Helmets AGAIN

[MBlanchrd@aol.com]

Hi, Campers,

 If I may offer another pair of pennies.

 I want you all to take your Troxels or Lidlockers or whathaveyou..and read 
the warning on the inside of the helmet. IT IS THERE, unless of course, it 
fell out due to wear, sweat, heat or you removed it.
It says in part, "No headgear can protect the wearer against all foreseeable 
impacts."  This means that, even if you are wearing a helmet, do not expect 
that helmet to protect or prevent a head injury in case of a fall. In fact, 
most helmets' labels also say that if you drop the helmet, get rid of it. Its 
structural integrity has been compromised, though it may not be apparent.

 This helmet  label is telling me that, even though it's very expensive, I 
cannot rely on it to do what it was designed and advertised to do. 

Why? Because horseback riding is a RISK. Driving on the interstate at 5 pm on 
a payday Friday with a trucker wired on NoDoz after 20 hours on the road  and 
tailgating you at 70 mph is a risk. Virtually anything we do, be it talk on a 
cell phone (brain tumors), or eat vegetables grown in Mexico (sprayed with 
DDT) or drink fluoridated water  (cancer risk and makes the dentist rich) is 
a risk. Why don't we wear helmets all the time?

Having been a motorcyclist for many years, I've heard that public burden 
bullshit so many times I want to throw up. Why is it that an unhelmeted  
motorcyclist who is run over by a drunken truck driver is to blame for his 
own death because he was "irresponsible" rider by not  wearing a helmet? (as 
happened in Spanaway, WA, just a month or so ago..)
 If the drunk driver is injured in the wreck he caused, why is he NOT a 
public burdern because he wasn't wearing a helmet? Public burden my fanny. 
That argument is nothing but someone's self righteousness coming through. 

Helmets do not make a person a better rider, the rider's experience, training 
and driving capabilities make them a better rider. Helmets merely satisfy the 
Safety Nazis self righteous views that none of us know better how to care for 
us than THEY do. I'm so dangerous I have to have someone else make decisions 
for me, like wearing helmets, seat belts, etc. 

I'm not saying that helmets are useless. There's been too many testimonials 
right here on ridecamp to their efficacy. I wear one, though I don't like it. 
I wear it because if I do fall, or get bucked off (off of JORDAN? That's WAY 
too much effort on his part..) it will PROBABLY prevent a head injury. That's 
good enough for me.

What I dislike is the Safety Nazis telling me I MUST wear one. I'm a big girl 
now, I am able to make decisions for myself, and no one should suffer the 
consequences but me if I make the wrong one.

Michelle and Jordan (mom.......you look like a dork)
MBlanchrd@aol.com