mehastings
Active Member
Motokid said:
I believe he has remained there because we love him in this state...car and all (because I know it's coming).
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Helmet Laws and Seat Belt Laws
- Thread starter Motokid
- Start date
I believe he has remained there because we love him in this state...car and all (because I know it's coming).
mehastings
Active Member
I've seen people get cited for not wearing seatbelts and for not wearing helmets. Of course all three times (2 belt, 1 helmet) were after an accident the person had caused.
Motokid
New Member
So we've got plenty of laws already on the books designed to help protect people from themselves, yet for some strange reason they do not get inforced....hmmmmm
I'd say there's plenty more kids riding in school buses, millions and millions of miles traveled every month probably, and none of those kids is wearing a seat belt (and have you seen the standard issue bus driver in many states???), yet for some reason the general public is way more passionate about making sure Spike and Killer in "The Hell's Angels" are wearing a helmet.
Strange priorities from where I sit.
I'd say there's plenty more kids riding in school buses, millions and millions of miles traveled every month probably, and none of those kids is wearing a seat belt (and have you seen the standard issue bus driver in many states???), yet for some reason the general public is way more passionate about making sure Spike and Killer in "The Hell's Angels" are wearing a helmet.
Strange priorities from where I sit.
Geenh
New Member
VERY good point MotoKid.
Like a thing here in Tas... when I lived in the States, when school buses stopped a sign popped out of the side of the bus that made people stop and not pass. Doesn't happen here. The worst drivers in Australia (as found out by an international radio station... yeah, yeah) and they get to speed by a school bus letting children off. Pathetic! No indicators, weaving, etc. I am surprised no kid has been killed lately.
WAAAAA!
Like a thing here in Tas... when I lived in the States, when school buses stopped a sign popped out of the side of the bus that made people stop and not pass. Doesn't happen here. The worst drivers in Australia (as found out by an international radio station... yeah, yeah) and they get to speed by a school bus letting children off. Pathetic! No indicators, weaving, etc. I am surprised no kid has been killed lately.
WAAAAA!
Halo
New Member
A minibus crashed here in the UK yesterday (I think). It was taking kids to secondary school and a 12-year old girl was killed. I don't know if the bus was fitted with seatbelts, but even if it was, the kids probably wouldn't wear them - they wouldn't look cool enough.
I think that anyone who does not wear a helmet on a bike or a seatbelt where one is fitted is an idiot. It's there for your safety, so use it. They save so many lives, both your own and others', plus they save the emergency service workers from the trauma of having to scrape you off the road.
I think that anyone who does not wear a helmet on a bike or a seatbelt where one is fitted is an idiot. It's there for your safety, so use it. They save so many lives, both your own and others', plus they save the emergency service workers from the trauma of having to scrape you off the road.
Motokid
New Member
posted by Motokid:
Ah but people can choose where to work.
Without OSHA, smart people would only choose to work for employers who did offer them reasonably safe environments.
You're only protecting dumb people from themselves, but in this instance, you find it palatable. It's all a matter of degree.
The man who wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed" is almost diametrically opposite of the philosophy you are espousing here! I wouldn't say you threw your vote away, but you certainly found an odd candidate for expressing your viewpoints.
And he's not a Libertarian by any means! Among US political parties, the Greens are almost the purest opposite to Libertarians one could hope to find.
Ah but people can choose where to work.
Without OSHA, smart people would only choose to work for employers who did offer them reasonably safe environments.
You're only protecting dumb people from themselves, but in this instance, you find it palatable. It's all a matter of degree.
The man who wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed" is almost diametrically opposite of the philosophy you are espousing here! I wouldn't say you threw your vote away, but you certainly found an odd candidate for expressing your viewpoints.
And he's not a Libertarian by any means! Among US political parties, the Greens are almost the purest opposite to Libertarians one could hope to find.
Motokid
New Member
Since we're not allowed to "do political" here I'll just say this, I know Nader was/is not a Libertarian, but he was the most likely third party candidate on the ballot to possibly make a difference, and helmet laws were not even close to being a presidential concern, or even a topic for discussion during the past election. I'd gladely give up my right to decide to wear a lid or not if a guy like Nader could have been elected. I'm not even sure the Libertarian candidate was on my states ballot. I might have had to write him in to vote for that guy. The odds of a libertarian getting voted into the presidency are so far fetched it's really a shame. I went with the most viable non-dipshit party candidate on the ballot. I was one of the whopping 3% nationally and I'm proud of it.
