Helmet laws are funny, and the furry they cause when they come up for debate is mind boggling. The AMA http://www.ama-cycle.org/ does not support helmet laws stating that it maintains a long-standing fundamental belief that adults should continue to have the right to voluntarily decide when to wear a helmet. Sounds all well and good. The AMA goes on to dispute the many arguments given by people that support helmet laws. These being Injured motorcyclists are uninsured and disproportionately rely upon the public to pay for their injuries, The costs associated with unhelmeted motorcyclist injuries and fatalities compel the enactment of mandatory helmet laws to save taxpayer dollars, and Mandatory helmet laws are the most effective way to reduce motorcyclist injuries and fatalities. I have to agree with the AMA that these reasons are all crap.
But here's the reasons I support helmet laws.

First off, people are stupid. The AMA says it believes that adults should have the right to decide. Sounds good and for a long time I believed it too. Then I went to Florida where the helmet law was repealed and I was shocked by the number of people without helmets. I'm not talking about riding down the strip either, I'm talking about 70 mph bumper to bumper on I-70. These people are stupid! No one I knew wore a seat belt before it was required by law, as a kid I didn't ware a helmet on a bicycle and growing up in the Seventies, I don't think I ever road in a car seat. Why not? Because it wasn't required by law, and since it wasn't required people didn't do it. Everyone knew that seat belts saved lives, that car seats saved babies, and kids bang there head on bicycles, but nobody protected themselves. We have become dependent on laws to help us judge what is safe and what is dangerous. Helmet laws are needed simpley because people are stupid.

The AMA says that the most effective way to reduce motorcyclist injuries and fatalities is to prevent crashes from occurring in the first place. Helmets and helmet laws do not prevent accidents. But helmets may prevent a death and injury. No one is saying that we can't have helmet laws and effective rider and driver education. Better designed intersections, or anything else. A helmet law should not replace any of these safety measures, but it should be used with them.

I do understand the appeal of having the wind in your hair. And I also understand that effective helmets don't look so hot. But a helmet is not an item of personal apparel. No more so than a hard hat, safety glasses, or steel toed boots. All of which are required by law if you work in the right environment. A helmet is a item of personal protection equipment, it should be treated as such, and required by law in the right environment.

Ride Safe,
Deacon