Virginia Freedom Riders :: Freedom Forums

Sharon · Road Warrior Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 247

The msg below was sent by a friend who lives in Fairfax

All,
I saw this article in the free paper that comes to my door. The Examiner, Washington. The first article had me saying, "He really gets it". I failed to e-mail my thanks. Below that is today's edition. He got blasted by our opponents, but I think he still gets it. You might want to drop him a line at Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com . But please, be kind.
There was also a bitter letter to the Editor responding to the first article, discounting the "victimless" issues, saying her Aunt's fiancée died in a single vehicle MC accidents, landing on his helmetless head. She claims to be the victim, as her aunt never had his children and she never had cousins.
v/r
Dave

===============

From The Examiner, Washington
Steve Eldridge, Columnist
Scrawl & Crawl
2/14/06
The helmet law

Here's one that won't get me in trouble with anyone: I believe those who ride motorcycles should decide whether or not they want their head to remain attached in the event of a crash. I bring this up because for the fifth year in a row Virginia legislators have squashed a bill to eliminate the mandatory helmet law. Not wearing a helmet is dumb, but it's a victimless issue. If you're not wearing one and crash, the other person isn't going to be injured any more than if you were. When I was younger, I raced motocross bikes, but the one time I actually rode a motorcycle on New Hampshire Avenue in Langley Park was one of the scariest things I ever did. I didn't have control over these two-ton metal projectiles just a few feet away from me. Even still, motorcyclists enjoy the wind in their hair and the bugs in their teeth, and they should be able to do so without some office-dwelling legislator telling them otherwise.
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2/17/06
Under the helmet

I knew I was stepping on a hornet's nest the other day when I suggested that helmet laws are a bad idea and that riders should decide. I got dozens of e-mails from readers and was a bit surprised at the anger many of them reflected. Hey, it was just an opinion meant to get rational people thinking. Instead, I was called a moron and an idiot and several names that would make my mother blush. On the more positive, these e-mails carried two recurring themes: The cost of the injuries sustained by motorcycle riders puts a bigger burden on society as a whole and, secondly, that if there are laws mandating the use of seat belts while driving a car, truck or bus, then there can and should be laws mandating the use of helmets for bike riders. I must say I agree with the second argument. I'm old enough to remember going to a garage with my dad when I was young to get seat belts (only lap belts) installed in our 1959 Buick, a big boat of a car that could have driven into a brick wall without damage to any of the occupants. Even still, my dad thought we should have them even though they didn't come with the car when he bought it. I can't imagine driving or riding in a car these days without my seat belt fastened and I support these measures. ... I guess that means I support helmets now, too.
The one thing I noticed in these e-mails was that there was a real class issue with motorcycle riders. Many questioned what would happen if the motorcycle rider didn't have insurance. The underlying suspicion seemed to be that those who ride motorcycles are somehow less trustworthy than the rest of us, and we shouldn't have to pay for their health care when they get injured.
_________________
Sharon Keaton
VA Freedom Riders
ABATE of VA

MissPenny · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:05 pm Post subject:

Here's the info to write the author of this article:

Questions, comments, random musings? Write to Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com and
listen to Steve's reports on NewsTalk WMET 1160 AM every weekday at 7:30
a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
_________________
Penny Adams
Virginia Freedom Riders - Legislative Officer

"Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians."
Chester Bowles (1901 - 1986)