Man dies protesting helmet law

[jp201]

He's an idiot, no doubt, but that's really not the kind of thing we should be making laws about. If someone wants to kill themselves, let them do so without spending money (we don't have) trying to stop them.

He is also more dangerous to others without a helmet then with one. If someone gets into an accident and gets launched there body is a weapon pretty much. Similar to how seat belt laws work in that if you get thrown out of the wind shield you can hurt others.


If this isn't irony then I have no idea what is

 

[Elemental]

 

[Toaster Hunter]

Though i agree with him on principle, he sort of deserves this and it's really hard to feel sorry for a guy like this. And the Darwin Award goes to...

 

[DanDanikov]

It's kinda sad, but... people have a right to take risk with their own lives. Everything we do has some kind of risk associated with it; it seems arbitrary to draw the line at one point or another. The law exists to encourage safety with regards to others, not yourself.

If I were to enact a motorcycle helmet law, it would only be for passengers. They don't deserve to suffer if their driver makes a mistake. Drivers themselves, well, I'd enforce some kind of license/waiver that has to be applied for- allowing riders to say 'I'm aware this is voluntary and the risks I'm taking' (I suppose this technically could apply to passengers, but certainly should be personal- a rider can't get a blanket one that covers passengers). I believe it's a personal freedom and they have a point protesting it, and such a thing would be an acceptable compromise.

Might affect your insurance premiums though.

 

[UbarElite]

I don't think there should be helmet laws either.

I fully believe in the right of every person to kill themselves in whatever way they so choose.

 

[Winterfel]

Karma she is a *****.

HarHarHar, I c wuut u did thar.
OT: This had me chuckling a bit at first then I realised how sad it was >.>

 

[icame]

I am just going to repeat what I believe everyone here probably has. THE IRONY, IT'S DELICIOUS.
What an idiot.

 

[flamingjimmy]

Wearing a helmet should absolutely not be required by law.

Not wearing one is fucking stupid, granted, but they're only endangering their own lives, and that should be well within their rights.

 

[GeneWard]

Serves the stupid bastard right, hopefully some of his fellow protesters will learn something.

 

[Dastardly]

He was stupid; purposefully riding without a helmet was pretty dumb. But I actually agree with him. The problem with both the helmet and seat belt laws is that the only person at risk is the one not wearing one of the aforementioned equipment. American government is intended to allow freedom, essentially meaning that you can do whatever idiotic thing you want as long as it's not going to hurt someone else, which is why things like murder and theft are illegal but licking a spark plug is not. Laws are not supposed to keep us safe from ourselves, they're supposed to keep us safe from others and others safe from us.

Issue being, sometimes we forget to put on a seatbelt. Or perhaps we lost our helmet. And we end up needing to pay a ticket because we had the audacity to put ourselves, and no one else, at risk, probably just because of forgetfulness or something. I don't see that as in line with the constitution or generally okay on principle for a country that was formed specifically with freedom in mind.

Sorry, but when a biker dumps a bike, it doesn't just stop right where it is. It spins and rolls and slides out into traffic. And if some guy dumps his bike because a bug tagged him in the eye, because he wasn't wearing a helmet? The folks that bike hurts are still just as injured.

When you're on the road, it's about more than just you.

 

[vivster]

i guess a "HAHA!" is apropriate?
sweet sweet irony

and what did we learn?
do not protest anything

 

[Ucaenforcer]

Natural selection in action

 

[Jegsimmons]

HAHAAAAaaaaa.....irony....it's a real ***** aint it?

 

[derdeutschmachine]

While I not only ride my motorcycle without a helmet (it's legal to do so in PA) I also do not wear a seatbelt (which is a law). My position is not an ill informed one, I know the consequenses I face if I were to end up in an accident. I would more than likely die, but if that is how I chose to live then that is on me not the law.
Honestly any law prohibiting the freedom for me do do what I want with my life is wrong.
To anyone who says this man is an idiot or otherwise, you are the fools here, that man died doing what he believed in, fighting for the freedom he felt he and others like myself deserve.
It's easy to point and laugh at the misfortune this guy had and the irony of his death but in the same vein, not everyone thinks the same and not everyone believes every human life is to be protected by the law.

 

[Something Amyss]

The problem with both the helmet and seat belt laws is that the only person at risk is the one not wearing one of the aforementioned equipment.

There's a lot of way you can hurt someone else by not wearing a seatbelt. If you're the driver, you can cause additional damage by losing control of the vehicle. This can harm yourself, passengers, people in other vehicles, and pedestrians.

If you're in the front seat, you can be launched through the windshield and act as a human missile. This can damage other cars or even injure the occupants, or harm pedestrians.

Even in the back seat you can injure other passengers.

So the idea that it's only you at risk is utter bull.

Physics. She's a hard taskmaster.

Further, and you may disagree with the tenet of emergency services, but as long as my taxpayer dollars are going to keep some idiot's ass alive after he cracks his skull on the pavement, it does impact me and every other taxpayer.

Now, if not wearing a helmet came with an inherent waiver that EMS got to leave your ass by the side of the road, I'd be onboard with the whole "personal responsibility" / "not hurting anyone but yourself" line.

 

[LadyMint]

You know what this sounds like to me? Another scenario for one of my favorite TV Shows: 1,000 Ways to Die.

Talk about ironic. I'm curious how his fellow protestors reacted to this. They probably justified his right to die that way. Part of me agrees with them... Until we get to the point where parents think it's optional to teach their children helmet safety, then want to know who to blame to when Bobby or Sue breaks their head on a sidewalk.

 

[FamoFunk]

The problem with both the helmet and seat belt laws is that the only person at risk is the one not wearing one of the aforementioned equipment.

Not true on the seat belt front. A driver can wear a seat belt, the back seat passanger behind him not. When he crashes the back seat driver can kill the driver because of the impact, so driver died through someone elses selfish stupidity.

OT - I feel sympathy with his family, I really do. But I cannot help but feel nothing for this blokes stupidity.
Helmets should be law, and if you don't want to comply with the law then on your head (no pun intended) be it.

 

[BoogieManFL]

The irony is brutal.

I'm sorry the guy died, but, I think protecting your face and brain is more important than some convenience, comfort, or just personal preference. And what about your family? Is it fair to them to lose you because you won't wear a helmet?

And to those of you who don't wear seatbelts - in bad accidents it's far more common than is generally known for people to get thrown from the vehicle, which at those speeds (and if there are other cars around to run you over once you get the ground) is usually worse than still being in the vehicle. Do you want your bones being the only thing between you and a tree/car/concrete or your car's frame? What if your dumb ass getting ejected makes someone else wreck trying to avoid running you over and creates another accident, and so on? It only takes one idiot to hurt a lot of people.

I once spun out into the grass on the side when I had to violently swerve to avoid some idiot not paying attention coming at me and the forces exerted on a hard fast spin can slide you out of your seat. My seatbelt was digging into my hips but it kept me in place. If you hit a bump while sliding you can fly up, hit the roof, lose your footing on the pedals.. You need that seatbelt to keep you where you can maintain as much control as possible. Also, vehicles designed with safety features like airbags only protect you if you're where you're supposed to be.