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I
have a different take on the controversy about requiring the use of seat belts
and helmets. Most people want to talk about the benefit for the person wearing
the safety devices while I do not. Not that I do not care about people. I
usually do not get involved in their harmful or dangerous activities, be it
smoking, marrying the wrong person or not taking adequate safety precautions
when driving.
More to the point, I do not think much about
their argument that it is their right to endanger themselves. Maybe it is their
right when it does not affect me. However, what I think about is that sometimes
I am a poor driver. Not by design, but by happenstance. You may say, Well,
Michael, don’t drive dumb. It is easier said than done.
A recent motorcycle accident injured an NFL
quarterback and brought death threats to the woman driving the car. She did not
get up that morning intending to run down a Pittsburgh Steeler Quarterback.
Rather, she pulled out in front of him. From a legal standpoint, she was
required to yield the right of way to him and did not. Therefore, she was
entirely wrong in the accident. However, if he had been wearing protective gear
and a helmet, he would have quite possibly not been injured.
And that is the core of my argument. This is
really about us, who in a lifetime of driving may have a bad moment. In a
lifetime of driving, all of us will occasionally make driving errors. Example:
you are driving down the street with your driver’s side window open when
suddenly a swarm of bees fly in the window. Well, that is good for a few mad
moments of distraction. So you inadvertently swerve out of your lane and bump a
motorcycle in the next lane.
For the purpose of our discussion, you are
entirely wrong in this accident, though most people will understand how it
happened. You stop. With your heart in your mouth, you go back to check on the
motorcycle rider. You can see that he has landed in the ditch. If the rider is
wearing appropriate clothing and a helmet, he steps out of the weeds and say,
“Gee, Michael, please be more careful,” or words to that effect. You are
eternally grateful that all you did was bend some metal and did not physical
harm to the rider.
If the other driver was not wearing a helmet
and appropriate clothing, your bee driven boo-boo is ever so much more serious.
I repeat, for the purpose of my scenario, you are entirely wrong. Likewise, if
someone is not using a seatbelt and the same scenario happens and that person is
ejected from their vehicle, bad things can happen. Again, you are wrong to have
caused the accident but the accident is so much more serious because of the
death of the other person.
I believe it does no good to pass a law
holding harmless the person who is wrong because they still have to help scrape
someone off the pavement. It is horrible. Even though we are wrong, we do not
deserve having a dead person in our memory.
The legislature can deal with this by
requiring adequate protection for all people riding a motorcycle. This includes
helmet, shoes and protective clothing. I know that a law such as this infringes
on the joy some people feel. I rode cycles for several years, however, I did
wear protective clothing and a helmet. Several times people made a bee line for
where I was driving and I just barely got out of their way. So, I never had to
test the helmet, but I was protected.
For the sake of all drivers who may have a
bad moment in a lifetime of driving, the helmet and protective clothing law
should cover all people on the streets. It is not just them whose are in danger.
We, who are human when we drive, also need the protection. © 2006 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. |
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