Michigan helmet law on the verge of being repealed

[CBRF3RIDER]

Did anyone else even know our states senate was voting on this?

http://www.minbcnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=735952#.T3Uttzd5mc0

Seems like there is a pretty good chance of the law being repealed. It has already been repealed by the senate, so its in the governors hands. I wonder what our fearless leader Governor Snyder will do when the bill lands on his desk.



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[turbid]

that Reeser is a moron. honestly how can you say that you are an experienced rider and that you'll be fine without a helmet! has he never had a car cut into his path, a deer jump out of nowhere (we do not have deer but from what i read here its scary stuff to see a horse sized animal jump into your path!), slippery road conditions,road debris? no matter how experienced you are sometime it 'll catch you. i think his experience lies only in riding an hour or two in the sunshine on sundays. it made me boil to see him advocating such advice.

i dont know what s so hard for the senate to understand that helmets reduce mortality?!

 

[Sawblade]

I'll never be caught riding without a helmet, but it shouldn't be a law. If somebody wants to get splattered, that's their decision.

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

I have a feeling Snyder will repeal the law. He is the type of person to follow his party, and our legislature is currently republican. I am sure he is planning on re-election so he might see this as something that will garner support. I think it's funny that some of the arguments for repealing the law are that tourists from Ohio and other states don't ride to Michigan because of our longstanding helmet law.

As per forum rules I am not trying to make this political, just stating my prediction.


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[MiFZ6]

The reason not many of the good folks on here where aware of this is because this is a Harley rider's concern.:tard:

This has come up twice before and Jenny From the Block knocked it down both times. Synder will probably let it pass just because he doesn't care one way or the other. I am glad that it would still be the law if you were under 21 or under insured. There is no reason that the state should have to pay for the health care of vegetables who made the choice to be idiots and kids make stupid decisions more often than people only a few years older.

 

[jdoorn14]

The reason not many of the good folks on here where aware of this is because this is a Harley rider's concern.:tard:

I am glad that it would still be the law if you were under 21 or under insured. There is no reason that the state should have to pay for the health care of vegetables who made the choice to be idiots and kids make stupid decisions more often than people only a few years older.

<rant>
The way I figure it, this should improve the quality of Michigan's gene pool. Awfully hard to reproduce when you're kept alive by machines - if you survive the head injury.

:rant:
I look at it this way: sorry for your loss, but your friend/relative/spouse/parent/etc did something stupid or didn't wear adequate protection and died as the result. I don't feel sorry for this recent moron or any of his friends/relatives: Allendale: Motorcycle Test Rider Seriously Injured in Crash - FOX 17

Does that make me a bad person? Maybe. But, if you have the ability to take preventative measures that may save your life (or quality of life) and you do not, don't expect me to feel badly for you.

</rant>

 

[champion221elite]

This new law is going to be a PITA to enforce. Basically, a LEO will have to make a judgement call as the helmetless rider streaks past at a closing speed of 110 mph (assuming both vehicles are moving towards each other at 55 mph).

Then, once stopped, the LEO will need to determine years of riding experience while the rider has to show proof of $20,000 minimum medical coverage.

Since when does your proof of insurance paperwork spell out your coverage limits? I certainly don't see many riders carrying their declarations pages with them.

From a LEO's perspective, this law is STUPID! I don't plan on stopping any helmetless motorcycle riders unless it's so painfully obvious they're underage or inexperienced. Truthfully, I don't see many people in the sportbike community out riding sans helmet. After talking with several riders, this law mainly appeals to the HD and cruiser type individuals. They've been quite vocal about the helmet law for years and some even argue that helmets are dangerous.

At the risk of coming across as a total cynic, it might take a few senseless and preventable deaths for this stupid law to be repealed.

Even if the helmet law is repealed, this hombre will keep wearing his. My eyes water uncontrollably at speeds greater than 30-40 mph. The full face helmet with closed visor prevents this and lets me see. I can think of at least one case where my helmet saved me from crashing. In the Summer of 2010, I hit a hen Wild Turkey that flew across the roadway. She hit my windscreen and came up and hit my helmet and slid over. Without a helmet, that bird would have hit me directly in the face and would have probably knocked me off the bike at 45-50 mph. Thankfully the helmet allowed me to keep the bike upright instead of dumping it.

 

[MiFZ6]

<rant>
The way I figure it, this should improve the quality of Michigan's gene pool. Awfully hard to reproduce when you're kept alive by machines - if you survive the head injury.

:rant:
I look at it this way: sorry for your loss, but your friend/relative/spouse/parent/etc did something stupid or didn't wear adequate protection and died as the result. I don't feel sorry for this recent moron or any of his friends/relatives: Allendale: Motorcycle Test Rider Seriously Injured in Crash - FOX 17

Does that make me a bad person? Maybe. But, if you have the ability to take preventative measures that may save your life (or quality of life) and you do not, don't expect me to feel badly for you.

</rant>

It does not make you a bad person. No worries.

