Michigan Votes Forum

Forget the insurance for a minute. Where has our right's gone? I ride a Intruder 1500 and always wear my helmet and feel I should. BUT I do not need Lansing to demand I wear a helmet. It should be a persons right to wear one or not to wear one. People have head injuries in cars, trucks, tractors, bicycles, etc., etc., should they be required to wear helmets also?

rider's decide.. it's against the LIBERAL CODE. no one decides ANYTHING in the liberal code, except to decide to elect another democrat.

Your friend would have probably died WITH a helmet, or at least been a quadriplegic after the added 4 pound weight of an approved helmet broke his neck.

Without a helmet he will probably be dead. WITH a helmet, a quadriplegic after the added 4 pound weight of an approved helmet broke his neck. Then you can take care of him!

They shoudl just amend the law so that if you want to ride helmetless you have to carry a certain additional amount of insurance. Yo apply, show your proof of additional insurance and get a sticker you can afix to your bike so that the police can see it and know not to pull you over. I would have no problem repealing this law and the seat belt law for adults if the results didn't affect my insurance costs.

After I got rear ended by a minivan and slamed my head into the ground I am sure glad I didn't have that 4lb (in reality ony 1) brick on my head to keep me from becoming paralized... OH WAIT! I did have my helmet on, I did survive being rear ended at 45 MPH while I was still and guess what, no sore neck, head injury and best of all I'm alive. Helmets may not save all lives but reduce the chances of fatality.

To the person that wants to know what the point of freedom is. Freedom is for everyone. Not just those who think like you, but those who choose not to where a helmut as well. It also gives me the right to tell you that God is spelled with a capital G.

Exellent Point And True!

You sound like a bleeding heart left coast liberal loudmouth loser!

Exellent Point And True!

choice effect your insurance costs? it's YOU the company is insuring, it's YOU the company is billing, no one else's actions should effect that. if the insurance company cannot 'afford' to insure someone, they need to get out of the insurance business. the insurance company is supposed to KNOW what the risks are, and their business is to insure that no one else (other than them and the insured) will be financially effected. if they cannot make money doing that, they need to be inanother business.

I always thought what made America the greatest country in the world was the freedom of choice. With that said, laws forcing us to wear seatbelts or a helmet feels wrong. We should be allowed to chose how we live our lives. I don't want other people penalized for my mistakes though either. If I die without a helmet and if a helmet could have saved my life then void my insurance for all I care. Just don't take away my freedom.

“I don't want other people penalized for my mistakes though either. If I die without a helmet and if a helmet could have saved my life then void my insurance for all I care. Just don't take away my freedom.” That’s good of you. But please be aware that it is not your immediate demise that winds up costing everybody else a ton of money. What costs is your lingering on in a severely handicapped or vegetative state. Personally, I’m left to wonder if helmets actually do save lives, but in a way that ends up being very costly. Perhaps this is a point that should be looked at and debated.

do. before cars were invented, thousands died, and thousands more were maimed and injured in "Horse incidents". also, for thousands of year, governments wisely let the decision of whether or not to walk to work up to the person doing the walking. it's not the government's job to save your life, as much as you may want it to be. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY-SMALLER GOVERNMENT.

makes it the government's responsibility to pay my bills? why do you keep insisting that when someone is seriously injured that they automatically become WARDS OF THE STATE?"

 Why dont we bikers form a group to get a law on the ballot that the people vote on. Lets make it manditory that every person in or on a motorized vehicle must dress as good or better then a motorcycle rider in the state of Michigan. This includes anyone passing through the state.  When the law fails we sue the state on discrimination.

 

I agree with you but it should be my right to wear or now wear a helmet and the same with a seat belt.

 Helmets are the only source of protection for the operator of a motorcycle. Why would we want the State to repeal such legislation. The injuries from motorcycle involved accidents are already serious enough.

Driving is a privilege..not a right. Legislation is imposed because many people do not have the capability to use common sense when making decisions.  Seat belts and helmets do save lives.

mifarmer:

 

I agree with you but it should be my right to wear or now wear a helmet and the same with a seat belt.

 

 Right, and the insurance companies and medical facilities should have the right to refuse to pay for or treat any injuries that could have been prevented by wearing a helmet or seat belt. The tax payers should not be held responsible for your medical costs or raising and educating your children. If you don't care enough about them or yourself, why should we pick up your reponsibilities? You want freedom-so do we.

Anonymous Citizen:

Your friend would have probably died WITH a helmet, or at least been a quadriplegic after the added 4 pound weight of an approved helmet broke his neck.

 

 

Yawnnnnnn. Old argument. Got numbers to prove your point?

 yes, as a matter of fact, we do. but you don't want to know what they are, you just revel in taking rights away from the citizens. it's a good thing that no one tries to take your rights away.

 speaking of old arguements, we love the old "you're too stupid to exist without this law to protect you" ploy. perhaps you believe that you are too stupid to exist without this, but i am not. please do not take my rights away simply because you do not trust me. i don't trust you, but i don't take your rights away.

 

 I want this bill passed also, but offering to vote for Jen is a bust - she's term-limited out!  Pete will be our next governor if we get rallied behind him!

i AM REALLY GLAD TO SEE THAT THE HELMET LAW HAS FINALLY BEEN REPEALLED AND AM GLAD THAT SOME OF OUR ELECTED LEGISLATORS FINALLY LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE INSTEAD OF THE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

SOME OF OUR REPRESENETIVES OUGHT TO TAKE NOTE OF THIS, ELECTION TIME CAN CHANGE A PERSONS CAREER,

YOU ARE ELECTED TO REPRESENT THE PEOPLE

I take my hat off to anyone that can wrap their heads around this discussion. (ooh so bad)

The truth is that we spend enough money on things we shouldn't and the police don't need 'make work' projects. The MOST we should expect from police is a friendly verbal "Biking is safer with a helmet." comment when and if it's convenient for both the rider and the officer, not in lieu of chasing down an armed robber.

Should we cover medical bills for someone riding without a helmet where the injuries suffered have been proven to be mitigated by a helmet? What a can of worms..

It is a good point. But anyway this was already aproved in so many countries for so many years. Seems to me this was about time anyway.. I feel glad with this resolution, maybe this way we can avoid more acidents and help to lower the prices of individual health insurance in this country. Everything we can do to disolve this big issue is valid. Also I think they must start thinking about health, give better meals in schools, education about the risks of right fat diets. All of these factors are so important for our country be able to have fair and cheap medical assistence. I am on for all these initiatives!

I have been riding motorcycles for 45 years in the state of Michigan and remember a time when we didn't have a law that required a helmet.  I love riding in the states that allow me the choice and always try to plan motorcycle vacations and trips in these states.  I would like the law to be changed to "choice" I don't think children should have a choice and I think a motorcycle safety classes should be required for new riders.  

I hope this gets passed so motorcycle riders have the freedom to crack their heads open like a ripe tomato hiting the pavement. Not only is this a freedom issue, but a jobs issue too, from the road crews who have to clean up the mess, the ambulance drivers, the medical staff at emergency, and the funeral homes. Jobs, jobs, jobs.

 I feel that helmet use for Adults should be a choice. There are no facts to support the statement that more deaths will occur as a result of this change in the law. Also the reason AAA is opposted to this is that they insure more of the car drivers ( gray hairs) that cause the car and motorcycle accidents, that any other insurance company.

A motorcyclist is not responsible for paying for their own personal injury protection, the driver of the car they hit does that, or their own if they report that "fantom red pickup that pulled out in front of me".  The only thing you have to pay for is the MCCA that pays for your injuries for the rest of your life when you make yourself braindead from hitting the pavement without a helmet, and your med bills go over $485,000.  When motorcyclists pay for their own PIP and stop mooching off the rest of us, then they can ride without a helmet.

The MCCA is a state run fund, the insurance companies to not administer it.  And yes, it should be audited but not for the reasons you state.  Try the facts instead.

Here we go again. This issue has been around since I was 16. Today I am in my 60's.  People who race wear helmets, full helmets, with neck cushions. Why? Because it saves lives. I have ridden all over the United States and always wear a helmet. Some times the temps have exceeded 100 degrees. Uncomfortable yes. I have experienced an accident where a helmet saved my life. I will always wear a helmet and take safety classes. Don't just think of yourself think of all those you will have to suffer when you have to spend your life a as a vegetable because of brain trauma just because you wanted to look Cool!