Helmet law irony.

[Bueller]

Is this guy dead because of the helmet law? :stir:

ONONDAGA, N.Y. -- 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.

Troopers say Contos hit his brakes and the motorcycle fishtailed. The bike spun out of control, and Contos toppled over the handlebars. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Troopers say Contos would have likely survived if he had been wearing a helmet.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/03/motorcyclist-dies-helmet-protest_n_889427.html

[bendavis]

facepalm.jpg

[Zach929rr]

HELMET LAWS DONE DID TREAD UPON MY RIGHTS AS AN AMERCAN

WHAT NEXT? THE GON STOP ME FROM FUCKIN MY SISTER TOO?!?!

http://www.thecampussocialite.com/blog/images/redneck.jpg

[konaman]

It's so funny that society thinks that sport bike riders are so unsafe when all these damn Harley/cruiser riders wear as little gear as possible. I hate to say it but that man deserved what he got.

[PhL0aTeR]

I think freedom to do what one wants without harming anyone is a basic right. If that means carrying a card that says "If found in a motorcycle wreck without helmet, DNR, i have no insurance and dont want to burden taxpayers for my bad choice" vs being regulated to wear a helmet, then so be it.

99% of the time, i ride with a full face, but id like to know that in that 1% of times that i dont, im not going to be harassed over my personal choice.

[Bueller]

I hate to say it but that man deserved what he got.

That is a really ignorant statement.
And sportbikers are unsafe, that's why our insurance is so high.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

It's so funny that society thinks that sport bike riders are so unsafe when all these damn Harley/cruiser riders wear as little gear as possible. I hate to say it but that man deserved what he got.
I don't think anyone ever DESERVES to die doing something like this. BUT, that said, I don't have any sympathy for him and his complete lack of motorcycling skills and gear.

[grim]

That is a really ignorant statement.
And sportbikers are unsafe, that's why our insurance is so high.


Yea were nothing like cruisers we wear gear and do all kinds of stupid shit. kind of like how mens insurance is more expensive than womens becuase en are dangerous makes sense to me :p

[edj]

And sportbikers are unsafe, that's why our insurance is so high.

Hopefully that is tongue-in-cheek... Sportbike insurance is 'so high' because faired motorcycles can receive expensive damage even in low speed events. Performance motorcycles are actually underrepresented in motorcycle crash statistics (at least they used to be).

[grim]

Hopefully that is tongue-in-cheek... Sportbike insurance is 'so high' because faired motorcycles can receive expensive damage even in low speed events. Performance motorcycles are actually underrepresented in motorcycle crash statistics (at least they used to be).

I've been in the forum for a month and already picked up the two types of posts bueller has....mean....sarcastic just and FYI

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I've been in the forum for a month and already picked up the two types of posts bueller has....mean....sarcastic just and FYI
Observant, you are. :)

[Bueller]

I've been in the forum for a month and already picked up the two types of posts bueller has....mean....sarcastic just and FYI

And informative if you are paying attention.

[grim]

And informative if you are paying attention.

that's part of your mean posts

[WingZero992]

I'm not entirely sure how to look at this particular situation. While I would never go out without mine, if someone else is educated and chooses to ride without a helmet, it tends to not affect anyone else. If you lose control in your car without your seat belt on, it can be made even worse by not being held in place at the controls. If you lose control on your bike without a helmet on, it's not really going to affect whether or not you crash, just the end result for the rider. If nothing else, it's natural selection at work.

[3D]

Oh the irony..... I agree with colorado's laws on helmets which basically says if you are dumb enough not to wear one then you are dumb enough to die from a severe head injury. The majority of these guys that have been dying in motorcycle accidents around here have been 50+ year olds on harleys wearing no helmets... Nuff said...

[CaptGoodvibes]

It's so funny that society thinks that sport bike riders are so unsafe when all these damn Harley/cruiser riders wear as little gear as possible. I hate to say it but that man deserved what he got.

Yeah well, all week and all weekend, unless I'm actively on a CSC ride, every sportbiker I see all over the metro by about a 20 to 1 ratio, is missing a helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, and jeans. Look around will ya?!? Most everyone on a sportbike is a squid. I'd say it's not much different from Harley riders except they don't ride as fast.

