As I know from reading, and as a friend of mine who did his residency at the Shock Trauma Unit of Maryland Hospital is well aware, motorcyclists who do not wear helments, and auto drivers who do not wear seat belts, are at the highest risk of coming out of an accident alive but brain dead. And given the capacity of modern medicine to keep such "vegetables" alive for a long time, this is an expensive proposition.
Those who suffer such injuries in accidents are, in more than half of the cases, financially incapable of paying for the costs of that long-term, expensive treatment. So, who pays for those costs? It is the taxpayers who support the institutions who treat these patients.
If it were true that irresponsibility by drivers caused harm only to themselves, I would agree entirely with Bill's article. But when other people's irresponsibilities give them financial claim on my assets, and the assets of all other taxpayers, we then have a right to tell these drivers what they have to do, to PREVENT THEM FROM RAIDING OUR WALLETS.
Philosophies are good, as far as they go. But every now and then, stark reality should rear its ugly head. And on this issue, the practical concerns amount to upward of a million dollars or more, for each rider or motorist who winds up in futile intensive care for two years or more.
Therefore, Bill is wrong on this issue, for factual, not philosophical reasons.
Congressman Billybob
Click here to stick a thumb in the eye of CFR, "Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob."