I don't see why this should be so. We will allow inherently dangerous activities such as skydiving and powerboating. Heck, we even have a football team at UF that experiences (and causes) its fair share of injuries.
Shouldn't there need to be a more compelling reason for legislating behavior than risk of injury? I guess I think back to my jurisprudence class at UF Law. Rather than adopting laws ad hoc (the "bonne judge" approach), we set up a framework that hangs on something my professor used to call a "Grundnorm." I've always viewed it as a social compact issue. In a state of nature, I would give up my right to steal from others in order to protect myself from others stealing from me. I can't think of a reason why I would give up my right to ride a motorcycle without a helmet - I receive nothing in exchange. The only argument that tends to be advanced is the financial burden I would indirectly bear as a member of society to care for injured motorcyclists. As it turns out, the financial burden would be higher with helmet laws, not lower. So, I'm left with no plausible reason why I give up this right or ask others to do so; regardless of whether it may sometimes be in their interest (the low speed crashes, as you indicate). -Zeb On Jun 26, 2009, at 12:04 PM, Oliver Barry wrote: > Using that logic, the injury caused by a low speed crash on a > motorized cycle would also leave the rider unharmed if wearing a > helmet. > Doing something is better than doing nothing. > > Oliver Barry CRS,GRI > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Vega > Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:55 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [gatortalk] Re: FW: [gatornews] [SUN]: UF Campus News: > UF's helmet policy focuses on employees > > > On Jun 26, 2009, at 11:34 AM, Oliver Barry wrote: > > > This is probably a thfgt issue, but I think that anyone who rides a > bike, motorized or not, without a helmet should have his/her head > examined. (pun intended) > We ride every weekend and won’t let anyone ride with the group > without a helmet. Tennessee has a helmet law that has come close > to being struck down with each session of the legislature. So far > it hasn’t. I’ve lent my voice to those who have a vote many times. > > We have 4 neurosurgeons in our town; at one point I represented 3 > of them. > > To each, I asked the question whether society had a financial > interest in mandating motorcycle helmet laws. > > The answers, although uniform, surprised me. > > Each indicated that the type of injury that a helmet would save the > life of a motorcyclist would leave a spinal compression fracture > (the cranium being protected by the helmet). The biker would be > alive, but likely quadriplegic. The cost to society, even if the > biker had insurance, of a quadriplegic is astounding. > > However, they also indicated that helmets should be mandatory for > bicycle riders. A low speed crash with a head blow that could kill > a bicyclist would leave the cyclist unharmed if wearing a helmet. > > I like that UF's policy applies equally to bicycles at it does > motorized vehicles. > > Food for thought. > > -Zeb > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
