Motorcycle Rider Deaths and Helmets

[tbieter]

"Brittany Larson wanted to feel the wind in her long hair as she rode her motorcycle rather than stuffing it under a helmet.

Now her mother is preparing to bury her 22-year-old daughter, who suffered extensive head injuries Wednesday when she hit road debris and was thrown into the path of a SUV on Interstate 694 in Ramsey County. Once she says her final goodbye, Inge Black pledged Thursday, she will push lawmakers to mandate helmets for motorcyclists.

"I am on a rampage about this. We need to pass a mandatory helmet law. She would've had to wear one," said Black, who added that she had sparred with her daughter about getting a helmet.

Black said the two of them fought Tuesday over wearing a helmet and had shopped unsuccessfully for one that fit. Black had even offered to drive her daughter to work on the day of the crash, but Larson said, "'Oh, no, I'm going to ride my motorcycle.'"
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/157789085.html

Her death is not a tragedy in the sense of the word highlighted below. An intelligent rational adult, she surely engaged in a (primitive) risk analysis. Or she just decided to gamble with her life. Either way in freedom she made a rational choice not to wear a helmet.
I, a stranger, would not be justified in mourning her death and calling the event a tragedy.

___________________
trag·e·dy (trj-d)
n. pl. trag·e·dies
1.
a. A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.
b. The genre made up of such works.
c. The art or theory of writing or producing these works.
2. A play, film, television program, or other narrative work that portrays or depicts calamitous events and has an unhappy but meaningful ending.
3. A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life: an expedition that ended in tragedy, with all hands lost at sea.
4. A tragic aspect or element.
[Middle English tragedie, from Old French, from Latin tragoedia, from Greek tragidi : tragos, goat + aoid, id, song; see wed-2 in Indo-European roots.

[The Jesus Head]

Her death is not a tragedy in the sense of the word highlighted below. An intelligent rational adult, she surely engaged in a (primitive) risk analysis. Or she just decided to gamble with her life. Either way in freedom she made a rational choice not to wear a helmet.
I, a stranger, would not be justified in mourning her death and calling the event a tragedy.

The truth of the matter is that she had an "image" issue.
The bike and herself was a unified statement and the helmet got in the way of the
"beautiful chick on a motorbike" brand .
What we learn from this is that there is a strong human desire to act in accordance with
our illusions and that this preoccupation often displaces many practical considerations, even ones that may be life threatening.
Was it a tragedy? I recall the words of John Gray "humans are prone to all kinds of infirmities of will and judgement" .
The tragedy lies in the urges of human nature in which
indulging fantasies takes priority over strict rational judgment.
Again, as Gray tells us, "humans cannot be other than irrational ".

[chaz wyman]

What we seem to have here is a mother who, failing to instruct her child in personal safety, wants to impose her will on her fellow citizens as a catharsis to expunge her own guilt and failure as a parent.

I recently came off my Harley doing less than 10mph. Despite steel toe caps, body armour in my jacket, reinforcing in my jeans and a £220 helmet, I managed to brake four ribs, by falling on my shoulder - probably exacerbated by the amour in my arm that dug carried the force of the impact through my arm to my chest. Had I not been wearing the protection I might not have broken my ribs at all.

There is limited evidence that helmets work effectively over 30mph, and they certainly do not give much protection against a whole range of injuries. After helmets laws have been launched the yield of serious injuries of living survivors have increased. People who have 'enjoyed' the protection to the head afforded by helmets that would otherwise have died, survive with paraplegia and serious disabilities.
As medical care improves so too does the ability to keep otherwise brain dead people alive and in recovery.

I find it puzzling how the US can allow helmet laws given their injunction to freedom of action. In the UK, where medical attention of given freely the state has taken the responsibility for the health of its citizens a helmet law and seat-belt law are appropriate as are massive taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.

Why not demand that car drivers wear them too - they would certainly help protect them from injury?
Maybe more resources should be put to train car drivers how to behave on the roads (the major cause of m-bikers deaths).

