First off "public money" is tax money. That's who (in Canada at least) pays for healthcare. Most of it, anyway.
The fact that your insurance premiums go into a pool and pay for the collisions of others does not make it public money. You may choose your insurance company, you may choose different levels of coverage or you may choose not to pay insurance (if you don't drive a motor vehicle). Most jurisdictions have a form of no fault system. That means that sometimes a portion of the damages of a person at fault will be covered by your insurance provider. Usually no-fault benefits are fairly minimal and are not a major cost to the system; that's why the insurance industry lobbied long and hard to have the government implement such a system. The big awards, the "pain and suffering", "punitive damages" and "loss of future wages" tend to still be fault-based. The bottom line is that large amounts "public funds" rarely get into the hands of one who is at fault in any motor vehicle accident. Cheers, frank --- Original Message --- From: Gerrit Visser <[email protected]> Sent: May 7, 2013 5/7/13 To: "'Pentax-Discuss Mail List'" <[email protected]> Subject: RE: OT For the cyclists here But if it is covered by insurance, it is still 'public' money. Insurance companies get their money from... you guessed it.. people like you and me. My premiums go to pay for someone else's incident. Its not like the person who had the incident is taking responsibility and paying the expenses themselves. Gerrit -----Original Message----- From: PDML [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 10:55 AM To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" Subject: Re: OT For the cyclists here There is an argument that one who dies early will cost the healthcare system far less than someone who lingers in into their golden years, health declining as they age. If the accident involves an automobile liability will be covered (at least partially). For those reasons and for the reasons as articulated by Bob W. I am all for being libertarian when it comes to helmet laws for adults. Cheers, frank --- Original Message --- From: Bill <[email protected]> Sent: May 7, 2013 5/7/13 To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: OT For the cyclists here On 06/05/2013 9:31 PM, [email protected] wrote: > While we're at it why don't we start discussions about abortion, gun > control and the existence of God? (yes, yes and no, fwiw) > > For some reason helmets give rise to the same intensity of discussions among cyclists (not just on this list btw). > > As for me, don't care what any study says I like wearing them and will continue to do so. Others can do what they want, don't so much care, as long as they're adults it's their personal decision, I won't judge either way. > In general I agree with your attitude, except when it comes to public liability. In our country, it is costing the public purse more for unhelmeted riders who conk their noggins. If we had private insurance, I would say it's between the rider and his insurance company, but in a publicly funded system, the cards play a little differently. bill -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
