While stationed in Hawaii—which does not require helmets to be worn—I had a date with a girl who was afraid of motorcycles. So the plan was to ride over to Waikiki where she lived, park the bike, and hang out around there. However, once she saw me pull up, she changed her mind and wanted to go for a ride. That was no problem. I could hand over my helmet to her, and I could ride helmetless. Perfectly legal. It turns out she loved bikes, and every subsequent date included a cruise.
Once I was out of the service, I moved back to NYC. There are helmet laws there. This same scenario I encountered in Hawaii happened a few times. Except that once I had to say no because it would take too long to ride back home and grab a second helmet. Another time I simply risked getting pulled over. She loved the short ride. I didn’t as I was constantly scanning for cops. That was probably rather dangerous for her, as I spent more time looking in my mirrors and down side streets than I did looking ahead for hazards. It’s a serious infringement on my freedom, these helmet laws.
Eventually I bought a bike with a sissy bar so I could just shove a spare helmet on it. Lost two helmets that way. One fell off while riding, one was stolen. That’s the nature of the big city. If I want to see a movie, I either have to carry in a big f’n helmet and keep it on my lap with my popcorn and soda, or I have to leave it out on the bike and hope no one snatches it. The whole time I’m trying to relax and watch a movie, I’m stressing over whether or not I’ll have to sneak home without getting pulled over.
I now have a steady girlfriend, and she has her own helmet. It’s too nice to leave on the back of the bike, so I can’t even pick her up from work spur of the moment. We have to plan ahead of time whose house she’s leaving at. As if the two of us aren’t mature enough to make the decision that we can risk riding five miles at no faster than 30 mph without a helmet. I’m glad the government has stepped in to discipline us. (I have two riding without helmet tickets to my name so far.)
If nothing else, helmet laws have converted me from an authoritarian conservative to a libertarian conservative.
I’m with you. I’m utterly against nanny state helmet laws, but I never ride my motorcycle or bicycle without one. But it is my choice. And if I have to ride a few blocks without a helmet, I don’t have to worry about the brownshirts.