[Kristian]

...

Troopers say Contos hit his brakes and the motorcycle fishtailed.


...

Don't forget, the front brake is dangerous.

[longrider]

Yeah well, all week and all weekend, unless I'm actively on a CSC ride, every sportbiker I see all over the metro by about a 20 to 1 ratio, is missing a helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, and jeans. Look around will ya?!? Most everyone on a sportbike is a squid. I'd say it's not much different from Harley riders except they don't ride as fast.

I wonder if it is dependent on location and/or time of day? When I am out on the road I see around 80 - 90% wearing helmets, jackets are the weakest area at maybe 50% Full on shorts/sandals/shades riders are a very small minority, less than 5%

[daemon]

Meh!!!
I wear mine because i made a promise to a few family members that i would do all i could to be safe after returning to Motorcycling after a 7 year hiatus.
I was not a very good rider(self-taught) back then and had a few mishaps.
Now i don't think i would BE CAUGHT DEAD not wearing ATTGATT.
I'm not perfect.
I wore regular jeans yesterday on my ride through the canyons,but hey at least i try!

[dirkterrell]

Is this guy dead because of the helmet law? :stir:


He's dead because he made a choice. I see no reason for the government to take that choice away.



Troopers say Contos would have likely survived if he had been wearing a helmet.


And it's possible he'd have ended up in a vegetative state with a helmet. No one can know. Freedom has it's dangers. I'll take them over a nanny state. And yes, I always ride with a helmet.

[longrider]

He's dead because he made a choice. I see no reason for the government to take that choice away.



And it's possible he'd have ended up in a vegetative state with a helmet. No one can know. Freedom has it's dangers. I'll take them over a nanny state. And yes, I always ride with a helmet.

+10000

Your second point brings up something I have wondered about as a rebuttal to the 'social costs' arguments of the nanny staters. For all the unhelmeted riders who incur significant medical costs, how much of that would be cancelled out by helmeted riders who incur significant medical costs that had they not been wearing a helmet would be simply dead. I realize this would be a very hard study to do, there is the issue of was the death caused by head injuries plus you have to rule out people like you (or me) who are opposed to helmet laws yet still wear a helmet

[CaptGoodvibes]

I wonder if it is dependent on location and/or time of day? When I am out on the road I see around 80 - 90% wearing helmets, jackets are the weakest area at maybe 50% Full on shorts/sandals/shades riders are a very small minority, less than 5%

Could be. I didn't much pay attention before I started commuting recently. Historically, I just looked at the bike :) But for the last couple months, I've been noticing the gear and well, it's shocking how often their isn't any. I don't mean during my commute so much as when I'm having a meal and look over at the light and see two bikes with t-shirted riders and caps on backwards or when I'm caging it to the market and the guy next to me at the light is wearing a helmet but nothing else that constitutes gear. And so on...

It's probably the heat... and youth. Hopefully it will pass and I'll begin to see more gear around town.

[The GECCO]

+10000

Your second point brings up something I have wondered about as a rebuttal to the 'social costs' arguments of the nanny staters. For all the unhelmeted riders who incur significant medical costs, how much of that would be cancelled out by helmeted riders who incur significant medical costs that had they not been wearing a helmet would be simply dead. I realize this would be a very hard study to do, there is the issue of was the death caused by head injuries plus you have to rule out people like you (or me) who are opposed to helmet laws yet still wear a helmet

Actually, there was a study done about this topic, dunno if I can find it again. But, it was done as a rebuttal to the argument that instituting helmet laws would lower health care expenses. In a nutshell it said that when motorcyclists crash they end up in one of three general categories:

A - uninjured or with minor injuries (bumps, bruises, minor broken bones, etc)
B- seriously injured (major broken bones, etc all the way to permanent brain injuries, paralysis, etc)
C - Dead

Obviously, category B is where all the money is spent. Treating minor injuries is relatively inexpensive, as is burying people. The problem is that because a helmet only protects your head, any increase in helmet use (be it because of a law or whatever) results in more people moving from C to B, than from B to A. In other words, people who would have been massively injured but dead of head injuries were now surviving the crash because their heads were protected, but still coming away with significant other bodily injuries. The end result is more health care expense.