Back on topic before I get my hand slapped again....
I'm not sure the arguement that people can just quit a company that doesn't provide for a safe working environment and go work some place safer equates to the same thing as bikers being able to choose a helmet or not. There are not that many jobs floating around that people can just pick and choose where they work so casually. A $15.00 an hour manufacturing job that carries a very high risk of injury is going to appeal to many people over the $7.00 an hour job selling french-fries in a mall.
People have to work. People have to make enough money to pay for the most basic expenses in life like food and shelter. A motorcycle is a luxury item. Purely choice. Nothing mandatory about it. Much like a law that would state that I can't look down the barrel of a gun and pull the trigger to see if it's loaded, I don't think a law needs to be written that says I have to wear a helmet. I know I should wear one. I do wear one. I don't care if Hell's Angel dude wears one or not. That's his choice. It shouldn't be yours, or mine, or GWB's choice.
My view is simple. On the list of priorities in this country of what the government should be concerned with, a helmet law for motorcyclist's is so far down on the list it should not even be a topic for about the next 10 years.
Back on topic before I get my hand slapped again....
I'm not sure the arguement that people can just quit a company that doesn't provide for a safe working environment and go work some place safer equates to the same thing as bikers being able to choose a helmet or not. There are not that many jobs floating around that people can just pick and choose where they work so casually. A $15.00 an hour manufacturing job that carries a very high risk of injury is going to appeal to many people over the $7.00 an hour job selling french-fries in a mall.
People have to work. People have to make enough money to pay for the most basic expenses in life like food and shelter. A motorcycle is a luxury item. Purely choice. Nothing mandatory about it. Much like a law that would state that I can't look down the barrel of a gun and pull the trigger to see if it's loaded, I don't think a law needs to be written that says I have to wear a helmet. I know I should wear one. I do wear one. I don't care if Hell's Angel dude wears one or not. That's his choice. It shouldn't be yours, or mine, or GWB's choice.
My view is simple. On the list of priorities in this country of what the government should be concerned with, a helmet law for motorcyclist's is so far down on the list it should not even be a topic for about the next 10 years.
RitalinKid
New Member
UK ER Docs Call for Ban on Kitchen Knives
Speaking of protecting people from themselves, how does the proposition of this law strike you, Motokid? This could be carried over to the Only in the UK thread as well.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/05/27/kitchen.knives.ap/index.html
Doctors call for kitchen knife ban
Friday, May 27, 2005 Posted: 1008 GMT (1808 HKT)
LONDON, England (AP) -- Are there killers in your kitchen drawer?
Three emergency-room doctors called Friday for long, pointed kitchen knives to be banned in a bid to reduce the number of stabbings in Britain.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, three doctors from London's West Middlesex University Hospital said that at least half of stabbing cases involved kitchen knives. Long, pointed knives serve no useful purpose in kitchens, they argued.
"Many assaults are impulsive, often triggered by alcohol or misuse of other drugs, and the long pointed kitchen knife is an easily available potentially lethal weapon, particularly in the domestic setting," wrote Emma Hern, Will Glazebrook and Mike Beckett in an editorial for the journal.
"Government action to ban the sale of such knives would drastically reduce their availability over the course of a few years."
Knives are the most common murder weapon in Britain, where guns are difficult to obtain. Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has announced plans to make knives harder to buy and to raise the minimum age for ownership from 16 to 18.
The doctors said pointed knives were much more likely to penetrate deeply and cause serious injury than either blunt-nosed or short-bladed designs.
The doctors argued that the use of dagger-type pointed knives rather than the blunt-tipped variety owed more to tradition than culinary necessity. Diners haven't used knife tips to spear their food since forks were introduced in the 18th century, they said.
The authors said a survey of 10 chefs had confirmed their view.
"Some commented that a point is useful in the fine preparation of some meat and vegetables, but that this could be done with a short pointed knife (less than five centimeters (two inches) in length)," they wrote.
"None gave a reason why the long pointed knife was essential."
