🚀 go-pugleaf

ray@Celestial.COM (Ray Jones) writes:

>I agree, if you want to kill yourself by not having a helmet, go ahead.
>However, if I have to help pay for your funeral, that is another story.  If
>you are under age, under insurred, or broke, then my tax dollar pays.  If
>you are injured and any of the above, I have to pay.  That I object to.
>That, I think is the whole point to the helmet law.  These people are
>irresponsible, not only to themselves, but to the whole socity.

It's not just limited to helmet laws.  A couple of stories to show you
what I mean:

#1.  A friend of mine, an 18-year old girl, recently got into a 1-car
accident.  She has been living on her own since she was 16, so, in order
to have money to live on, she didn't have insurance.  She now has a VERY
sore back and neck, and medical bills totalling over $10k.  Did I forget
to mention she didn't have medical insurance, too?  Even though she'll
recover fully, she's going to be hurting for awhile both physically and
financially, especially since she has to now work out some sort of
arrangement to pay back the hospital for all the medical work.  Her
supposed saving grace, "At least I didn't hit anybody else, or I'd
REALLY be sunk."

#2.  Another friend of mine was rear-ended by a guy who, because he 
recently lost his job, had cancelled his auto-insurance policy so that
he, his wife and 3 kids could have SOME money for the Holidays.  My
friend, being just too kind for words, chose not to report the accident.
She was lucky, but then, the situation was pretty hopeless even if she
DID report the accident.  Why?  The guy who hit her already had a 
suspended license, so if she reported the accident, the police would 
have hauled his carcass off to jail for driving with a suspended license
AND not having insurance.  My friend felt it was simply better to not
report the accident, thereby he could work to pay for repair (not as
bad as suspected), or at least be able to go out and look for work
rather than having to sit in the slammer and have his family go w/o
food.

Now, as far as helmet laws, I really don't give a rats rear about whether
somebody riding his motorcycle has a helmet on or not, with the caveat
that I NOT have to pay WHATSOEVER if this person, through their own
negligence, causes an accident in which the helmetless person suffers
a head injury because the human head was not meant to skid on road surfaces
without sustaining damage.  There are many motorcycle accidents where a
person driving a car is actually the cause of the accident, but I also
know the other side, particularly since I have a brother-in-law who
delights in travelling in excess of 80 mph on his bike on not only highways,
but rural roads as well.  And I KNOW he's not the safest of drivers, but
he IS damn lucky!

allen