I guess it would make sense then if the money from seatbelt and helmet tickets went to the insurance companies, hospitals, and mortuaries since they get stuck with the bills...
- James O'Gorman On Jul 4, 2011, at 9:27 AM, Kurt Nolte <[email protected]> wrote: > Reasonable expectation of injury is the serious difference in most of those > instances. In the case of someone hitting you, with a car or such, THEY made > the action and are liable, rather than you, and there are legal consequences > and avenues to pursue. > > Walking down the street you're not likely to do much more than ding your ego > and bruise your body, maybe a little blood. > > Motorcycle at 15/20/25 and you can see a serious concussion or skull > fracture. Most folks aren't thinking about accidents at these speeds. > > Bicycle at 15/20 you can see a skull fracture/concussion. 10mph can give your > head a good rattle and a moderate/mild concussion. Most folks don't believe > you can seriously hurt yourself in a bike wreck outside of professional or > racing levels. Most folks ride between 5-12mph. > > Falling down a set of stairs hard enough/big enough to cause serious injury > is a lower probability than a vehicular collision, and most stair-fall > injuries are statistically limbs and neck, not head trauma. Helmets wouldn't > prevent these injuries. > > I support seatbelt and helmet laws primarily because people are phenomenally > good at ignoring the consequences of their actions, and the consequences that > others will face for their action, until it's too late. Giving a more > immediate and less immediately fatal consequence to instill a good habit is a > good idea, in my opinion. "It won't happen to me" is a big mentality, and the > costs to other people are staggering when you sit back and think about > traumatic experiences, lost time, direct medical costs, property damages, > EMT/FD/Police response costs... > > Statistically speaking, traffic fatalities and injuries have been in steady > decline since there was first mandated, and then increased enforcement of > seatbelt usage. There have been other factors involved in the decline, but > that's been a constant element. It for certain isn't purely a "money ticket." > The sad thing is that the way to most reliably make people change their > behaviour is to cost them money. Not education, not reason, not discussion, > not warnings, but poking a needle in the wallet changes someone's behaviour > very quickly. > > -Kurt > > On Mon, Jul 4, 2011 at 12:15 PM, Javier Garcia <[email protected]> wrote: > I have heard that argument before. If you are walking on the street and don't > pay attention you can fall, get hit by a car, etc. If you walk down the > stairs too fast you can fall down the stairs and really injure yourself. Why > not require everybody to wear helmets all the time? The way I see it there is > not much difference between a helmet/seatbelt ticket and a parking ticket, > both are meant to collect more money. > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