Every time I ride the bike to my parent's house I hear from my Mom all about how her cousin is a quadriplegic from a motorcycle. He was drunk and slammed his Harley into a light pole. That's like saying the gun was to blame rather than the finger that pulled the trigger. If he were in a car, he probably would have hurt someone else. I remind her of this unashamedly every single time. I'm hoping the issue goes away someday.

 

[Motogiro]

I believe there are other ramifications to not having proper protective gear. At a glance it may seem that just the rider is at risk when not wearing protective gear but others can be effected when a bike is out of control because a rider could not deal with a bird, rock or other object. I believe this law is not one sided and more is at risk than first meets the eye, head or other unprotected parts.

 

[Xavias]

I did actually know this was going on! (hooray for being in the loop on something)

I'm actually doing my final speech for my Communications class at my university on "The importance of wearing the proper gear while riding a motorcycle." Though I'm thinking of changing that to (and borrowing the phrase): "How to avoid skinning yourself alive."

Anyway, back on topic.

I'm a bit torn on this topic. On one hand, and I'm not trying to start political arguments here, I'm for a small, very limited government. I don't want someone over me telling me what I can and cannot do.
On the other hand, wearing a helmet is just common sense. And common sense should be a law, right?

There are a couple rebuttals to the law that's in place, for instance: "The only person I'd hurt is myself."
Wrong. I've taken large bees, sticks and rocks to the helmet in just my year of riding (and 5 years of driving a car...) Stuff has come up and hit me that would surely knock me out. The nice thing about a bike... when it's moving it wants to stay upright! So let's say your'e going down the highway at 70 mph, a rock flies up and hits you. Knocks you unconscious. Now your'e on a 70 mph MISSILE that we hope gets caught by a guard rail or something before you kill someone.
I don't want to be the someone you kill... so I'd say I'm in favor of the law.

P.S. Michigan has a Seatbelt law for driving cars, as it's supposed to make the roads safer... why would we say "well, you have to wear a seatbelt in a car, but not a helmet on a bike... that'd be way overstepping our boundaries to tell people to do that..."

Politics ruin things.

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

Well Michigan Harley riders and Squids may now rejoice. Our helmet law has been repealed.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...signs-repeal-Michigan-s-motorcycle-helmet-law




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[greg]

There was a recent accident at a trackday in the UK last week. A guy unloaded his bike and on his way to noise testing, without wearing a helmet, managed to lose control of the bike. Head split open and died a couple of days later.

That was an experienced rider not even riding quickly...

 

[Xavias]

And just 6 days before I'm giving my final speech in college on why everyone should always wear ATGATT when getting on a motorcycle...

How am I supposed to convince people if the government doesn't stand behind it?

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

Xavias off topic but were you in Kalamazoo yesterday?


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[Xavias]

Nope! Sorry, I was in the Cascade/Ada area all day (work is there, school is in caledonia. We got out early so I rode around thornapple river.)

If you do see me, you'll know.

Black FZ6,
Black/white AlpineStars jacket with the yellow trim
Black/white AlpineStars gloves
Black helmet
Black pants
Black SIDI boots...

I need some more color :BLAA:

 

[Red Wazp]

And just 6 days before I'm giving my final speech in college on why everyone should always wear ATGATT when getting on a motorcycle...

How am I supposed to convince people if the government doesn't stand behind it?

All the more reason to do your speech on what you believe, not what our government says.

I really could care less about helmet laws, it should be a personal choice. I always ATGATT even in states where I don't have too. My choice.

In Ca everything is against the law so I just don't care anymore. I just get away with what I can

 

[CanadianFZ6]

I'll never be caught riding without a helmet, but it shouldn't be a law. If somebody wants to get splattered, that's their decision.

Maybe, but in heavy taxed bases societies like north america, health care is somewhat subsidized (especially in Canada)... Splattered people cost everyone money... What if the guy just hits his head hard enough to be mostly a vegetable the rest of his life... How many tax dollars will it cost to take care of him until he finally croaks?

 

[Red Wazp]

Maybe, but in heavy taxed bases societies like north america, health care is somewhat subsidized (especially in Canada)... Splattered people cost everyone money... What if the guy just hits his head hard enough to be mostly a vegetable the rest of his life... How many tax dollars will it cost to take care of him until he finally croaks?

People get hurt all the time doing many other activities so I won't buy into this reasoning. I would suspect most helmet less riders die rather than than just a veg. and I would suspect there are some who end up a veg with a helmet.

With all the other waste of tax dollars does this really make that much difference in the budget?

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

Went on a ride today and the squids were already coming out. Saw a guy on a yellow F4i wearing a decent jacket and boots with his helmet strapped to the back. Popped a big wheelie in the other direction from me. It's going to take some getting used to


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[nabaah]

Yeah its weird seeing people with out helmets on now. Mostly seen guys on harley's, but did see a guy riding downtown on a sport bike. I think its pretty funny that we have a seat belt law, but no helmet law anymore. Guess its there decision now I'm gonna keep all my gear.