Posted on 01/16/2006 12:00:51 PM PST by SmithL
Perhaps it was bad timing, but the annual bill allowing bikers to ride motorcycles without helmets was in committee two days after the most famous motorcycle accident in California gubernatorial history.
One would presume that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger walking around the Capitol with a fat lip wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement for easing motorcyclist protection laws.
The bill was ultimately killed - on the same Tuesday afternoon that Schwarzenegger sheepishly explained that he never bothered to get a motorcycle license.
MLS Motorcycle riders wandering through Capitol hallways to lobby legislators took a moment to sympathize with the Harley-riding governor, even if he is on record as supporting the existing helmet law.
Wayne Phillips of Orinda carried a helmet that bore a sticker noting, "I wear this helmet under protest." He said he hoped the governor's accident may push Schwarzenegger to support bikers' rights in their ongoing struggle with motorists.
Joe Schwirian of Fremont said he felt drivers ought to face harsher laws for careless actions on the road. He also noted that in "all of (Schwarzenegger's) movies, he's not wearing a helmet while he's going 120 miles per hour."
Of course, even if the repeal of the helmet law had passed, the governor wouldn't have been eligible: It would have applied only to those with a proper motorcycle license.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
- Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's lack of a proper motorcycle license after he has opposed driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants
"One would presume that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger walking around the Capitol with a fat lip wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement for easing motorcyclist protection laws."
Where did the concept of freedom go?!
People should be allowed to engage in dangerous activities. Educate them on the dangers, and turn them loose. I'd much rather let someone drive a motorcycle without a helmet than allow someone to drive an SUV while talking on their cell phone!
I was raised in a democratic party family... but helmet laws, seat belt laws, gun laws, child seat laws, mandated liability insurance laws, and toilets that don't flush opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn't a democrat anymore and that the government was out of control.
I was a Reagan democrat, now they consider me a right wing nut :)
Although I were helmets I don't think the gummit should make me. If you wreck and your brains splatter, it's your own fault. It's natural selection.
"""" gun laws, child seat laws, mandated liability insurance laws, and toilets that don't flush opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn't a democrat anymore """"
I agree with your statement, but child seat laws should be enforced. That way we protect chilren from stupid adults. If adults want to kill themselves, fine.
I agree with you but only if the taxpayers are loosed from the responsibility of supporting brain-injured bikers and their dependents for the rest of their lives. If they prove they carry insurance for such injuries and the welfare system won't be burdened by the risk, then fine.
Right on target. I feel they have a compulsion to want to protect other people's children...it's less resource intensive than if they actually had children of their own, and it allows them to demonstrate how much more intelligent they are than the rest of us.
I for the life of me do not understand the whole no helmet=freedom thing.
drive an SUV while talking on their cell phone!
What about little old ladies looking under the steering wheel of a huge luxury sedan?
What about people talking on cell phones driving itty bitty cars?
What about people in junkers smoking cigarettes and joints?
"What about ... "
A single example and you seem to be all whiney. That's very PC of you. It wasn't all inclusive, it was a single example.
"Where did the concept of freedom go?! "
Freedom has been eaten by the Nannyites and the paternalistic authoritarians for the sake of safety and the children.
Would those laws apply to people in four wheel vehicles, also?
There are many more serious head injuries in car accidents than in motorcycle accidents.
well if you spent your whole life doing something one way... and suddenly the government comes along and tells you, you can't do it that way anymore, you feel less free.
when I was a kid I could go outside in my back yard and hunt or fish year round ... now I have to get a license, and can only hunt what they tell me I can, when they say I can.
loss of freedom ...
when I was a kid a parent could spank their child when they were bad... now parents are scared the government will take their children away or that they will be thrown in jail if they spank them.
loss of freedom ...
when I was a kid a mother could breastfeed a child in the car without fear of being labeled a bad mother or being thrown in jail or having them taken away.
loss of freedom ...
I could go on and on.
Probably not. There are more serious injuries but what is the risk per capita compared to unhelmeted motorcycle riders? In other words, is it because there are a lot more enclosed vehicle drivers than motorcycle riders?
It is a serious question but it doesn't really go to the root of the problem. So long as we expect someone else to pick up the tab if we lose in an unreasonably risky venture, we should expect that the potential billpayer has a right to impose conditions on our rights. We can't protect everyone from any kind of accident but I believe riding a motorcycle without a helmet would qualify as an unreasonable risk compared to riding an enclosed vehicle without a helmet.
Enjoy your trip in fantasy-land; everything we do in life has risk and your saviour: Big Brother, ain't gonna change that, no matter how many regulatory laws are passed.
Helmets bounce. Hit the pavement at 20 mph and you end up dead.... but from a broken neck. Hit the pavement at 55 mph and the only thing the helmet does.... is make you a better looking corpse.
Live To Ride - Ride To Live..... Forever The Freebird!
The person that caused the accident should pay for the damages they caused.
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