Live Free Or Die

On April 13, 2012 Governor Snyder, signed into legislation, a repeal of a 35-year-old Michigan law that required all motorcyclists to wear a helmet. The bill states that any rider, who wants to ride without a helmet, must be 21 years old. They must also have passed a motorcycle safety course or have a motorcycle endorsement for at least two years and carry an additional $20,000 in medical insurance. Passengers also have to be 21 years of age and carry the additional insurance. This new law gives riders their right to choose. Where it falls short, in promoting the issue that helmets save lives and reduce costly and possibly debilitating injury to the rider and their passenger. As long as there is a law that states that front seat drivers and passengers of automobiles are required to wear a seat belt and that passengers between the age of 8-15 must buckle up in all seating positions, I firmly believe that all drivers and passengers of motorcycles should be required to wear a helmet. They save lives and reduce the risk of serious injury.

Every time a biker chooses to get on their bike without a helmet, the are putting their life in danger. Regardless of this new freedom of choice, the proof is in the numbers. To ignore them, is to disregard your own safety. According to the Center for Disease Control website, from June 12, 2012, helmet use is estimated to prevent 37 percent of deaths among riders and 41 percent of crashes for passengers. A report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, listed on their website, preliminary data shows that in a nine month period in 2012 there were 120 fatalities compared to 99 in 2011. Ask yourself, of all of those deaths, how many of them could have been prevented by simply putting on a helmet....

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... one should not wear a helmet. You can greatly decrease the chance of death or an injury. The “free choice” argument should have never been enough to change the law in Michigan or any other state. There are a lot of things in this country worth arguing and fighting for but this is just not one of them. Riders could make better use of their time and mine. As long as I have to buckle up, which I am proud to say I do, and take all possible precautions while driving to be a safe driver, then I expect the same from a totally exposed motorcyclist. I don't want to be responsible for any accident. No one does. I especially do not want to be involved in one that seriously hurts or kills someone. The odds for death or debilitating injury are far more likely if the accident involves a rider expressing his rights to choose. For this reason I believe the law should be changed.