Posted on 05/12/2007 5:53:09 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Yah, I bet that is a totally new experience.
Lipscomb, who is studying medical physics
I would think his experience would make a good term paper. The physical prosperities of the bike helmet, his skull and the mass and force of the truck rolling over both. Interesting dynamics.
So Lipscomb slammed on his breaks....
&&&
Perhaps he should have used his brakes instead.
Good grief! Was this piece written by a 4th grader? The style is awful, and the error I cited is one of at least three that I noticed in a very quick reading.
UW-Madison.
Is that not an indicator that there is nothing in one's head in the first place? Liberal blather floods from that indoctrination center.
I merely bounced my head off the pavement, after slamming into a van. The doctor said the helmet saved my life.
The helmet was merely cracked.
I merely forgot thirty seconds before the crash—no concussion.
The behavior of the truck driver, ignoring the biker, is normal. The biker was not paranoid enough. Drivers often underestimate the speed of a bike, if they even notice them at all.
Of course, the biker had the right of way. That doesn't’t matter if you’re dead. A biker’s first goal is to stay alive. Speed is secondary—or tertiary.
I have a Giro sitting right in front of me on my desk. I never ride without it however, if someone decides to open a car door on me as they drive by I am not sure the helmet is going to help.
Having spent some time as a first responder/emt … anyone riding a bike (motorcycle) and not wearing a helmet … anyone driving in a car (van, truck) and not wearing a seatbelt, would, in my opinion, be a stupid person.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Well if making someone wear a $50.00 helmet will save the state $250,000.00 in medical bills then I am all for it.
Not a good example because it applies to **everything** that will save "the state" money. High fat foods - ban them. Not exercising every day - fine him/her until he/she does, etc. The problem is that "the state" is WAY too involved in our lives, transferring money from you and me to others, in most cases against my will. Charity is one thing but forcing me to pay for anyone and everyone's stupid choices is another.
The math doesn't work that way. It's Thousands of people wearing $50.00 helmets and all bearing a small diminshment of their normal lives, each for the lost money and for the helmet, that saves the state the "$250,000.00" for the singular incident. Add that to all of the other diminishments, and one starts to get some genuinely burdonsome diminishments of life and liberty. Add further that some portion of accidents, including fatal ones will be made *more* likely by wearing of the helmets, and you further diminish the return.
Personally, in this particular circumstance, I think the trade-off still is a good one, but it's a whole lot less clear-cut than your example.
I agree with you about ridiculous helmet laws. As a neurosurgeon at a busy trauma center, it is always a wonderful feeling for me to be able to call the transplant team for another brain-dead, non-helmeted organ donor. Unfortunately, we’ve been seeing less of them these days because of the helmet laws. You are right on target with your criticism of the idiotic suggestion that people should be made to wear helmets. I think it is ethically and morally wrong to sentence thousands of organ recipients to death because of a lack of organ donors. I think the government should pay cyclists, skateboarders, and especially motorcycle riders to stop wearing those stupid helmets so that many more deserving people can recieve the gift of their precious organs. Down with helmets!
I would rather several people in desperate need of a transplant be saved than trying to save a person from injury by forcing them to wear seatbelts and/or helmets.
More lives would be saved if bicycle helmets were not designed to be so stupid-looking as to be an embarrassment to wear (”Look at me! I’m a moron with a giant fluorescent peach pit on my head!”).
My “Modest Proposal” was every bit as serious as Jonathan Swift’s. And in all seriousness, I do believe that even stupid people deserve to live full and happy lives. Thus “ridiculous” laws to help protect them, if they don’t have the sense to do it themselves. Anybody who compares a $50 helmet to the value of a human life qualifies as “stupid” in my book.
Not sure if you’ve been helmet shopping recently, but there are plenty of “cool” helmets available. They range all the way from WW II Gestapo helmets to giant fluorescent peach pits. Choose your helmet, make your statement! Again, it amazes me that fashion is somehow more important than life and health... but I guess by now I shouldn’t be, given that people undergoing brain surgery are often unconcerned about the risks of the operation but completely freaked out that their hair will be shaved. These humans are crazy!
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