Free Republic

SEATTLE (AP) — The King County Board of Health has voted to repeal its decades-old mandatory helmet law for bicycle riders, saying data shows enforcement has been both minimal and disproportionate toward people of color and those experiencing homelessness. The Seattle Times reports the board, made up of elected officials and medical experts from cities across the county, on Thursday voiced its support for the voluntary use of helmets, passing a resolution encouraging riders to don the protective gear. But board member and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott said there are other ways of encouraging helmet use that do not...

The Chinese military is equipping soldiers stationed in Tibet with newly developed helmets embedded with a self-destruct button. The button will trigger an embedded bomb to go off, killing the soldier. “At a battalion or brigade level command center, a commander monitors a soldier who is far away by using the navigation system. The commander can activate the self-destruct function of the soldier’s helmet if he can’t get in contact with him,” state-run media China Observer reported on Dec. 27. Soldiers can also press the button themselves. “If a soldier is seriously wounded and doesn’t want to be captured, he...

Nina Kapur, a 26-year-old reporter in New York City, died after she fell from a moped that had been rented from Revel, a popular moped sharing service. Kapur was riding on the back of a Revel rental scooter that was being driven by a 26-year-old man when he "swerved for an unknown reason" Saturday evening in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, according to NYPD spokeswoman Denise Moroney. Kapur and the driver fell to the roadway, and while the driver sustained minor injuries, Kapur was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. The investigation is ongoing, Moroney said. Neither were wearing helmets.

More Protective MAGA Helmets Now Available For Trump Supporters Brave Enough To Go Out In Public **SNIP** “Want to go to the store in your MAGA hat, but afraid of being assaulted, having water thrown on you, or getting smacked with a baseball bat?” Trump says in a promo video on the website. “The MAGA helmet is for you. I’ve gotta say, I’ve seen lots of tactical helmets in my day. This one’s the best. Tremendous stuff.” The helmets are said to be “almost guaranteed” to protect any Trump supporter from mobs at the local Whole Foods market, Starbucks, or...

It could be a busy legislative session for transportation issues in Florida. Already, several bills have been filed addressing controversial topics ahead of the session’s March 7 opening. Here’s a quick look at a few you’ll hear about in the coming weeks. Express lanes A bill proposed in the Florida Senate would prevent the creation of more express lanes on the state’s highways while also setting rules for how express lane toll money must be spent. The measure, SB 250, was filed by state Sen. Frank Artiles, R-Miami. If the bill is made law during the upcoming session, it would...

Federal prison inmates used makeshift hatchets and a screw shoved through a piece of wood among other rudimentary tools to manufacture thousands of faulty Kevlar combat helmets designed to protect the lives of U.S. soldiers on the battlefield, according to a highly critical watchdog report that offered new details about the government boondoggle. More than 126,000 helmets manufactured at a Texas prison under a government contract were recalled after inspectors found major defects... Even though the government and taxpayers lost $19 million on the defective helmets, ArmorSource, the company responsible for the helmets, was awarded more government contracts even as...

Road safety campaigners have accused a leading neurosurgeon of putting lives at risk after he claimed cyclists who wear helmets were wasting their time. Henry Marsh, who works at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London, said many of his patients who had been involved in bike accidents had been wearing helmets that were “too flimsy” to be beneficial. Mr Marsh cited evidence from the University of Bath which suggested that wearing a helmet might even put cyclists at greater risk. It showed that drivers got around three inches closer to cyclists who wore helmets because they perceived them to be...

A bronze Greek warrior helmet dating back to the 6th or 5th century BC has been discovered on the seabed in Haifa Harbour, Israel – but the owner remains a complete mystery. Jacob Sharvit, director of the Marine Archaeology Unit with the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: ‘The gilding and figural ornaments make this one of the most ornate pieces of early Greek armour discovered.’ However, how it ended up on the seabed and who it belonged to remains unknown. One theory is that it belonged to a warrior stationed on one of the warships of the Greek fleet that fought...

Found: Ancient Warrior's Helmet, Owner Unknown A Greek bronze helmet, covered with gold leaf and decorated with snakes, lions and a peacock's tail (or palmette), has been discovered in the waters of Haifa Bay in Israel. But how this helmet ended up at the bottom of the bay is a mystery. The helmet dates back around 2,600 years and likely belonged to a wealthy Greek mercenary who took part in a series of wars, immortalized in the Bible, which ravaged the region at that time. Archaeologists believe that he likely fought for an Egyptian pharaoh named Necho II. Dredging discovery...

Last spring, Michigan eliminated its helmet requirement for motorcycle riders who had additional insurance coverage and met other conditions. Six months after the bill went into effect, MLive ran an investigative series claiming to show the "regrettable impact of the change." The series focused on one main point: Motorcyclists who chose not to wear a helmet were more likely to die or be seriously injured in their crashes. This is true, but the analysis is lacking in other areas and the insinuation that allowing people to not wear helmets is more dangerous is not supported by the data. First, MLive...

ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) — Police say a motorcyclist participating in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York died after he flipped over the bike's handlebars and hit his head on the pavement. The accident happened Saturday afternoon in the town of Onondaga, in central New York near Syracuse. State troopers tell The Post-Standard of Syracuse that 55-year-old Philip A. Contos of Parish, N.Y., was driving a 1983 Harley Davidson with a group of bikers who were protesting helmet laws by not wearing helmets.

John Bourque believes he's onto something big. Really big. Now he just has to convince the rest of the world. The carpenter-turned-inventor says his Tucson company's patented nano- technology can turn aluminum into a nearly impenetrable, lightweight armor for bodies and vehicles. The technology - with the sci-fi name of Kryron - also can create ultra-conductive and corrosion-resistant wire and electrical components, or help form tough metal plating on plastics and other non-metals, says Bourque, founder and CEO of Bourque Industries Inc. But it's one thing to have a great idea; it's quite another to bring it successfully to market....

AB508 would require moped riders to register their vehicles at the DMV (oh, joy!), pay a new Government Regulation Tax (license fee) and wear a government-approved safety helmet all under penalty of law. Yet another example of the nanny state running amok under Democrat leadership in the Legislature while Nevada continues to “enjoy” the nation’s highest unemployment and foreclosure rates. And some people want these busy-body yahoos to meet EVERY YEAR? Alas, as is all too often the case, we have some nanny-state Republicans who are only too happy to vote with Democrats to force adult citizens in the supposedly...

Back in September there was an article, in the journal "Pediatrics", about a study that was based on reports from emergency rooms across America from 1997 to 2007.  The study was concerned about the 229,023 reported snow-sledding-related injuries suffered by those aged 19 years and younger. The report pointed out that of those injuries, 78,096 were head related.  Well my friends, the MSM and the leftists across the country are using the report to drive home the point that sled helmets should be mandatory for all children.  So get ready for politicians at city, county, and state levels to...

Washington (CNN) -- The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday called on states to require all motorcycle riders wear helmets. The announcement, made at a news conference in Washington, is part of the NTSB's "Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety" -- an initiative directed at state governments. The board added motorcycle safety to the list this year and dropped recreational boating safety -- an area it said improvements have been made.

The Army says it is recalling 44,000 advanced combat helmets that have been issued to soldiers worldwide because they do not meet military specifications. The Army said in a statement Friday that the risk to soldiers wearing the helmets is still being determined. New helmets are being issued to anyone who has a defective one. The recall amounts to 4 percent of all advanced combat helmets issued by the Army. The helmets are made by ArmorSource LLC. The company, based in Hebron, Ohio, is a leading maker of combat headgear for the military and police. The army said tests showed...

John Huff/Staff photographer Rochester residents Ellen Edgerly, left, and her daughter Sara. ROCHESTER — A few years back, hundreds of bikers gathered in Representatives Hall in Concord to protest a proposed helmet law. Ellen Edgerly, 51, an advocate with the state's Brain Injury Association, was sitting in the middle of the room, a lone voice in a sea of leather and wild beards, when a lawmaker asked if anyone supported the change. "She stood up, passed all of these tough guys, and testified about brain injury and what it means," says Steven Wade, the association's executive director. "It took...

Pilots here received measurements for the first F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter equipment to move closer to training in the military's newest fighter aircraft Feb. 25 here. The new pilot equipment includes everything from underwear to cold-weather outer gear to anti-G garments. RFD Beaufort, the Lockheed Martin sub-contractor making the new equipment, took controlled measurements down to the millimeter to ensure comfort, safety and the pilot's capability to complete the mission in any scenario. Some of the equipment used by the first F-35 pilots will be based on legacy gear found on previous fighter aircraft. "The wing continues to...

Scandinavians are known for their emphasis on safety. They invented the seat belt, the safety match, the paper clip, and the Nobel Peace Prize. Actually, though all of those are Scandinavian inventions, none are Danish. Danes are not going to be any less than their neighbors when it comes to safety, however. According to Copenhagenize.com, the council for increased traffic safety in Denmark and Trygfonden, a Danish insurance company, has started a new campaign under the catchy slogan “A walking helmet is a good helmet” (it’s catchy in Danish: En gå hjelm er en go-hjelm).

This story may or may not become big news. But it certainly says a lot about the earmark culture on Capitol Hill. A contractor, beneficiary of an earmark that the lobbyist group with close ties to John Murtha got for them, produced combat helmets so shoddy that the military has recalled 34,000 of them. The lobbyists, PMA Group, is mostly identified with Murtha but also garnered an astonishing number of earmarks from other lawmakers from both parties. They are now under investigation by the FBI for illegal campaign contributions among other transgressions. PMA Group Watch has the details: The Army...