> I had written: > >As far as I understand, injuries to the driver of the motorcycles > >are not covered by their liability insurance, they're covered by > >health insurance.
Tim Bonham responded: > Only if they have health insurance. (Which is dropping > toward only a 50-50 chance, nowadays.) > > We have an entire state hospital wing devoted to cyclists without > insurance, riding without helmets. All paid for by our tax > money. It's officially called the TBI (Tramatic Brain Injury) ward, > but the nickname used within the hospital is the Harley-Davidson ward, > since the great majority of the patients here came via cycle accidents. I've given this matter a lot of thought having had ridden motorcycles for a long time and lived in CA when they instituted a helmet requirement. A helmet once saved me from the Harley-Davidson ward. My opinion is that if you want to ride without a helmet, that's your foolhardy decision, but you should be required to pay higher insurance rates. As to all the brain dead still living who never had insurance, I think that their expenses should be coved by licensing fees. People should be free to indulge their midlife crisis, but the government should not be responsible for financing them. Can the city ban motorcycle riding or require helmets? I actually support public health care as being part of the government's responsibility of providing for the General Welfare. Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