I'm not saying this as an argument for or against helmet laws, just pointing out that the "health care savings" argument is pure BS.

[grim]

Holy shit this thread is dragging out!!!

[Aaron]

The bottom line is that it is a personal choice. But there are a lot of "personal choices" that hurt no one but yourself that are also illegal. This is because society has decided that the Government, to a certain extent, has a responsibility to protect the stupid from themselves.

[Bueller]

He's dead because he made a choice. I see no reason for the government to take that choice away.


And it's possible he'd have ended up in a vegetative state with a helmet. No one can know. Freedom has it's dangers. I'll take them over a nanny state. And yes, I always ride with a helmet.
They were protesting an existing law, so the govt. had already taken his choice away. If there would have been no law he would not have been there protesting.


Holy shit this thread is dragging out!!!

Then go the fuck away, oh sry too mean?

[grim]

They were protesting an existing law, so the govt. had already taken his choice away. If there would have been no law he would not have been there protesting.



Then go the fuck away, oh sry too mean?

Not mean enough beuller I expect better from you I'm disappointed.

[Bueller]

Go ride! It is too nice a day to be sitting @ a computer unless you just got home from HPR from riding the morning session, pushing yourself to ride like you are on a race track. With a helmet.

[grim]

Go ride! It is too nice a day to be sitting @ a computer unless you just got home from HPR from riding the morning session, pushing yourself to ride like you are on a race track. With a helmet.

I'm way ahead of you man already have a ride Planned leaving in an hour w the wife. Good advice though how was it out there I wanted to go watch but couldn't make it.

[Bueller]

Perfect for some blazing hot laps!

Was glad I was loaded and outta there by 12:15

[fiveninerzero]

I still believe it should be a personal choice. Even if it's like in this case, a very poor personal choice, it's not quite the government's place to protect people from their own mediocrity and idiocy. And it was a horrible choice in this guy's case.

[Aaron]

I still believe it should be a personal choice. Even if it's like in this case, a very poor personal choice, it's not quite the government's place to protect people from their own mediocrity and idiocy. And it was a horrible choice in this guy's case.
I agree with you, unfortunately nowadays society does not. Get too drunk and start stumbling down the street? Liberal society expects the Police or EMS to "help" you and get you somewhere safe. They have to protect you from yourself.

[bendavis]

I agree with you, unfortunately nowadays society does not. Get too drunk and start stumbling down the street? Liberal society expects the Police or EMS to "help" you and get you somewhere safe. They have to protect you from yourself.

When your stupidity affects someone else's freedom, i think there is reason to step in. for example; you are wasted stumbling down the street and don't realize you are about to lean on my nice motorcycle and tip it over and continue to stumble away, I for one, wish someone would have helped you get home safely. whether it is a nice officer with a comfy back seat, or a concerned citizen with an over-inflated sense of civic duty...

I believe you are a moron if you aren't in a helmet, if I pass you un-helmeted and you give me the "whats up" signal, you just get a head shake, and sometimes a little signal of my own. BUT like everyone else here, I believe it is your freedom (happy independence day, btw) to make retarded PERSONAL decisions. When it comes to smoking, seat belts, helmets and drugs, I just don't understand why the Government has any say in how I treat my body. Thats coming from a guy who rarely smokes, wears my seat belt 97% of the time, ALWAYS wears a helmet, and wouldn't touch any DRUG (THC isn't a drug, right) even they were 100% legal.

Gotta protect us from ourselves. Americans are all 2 year olds and we haven't yet figured out that its a bad idea to drink oven cleaner so they lock it up with those damn clips that go around your cabinet knobs. God I hate those clips.

[Aaron]

Public smoking, seat belts, and helmets affect the public when they aren't worn.

2nd hand cigarette smoke is bad for you, I think we all know this. Not only that, but to non-smokers (Which I am), it is absolutely disgusting, uncomfortable, and extremely rude.

Helmets and seat belts, when not worn, waste an extreme amount of taxpayer's money. Not to mention the poor souls who have to look at your mangled body before the cops and firefighters cover it or block it from view.

By the way, when I say you or your, not meaning 'you' specifically, but generically the people who I am talking about ;)