10 Jul
2001
10 Jul
'01
11:03 a.m.
At 08:47 PM 7/9/01 -0700, Eric wrote:
More to the point, my tax dollars go to pay the unpaid medical bills
of the stupid, and when too many stupid people get head injuries my car
and health insurance rates go up.
Hell, that applies to anything you can name; (1) car crash victums,
(2) skate boarding accidents, (3) people tripping on the side walks, etc
etc etc.
(1) Ever wondered why we have seat belt laws?
(2) Some places require helmets and pads for skateboarders.
(3) The number of people suffering suffering catastrophic injury from
tripping on the sidewalk is a substantially lower than the number
that would be injured by
IMHO it's crazy to be on a motorcycle without a
helmet, so why not just
abandon the helmet requirement and let Darwin have the last word . . .
Because our society and government are built around protecting the
stupid.
The
list is endless. Should you let the "hospital costs" rational be used to
govern everything we do?
Of course not, it should be used only where it makes sense. Your attempt
at reductio ad absurdum has failed.
What if the
next law is that
no one will be allowed to work on their own computers since they could be
injured and the public would have to pay the cost of their
hospitalization?
You'd first need to show that there is substantial cost to the state and the
people involved in people working on their own computers.
If there's
an outcry against helmet laws, here's a simple solution.
Require riders who don't wear helmets to either get additional "no helmet
inurance,"
That appears to be exactly what the state of Florida has done. So
far it seems to be working.