IN 2003, the Pennsylvania legislature --- the very same that staunchly resists all gun-control measures --- repealed the law that required all motorcyclists to wear helmets. Those with two years of biking experience could now ride bare-headed.
So what happened? According to a story this morning on WHHY, between 2003 and 2008, biker deaths due to head injuries increased 32% and serious head injuries jumped by 42%. What a surprise!
Now the geniuses in Harrisburg are talking about reinstating the helmet law. As if in 2003 there were any doubt whatsoever about what the result of repealing it was going to be.
On one hand, it's possible to applaud the law's repeal. The revision allowed evolution to take its natural course. Those too dumb or reckless to wear a helmet made themselves extinct in greater numbers than those with enough intelligence and common sense to don head gear.
On the other hand, however, the WHYY story went on to note that those with chronic debilitating head injuries have become (another big surprise)the taxpayers' burden, since many of these road warriors also failed to have health and disability insurance.
As a bicycler, I never take to the road without my helmet strapped firmly on my head. Why would anyone hurl himself down a highway, or even a city street, with no head gear? Some, I suppose, like the wind in their hair. Others, I suspect, just think they look cooler without a helmet. These, I imagine, are the same guys who drive red or black pickup trucks that don't have a scratch on them. My old man, a bricklayer, always had a truck... one that was full of dents and scratches... a working man's truck, not a show-off truck. I suspect these are the same types of guys who wear sunglasses indoors and on cloudy days. It's the look, not the safety, that counts.
And only a state legislature that also advocates a gun in every pot would also amend a good law to enable these bozos to behave so irresponsibly.
But, hey, if courting bodily harm is your thing... you've got a friend in Pennsylvania!
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