How about this for an idea. Steering wheels should be fitted with a 8inch steel spike facing towards the driver? This would certainly make motorists drive with more care.

[Thundril]

Interesting angle Chaz. As a push-bike rider myself, I totally agree with you that bike-awareness is sadly lacking in many car-drivers. Maybe a couple of hours on a bike in traffic should be part of the car-driver's instruction/testing regime?
There has been some research in the uk (mostly observing traffic-cameras) indicating that car-drivers actually give cyclists less of a wide berth if the cyclist is wearing a helmet and/or a hi-vis jacket. Maybe less perception of vulnerability?

On a tangentially-related note: as a scaffolder/steel-erector, I was often told that insurance companies could refuse to pay up if I fell from 200ft without a helmet and steel-toecap boots! Like that might have made a difference?

[Thundril]

I recently came off my Harley doing less than 10mph. Despite steel toe caps, body armour in my jacket, reinforcing in my jeans and a £220 helmet, I managed to brake four ribs, by falling on my shoulder - probably exacerbated by the amour in my arm that dug carried the force of the impact through my arm to my chest. Had I not been wearing the protection I might not have broken my ribs at all.

Had you not been struggling with an overweight hog, you probably would have been fine, too!

How about this for an idea. Steering wheels should be fitted with a 8inch steel spike facing towards the driver? This would certainly make motorists drive with more care.

One of my favourites!

[tbieter]

"Brittany Larson wanted to feel the wind in her long hair as she rode her motorcycle rather than stuffing it under a helmet.

Now her mother is preparing to bury her 22-year-old daughter, who suffered extensive head injuries Wednesday when she hit road debris and was thrown into the path of a SUV on Interstate 694 in Ramsey County. Once she says her final goodbye, Inge Black pledged Thursday, she will push lawmakers to mandate helmets for motorcyclists.

"I am on a rampage about this. We need to pass a mandatory helmet law. She would've had to wear one," said Black, who added that she had sparred with her daughter about getting a helmet.

Black said the two of them fought Tuesday over wearing a helmet and had shopped unsuccessfully for one that fit. Black had even offered to drive her daughter to work on the day of the crash, but Larson said, "'Oh, no, I'm going to ride my motorcycle.'"
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/157789085.html

Her death is not a tragedy in the sense of the word highlighted below. An intelligent rational adult, she surely engaged in a (primitive) risk analysis. Or she just decided to gamble with her life. Either way in freedom she made a rational choice not to wear a helmet.
I, a stranger, would not be justified in mourning her death and calling the event a tragedy.

___________________
trag·e·dy (trj-d)
n. pl. trag·e·dies
1.
a. A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.
b. The genre made up of such works.
c. The art or theory of writing or producing these works.
2. A play, film, television program, or other narrative work that portrays or depicts calamitous events and has an unhappy but meaningful ending.
3. A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life: an expedition that ended in tragedy, with all hands lost at sea.
4. A tragic aspect or element.
[Middle English tragedie, from Old French, from Latin tragoedia, from Greek tragidi : tragos, goat + aoid, id, song; see wed-2 in Indo-European roots.

I put it to you lads: What is the meaning of her death? I say that it resulted from a rational act of choice; however, chance, in the form of the obstacle in the road, intervened and was the proximate cause of her accident. Her death, under the circumstances reported in the newspaper article, has no inherent meaning.

meaning [ˈmiːnɪŋ]
n
1. the sense or significance of a word, sentence, symbol, etc.; import; semantic or lexical content
2. the purpose underlying or intended by speech, action, etc.
3. the inner, symbolic, or true interpretation, value, or message the meaning of a dream
4. valid content; efficacy a law with little or no meaning
5. (Philosophy) Philosophy
a. the sense of an expression; its connotation
b. the reference of an expression; its denotation. In recent philosophical writings meaning can be used in both the above senses See also sense [13]
adj
expressive of some sense, intention, criticism, etc. a meaning look See also well-meaning

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

[chaz wyman]

I recently came off my Harley doing less than 10mph. Despite steel toe caps, body armour in my jacket, reinforcing in my jeans and a £220 helmet, I managed to brake four ribs, by falling on my shoulder - probably exacerbated by the amour in my arm that dug carried the force of the impact through my arm to my chest. Had I not been wearing the protection I might not have broken my ribs at all.

