warn that head injuries from motorcycle accidents more often then not result in the rider’s death or bleeding around the brain and/ or spinal cord especially when the rider is thrown over the handlebars. Furthermore, the argument deepens when insurance companies blame soaring rates because of the high cost associated with the type of care emergency responders must take to save the lives of motorcycle riders in accidents where they are not wearing helmets and also the continued cost to keep the riders alive and in rehabilitative care should they survive the accident. At the federal level, Deborah Hersman, the federal safety board chairwoman, stated that it is her mission to bring back the helmet law and if the states do not make changes on their own to do just that, she will put the pressure on Congress and President Obama to change the law. In Pennsylvania, Governor-elect Tom Corbett put forth the position that he has no intentions of changing the helmet law, but State Rep. Dan Frankel, a Democrat from Allegheny County, aligns his view on the helmet law along the same line as that of Hersman. While he acknowledged that with a Republican controlled Congress and Governor in office of the same party, his attempts may not go very far, but he is determined to muster up enough support one way or the other to get a bill to the table.
Now any attempt to resurrect the helmet law will be met with strong opposition from special interest groups and organizations that desire to keep the law the way it is now. Charles Umbenhauer, a lobbyist for the Pennsylvania chapter of Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE), is one such person who promises to fight any attempt to make helmets mandatory in Pennsylvania. ABATE was the leader of the helmet law repeal seven years ago, and Umbenhauer stated that he does not foresee a change in the law anytime in the near future. Most experienced riders and even more so the ones who choose not to wear their helmets know that just riding their motorcycle out on the highway brings an inherent risk. After all, even with a helmet, a motorcycle rider will more likely suffer more injuries in an accident where they are hit by a car. The person inside the car is protected by an airbag, seat belt and all of that metal surrounding them where the motorcycle rider even with the helmet is exposed directly to the elements without those same protections. To play devil’s advocate, riders have the advantage so-to-speak that without those additional protections, they can walk away if able in an accident where the driver in the car can be trapped inside.
What the safety Nazis do not understand or appreciate is that in their attempts to control and protect us that the people who are opposed to the helmet law prefer to make their own decisions involving their own personal safety without government intrusion. In fact, many people who are against the helmet law actually wear helmets when they ride. The difference is that it is their choice to put that helmet on. They are taking preventative safety measures because they believe it is in their best interest to be protected not because a safety czar told them to do it. Those are the libertarian principles espoused that go back to the time our country began allowing our citizens to make up their own minds about what they should or should not do without as much government intrusion. The safety Nazis believe that for some reason or another people are not capable of making their own decisions and need the government to take control of their lives. In certain ways that keeps citizens in the state of infancy still needing lawmakers and safety control officers acting in a parental role. In childhood back in the days before helmets were pushed, children would ride their bikes or roller skate in the most unsafe ways such as going from the top of a steep hill gaining top speed to the bottom just to feel the rush and the thrill of getting to the bottom cruising with the wind in their hair not a care in the world. Sometimes one would misjudge their speed and oh horrors crash! Many times that crash simply resulted in some scrapes or bruises at the most a broken limb which meant a cast your friends could autograph. That does not mean that more serious accidents and even deaths did not occur, but there was no reason to stop children from these activities. If the safety czars had their way, no one would ride their motorcycles on the open road because even with a helmet, there could be brain injuries or death. The helmet does not prevent the same just decreases the severity. Should a child or inexperienced rider continue to wear their helmet? Absolutely! No one who supports the helmet law repeal wants to see no safeguards in place, but they do want to continue to allow mature adults the chance to feel like a child again with the wind in their hair as they ride down the highway should they choose not to put on their helmet.