A good opinion piece in this mornings Sydney Morning Herald. A snippet here:
"Thirty-one states have returned the motorcyclists' rights to have the wind rush through their mullets. At one time, the states' compulsory helmet laws were tied to federal highway grants. When that policy lapsed, so did state legislators' stand for common sense in the face of the American right to bare not only arms but heads. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated head injuries were the leading cause of motorcyclist deaths. Helmets reduced fatalities by 37 per cent and were effectively preventing brain injuries by an incredible 69 per cent. Helmet-free riders had three times the injuries of helmeted ones."
The issue of motorcycle helmet laws has driven me mad since we moved to the States.
Often times we can really be our own worst enemy - what & how much we eat / drink etc. And you can crow all you want that this is a free country and you have the right to do as you please but not at the expense of others. The diabetes & obesity epidemics and lack of helmet laws that result in carnage on our roads is first and foremost a tragedy for the people concerned, despite their very own protestations that they want their freedom to eat themselves to death / ride unencumbered. The second tier issue is that their choice of (what was a few, now the majority) impacts the entire society as you consider the cost of insurance premiums and health care.
And what a funny / sad upshot to the repeal in the helmet weating laws. Tennessee is now the go-to place for good organs.
What a sad state of affairs.
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