The State of Florida sunsetted its law requiring helmets of motorcyclists about a year ago. The death rate for motorcyclists increased dramatically (beginning, ironically, with a fatality the same day cyclists were no longer required to wear a helmet).
Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. Director, Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Associate Professor, Psychology University of West Florida Pensacola, FL 32514 - 5751 Phone: (850) 857-6355 or 473-7435 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] |-----Original Message----- |From: beth benoit [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] |Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 4:37 PM |To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) |Subject: RE: [tips] Stained Glass Brain | |Here's a perspective from my husband - a now retired orthopedic surgeon - |about helmet-wearing: | |Here in New Hampshire (the "Live Free or Die" state), helmet wearing is not |mandated for motorcycles or, of course, bicycles. So what happens if you |have an accident? Here are his observations, from a medical point of view: | |1. If you have a serious accident and you're not wearing a helmet (as you |probably won't, if you live in New Hampshire), you'll probably die. |2. If you have a serious accident in Massachusetts (or any other state that |requires a helmet), you'll probably live, but break your neck and be a |quadriplegic. (And, in the case of the majority of motorcycle accidents he |saw, you won't have health insurance.) | |So there you go. You pays ya money, ya makes ya choice. | |Beth Benoit |Granite State College |Plymouth State University |New Hampshire | |Stephen Black wrote: |>Good story, as was Tim's. But it raises a question. For context, first I |provide a personal disclosure. I'm an occasional bike rider. I don't wear |a helmet because: | |a) it impairs the sense of freedom I feel while bicycling |b) it looks as though it must be hot and uncomfortable |c) it looks silly (I'm vain, what can I tell you) |d) it allows my daughters to act superior and lecture me | |So to justfiy what would otherwise be highly foolish behaviour, I |selectively collect statistics showing that helmets don't work, and even |if they did, risk homeostasis would cancel out any protection they might |provide. | |It seems that quite a few TIPsters have survived bicycle crashes (me |too). But unlike me, I imagine all you responsible folks were wearing |helmets. Do you think they helped? | |Note. If you're going to tell me that the helmet saved you from brain |damage, be warned that, allegedly like Dorothy Parker when hearing that |Calvin Coolidge had died, I will ask, "How can you tell?" | |Stephen |----------------------------------------------------------------- |Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. |Professor of Psychology, Emeritus |Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] |2600 College St. |Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 |Canada | |----------------------------------------------------------------------- | |--- | | |--- ---