Speaking of protecting people from themselves, how does the proposition of this law strike you, Motokid? This could be carried over to the Only in the UK thread as well.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/05/27/kitchen.knives.ap/index.html
Doctors call for kitchen knife ban
Friday, May 27, 2005 Posted: 1008 GMT (1808 HKT)
LONDON, England (AP) -- Are there killers in your kitchen drawer?
Three emergency-room doctors called Friday for long, pointed kitchen knives to be banned in a bid to reduce the number of stabbings in Britain.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, three doctors from London's West Middlesex University Hospital said that at least half of stabbing cases involved kitchen knives. Long, pointed knives serve no useful purpose in kitchens, they argued.
"Many assaults are impulsive, often triggered by alcohol or misuse of other drugs, and the long pointed kitchen knife is an easily available potentially lethal weapon, particularly in the domestic setting," wrote Emma Hern, Will Glazebrook and Mike Beckett in an editorial for the journal.
"Government action to ban the sale of such knives would drastically reduce their availability over the course of a few years."
Knives are the most common murder weapon in Britain, where guns are difficult to obtain. Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has announced plans to make knives harder to buy and to raise the minimum age for ownership from 16 to 18.
The doctors said pointed knives were much more likely to penetrate deeply and cause serious injury than either blunt-nosed or short-bladed designs.
The doctors argued that the use of dagger-type pointed knives rather than the blunt-tipped variety owed more to tradition than culinary necessity. Diners haven't used knife tips to spear their food since forks were introduced in the 18th century, they said.
The authors said a survey of 10 chefs had confirmed their view.
"Some commented that a point is useful in the fine preparation of some meat and vegetables, but that this could be done with a short pointed knife (less than five centimeters (two inches) in length)," they wrote.
"None gave a reason why the long pointed knife was essential."
Motokid
New Member
I'm telling you right now that baseball should be outlawed, and golf, and all construction should come to a complete standstill because baseball bats, golf clubs, and hammers are potentially deadly weapons. Same with hatchets and axes, chainsaws, and boxcutters.
Box cutters brought down both World Trade Centers didn't they?
Regulate the hell out of anything dangerous until we are all forced to sit on our ass in a big rubber room and eat nothing but mostly liquified food-stuff.
We must protect ourselves from ourselves at all costs from anything potentially dangerous. I have to move 4 cubic yards of mulch this weekend. The shovel I use could chop off my toes if I'm not careful. Maybe shovels should be restricted by specific laws too.....I know the handles can be cut down to make wonderful weapons for beating people to death....
Box cutters brought down both World Trade Centers didn't they?
Regulate the hell out of anything dangerous until we are all forced to sit on our ass in a big rubber room and eat nothing but mostly liquified food-stuff.
We must protect ourselves from ourselves at all costs from anything potentially dangerous. I have to move 4 cubic yards of mulch this weekend. The shovel I use could chop off my toes if I'm not careful. Maybe shovels should be restricted by specific laws too.....I know the handles can be cut down to make wonderful weapons for beating people to death....
bobbyburns
New Member
shouldn't you be finishing your letter to jodi foster?
bobbyburns
New Member
I'm not the weird poster here. motokid's the one who spontaneously started talking about beating people to death with a shovel.
Motokid
New Member
I don't think taking what Ritalinkid posted about possibly banning long pointy knives, and following the path of ban, outlaw, and or restrict anything that's potentially dangerous to the level of outlawing shovels is such a huge stretch. It's a stretch, but not a huge one.
Look what happens in prisons with the use of so many everyday items being turned into deadly weapons. Should toothbrushes and razor blades be outlawed?
My point is you can't always regulate people from themselves. There's a point where some things should just be left alone. I think a motorcycle rider should have a choice to wear a helmet or not. Just like any bicycle rider should have that choice, and quite frankly if you want to argue that seat belts should be voluntary I have no problem with that either. As long as the options are there for you to use I don't think there needs be laws about it.
Look what happens in prisons with the use of so many everyday items being turned into deadly weapons. Should toothbrushes and razor blades be outlawed?
My point is you can't always regulate people from themselves. There's a point where some things should just be left alone. I think a motorcycle rider should have a choice to wear a helmet or not. Just like any bicycle rider should have that choice, and quite frankly if you want to argue that seat belts should be voluntary I have no problem with that either. As long as the options are there for you to use I don't think there needs be laws about it.