Had you not been struggling with an overweight hog, you probably would have been fine, too!

Maybe. I had parked on the grass earlier in the day, so suspect I had some mud on the mudguards.
There were people washing their cars so the road was wet and I was being extra careful as I turned the corner into my street. I was taken by surprise - maybe a small piece of mud dropped onto the tread the moment I turned.
If I had been going faster I'd have had a short wobble but stayed on.
I still don't know why it happened.
Sleeping a a chair for 4 weeks waiting for my ribs to knit was no fun - nor was coming down off the codeine.

How about this for an idea. Steering wheels should be fitted with a 8inch steel spike facing towards the driver? This would certainly make motorists drive with more care.

One of my favourites!

[chaz wyman]

[quote="tbieter"][quote="tbieter"]"Brittany Larson wanted to feel the wind in her long hair as she rode her motorcycle rather than stuffing it under a helmet.

Now her mother is preparing to bury her 22-year-old daughter, who suffered extensive head injuries Wednesday when she hit road debris and was thrown into the path of a SUV on Interstate 694 in Ramsey County. Once she says her final goodbye, Inge Black pledged Thursday, she will push lawmakers to mandate helmets for motorcyclists.

"I am on a rampage about this. We need to pass a mandatory helmet law. She would've had to wear one," said Black, who added that she had sparred with her daughter about getting a helmet.

Black said the two of them fought Tuesday over wearing a helmet and had shopped unsuccessfully for one that fit. Black had even offered to drive her daughter to work on the day of the crash, but Larson said, "'Oh, no, I'm going to ride my motorcycle.'"
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/157789085.html

Her death is not a tragedy in the sense of the word highlighted below. An intelligent rational adult, she surely engaged in a (primitive) risk analysis. Or she just decided to gamble with her life. Either way in freedom she made a rational choice not to wear a helmet.
I, a stranger, would not be justified in mourning her death and calling the event a tragedy.

Death is an effect of causality- it is without overall meaning.
She might well have died with a helmet as without one.
For her Mum the meaning is her excuse to rant to others.

[bobevenson]

It is improper for the government to mandate helmets for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in automobiles.

[chaz wyman]

It is improper for the government to mandate helmets for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in automobiles.

Predictable bullshit from the dick head gay of Cincinnati.

[bobevenson]

It is improper for the government to mandate helmets for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in automobiles.

Predictable bullshit from the dick head gay of Cincinnati.

See, you're nothing but a fucking socialist who thinks the government should dictate every moment of your exceedingly pathetic life.

[chaz wyman]

It is improper for the government to mandate helmets for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in automobiles.

Predictable bullshit from the dick head gay of Cincinnati.

See, you're nothing but a fucking socialist who thinks the government should dictate every moment of your exceedingly pathetic life.

I'd rather be a democrat than an anarchist like you.

[bobevenson]

It is improper for the government to mandate helmets for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in automobiles.

Predictable bullshit from the dick head gay of Cincinnati.

See, you're nothing but a fucking socialist who thinks the government should dictate every moment of your exceedingly pathetic life.

I'd rather be a democrat than an anarchist like you.

You think resisting the government's improper demands to wear helmets and seatbelts is anarchy. I guess you consider the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution anarchy too, you stupid, arrogant fool! Thank God we kicked England's collective ass out of here over two hundred years ago!

[The Jesus Head]

It is improper for the government to mandate helmets for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in automobiles.

Predictable bullshit from the dick head gay of Cincinnati.

See, you're nothing but a fucking socialist who thinks the government should dictate every moment of your exceedingly pathetic life.

Why do you argue with this thug ?

[bobevenson]

Why do I argue with this thug? I guess for the same reason I swat at a mosquito, trying to splatter this bloodsucking insect!