Motorcycles are harder to see which makes them more likely to get into an accident. So, a driver of a car hits a motorcycle. The rider gets thrown from the bike and he dies after his head hits a tree (no helmet). What if he would have lived if he were wearing a helmet? What about the driver of the car? Would the charges, if any, be more severe if the rider dies? BTW, I had a relative who died when a car turned in front of him (they didn't see his motorcycle).
What if this? What if that? What if the gubmint just fixed the roads, sent the police, and guarded the borders? Let the riders and the insurance companies worry about who wears a helmet.
Why the enthusiasm for helmets? Mike Osborn, chairman of the political action committee of California ABATE, says insurance companies are big supporters of helmet laws, citing the "public burden" argument. That is, reckless bikers sans helmets are raising everyone's car insurance rates by running headlong into plate-glass windows and the like, sustaining expensive head injuries.
Actually, it's true that bikers indirectly jack up the rates of car drivers, but not for the reason you might think. Car drivers plow over bikers at an alarming rate. According to the Second International Congress on Automobile Safety, the car driver is at fault in more than 70% of all car/motorcycle collisions. A typical accident occurs when a motorist illegally makes a left turn into the path of an oncoming motorcycle, turning the biker into an unwitting hood ornament. In such cases, juries tend to award substantial damages to the injured biker. Car insurance premiums go up.
Osborn sees a hidden agenda. "They [the insurance companies] want to get us off the road." Fewer bikes means fewer claims against car drivers. Helmet laws do accomplish that goal, as evidenced by falling motorcycle registrations in helmet-law states. It is interesting to note that carriers of motorcycle insurance do not complain about their clients. Motorcycle liability insurance remains cheap. Osborn pays only $125 per year for property damage and personal injury liability because motorcycles cause little damage to others.