Use Your Head…And COVER It.
I like motorcycles. Don’t own one, not sure if I ever would, what with all my other interests, I don’t know when I’d find the time to ride. But I like ‘em. I think they’re pretty cool.
That being said, when I saw a dad cruising the other day with what looked to be about a nine-year old girl on the back…and neither one of them wore helmets or had their legs covered, I wanted to pull up next to him and ask him where his head was at. Leave your own head uncovered? I don’t care, you’re an adult, and since the laws are so screwed up in this state that it’s not required, that’s his perogative. But at least put a helmet on your little girl, for Pete’s sake. I get so pissed when I see this stuff.
As long as I’m talking about it…when are the legislators in this state going to stand up to the motorcycle lobby and make these guys put helmets on? Every one of them. The law says I have to wear a seat belt in my 3,500 pound, fully enclosed automobile, and they say it’s for “safety purposes”, but the guy on the unprotected, 600 pound bike can ride around without a helmet? What kind of nonsense is that?
Furthermore, let’s talk about some more nonsense: “Pipes Save Lives”. To that I say this: Kiss my butt. Again, as a driver of a car, I must have the engine muffled, lest I be given a ticket for violating a noise ordinance, and I don’t disagree with that. There are some cities (Peoria) that also write tickets to offensively load boom boxes, and with good reason. But I can be slapped out of a deep slumber at 3:15AM by some dude deciding to mash the gas on his unmuffled Harley just as he goes past my house, and it’s legal.
I got stopped in Iowa many years ago, when a police officer felt my ‘74 Charger R/T was “too loud”. I showed him my dual Thrush Hush mufflers, and he said, “you’ve hollowed ‘em out.” I told him I had no idea how to do that, I could barely change my own oil at that point. Before he wrote the citation, I said, “tell you what, when I pull away from a stoplight with a Harley on one side and a semi-tractor trailer on the other…and I can hear my own car over those two, I’ll come down to the Cop Shop and write MYSELF a ticket. He laughed, said, “okay, you’ve got a point” and let me go.
25 years later, not much has changed, except I think the Harleys are LOUDER. I say muffle ’em, and do it today. That’s just as much “noise pollution” as those bass-thumping car stereos. Without a doubt. Â
3 comments.
Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment, May 23rd, 2007. »« Drifting A Sport? Not.
WPMU Theme pack by
May 29th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Nanny state.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I understand the need for helmets for motorcyclists. I also understand that passengers on motorcycles need them. Actually, they only need them in the case of a crash, but since no one can actually predict that, and if they did, they wouldn’t be riding, wearing one whenever one is on a motorcycle is definitely the smart thing to do. I must admit that I wear one 95% of the time. For me, as a “free” American, riding without a helmet is my decision, as I feel it is also for those other motorcyclists. Underage passengers, of course, do not necessarily have the knowledge to know that wearing a helmet is best for them, so possibly a law governing that situation would be prudent. If a motorcycle rider is not wearing a helmet, and he crashes, who gets hurt? If a driver of a 4,000 pound car cannot control his car, who can get hurt? To me, that is the difference. I’ve experienced crashing a car with a seat belt in use. Without that belt, the accident could have been much worse, as I was able to regain control of the car before getting into a situation that could have included other vehicles. I truly feel that the belt saved lives, other than my own, in that case. My wearing of a helmet when I ride might save my life, but it won’t save the life of anyone else, or for that matter, my not wearing a helmet will not save another’s life. Do you see the difference?
Here’s the real meat of why motorcyclists prefer to not have a law on the books governing whether they are required to wear a helmet or not: There are already too many laws on the books that restrict the freedom of Americans. There are already too many laws on the books that are not enforced, such as the law requiring working mufflers on motorcycles. To me, loud motorcycles, or loud trucks or radios, for that matter, don’t have a place in a community. If you like loud motorcycles, go to a motorcycle race. If you like loud music, go to a concert. If you don’t like those things, stay away from the races and concerts. Simple. All motorcycles currently sold new in the US have very affective muffling systems. In the case of loud motorcycles, it is the owner who modifies the bike to be loud. Some new owners don’t even wait for the original mufflers to become defective, as they yank them off before the title returns from the state. Shame on those people! Shame on the cops who let them drive by without being reprimanded!
In short, you are an American, one who wants freedoms. Since you don’t ride motorcycles, you should let those who do decide whether they want to be safer by wearing a helmet than by not wearing one.
While you’re on the subject of vehicles, how about we get someone to make sure we have the proper insurances on our cars? I’m sure, when you are stopped by the police, you have experienced what I have experienced. Namely, the police are so involved in stopping you for going 8 miles an hour over the 30 mile per hour limit, they neglect to ask for proof of insurance. Why do I pay for liability insurance, if, even though the law requires it, no one is checking it. How many $300 cars are running around Illinois without insurance? I’d venture to guess about 95% of them do not have insurance. What’s your estimate?
I once lived in New York state. Out there, you could not even get a license plate (they call it a tag out there) on your car, if you did not present an official document from an insurance company stating that insurance was in place on that particular vehicle. It works, plain and simple. In Illinois, everyone just assumes that you’re a law-abiding driver and have all the required insurances. What a farce!
Sorry for having written a novel here, but I felt a need to express my view, being a motorcycle rider for the majority of my life. I would recommend that you take time to ride a motorcycle sometime. You’ll love it! However, before you do, please take a rider course. It will at least give you a chance to survive the ride. Those courses are provided to each citizen of Illinois, free of charge. Actually, the charge is handled by all of the licensed motorcycle riders in the state, as part of their “tag” fees go towards that education. I feel it is one of the best things the state of Illinois has ever done. And, they do it right.
BJ, you keep at it. You’re causing people to think. I admire that.
Thanks
July 29th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Thank you for the comments, Gaz.
BTW, I don’t disagree with you about having the freedom on whether or not to don a helmet, but if they make auto drivers wear a seat belt for “safety”, it’s a bit of a double standard, don’t you think?
The problem with you not wearing a helmet is that not only do we risk losing you in a crash, which would of course devestate your family and friends, but the driver of the other vehicle involved in that accident (if it’s more than one vehicle) might end up facing “involuntary manslaughter” charges he might not have otherwise faced if you were wearing that helmet.
But our differences really are minor on this…I totally understand your point about “freedoms”…I wish, as a driver of cars, I enjoyed the same freedom to decide if I should wear a seat belt or not, but sadly that freedom has been taken away.
I do also very much like your idea about proving insurance before you can license a car…and checking it once a year is certainly more than they do now.
Anyway, thanks again for your comment, it was great stuff!