"Where is the respect for life?"

Here’s one for you, Walter, (but not about respect.)

Laws require seatbelt use in cars, but not helmet use on motorcycles. And I’m pretty sure I know why.

(But before we start, I’d like to share an image I saw here is SC (a non-helmet state) about the time the pandemic started. A motorcyclist w/o a helmet…wearing a covid mask. SAFETY FIRST!)

Keeping in mind that seatbelt laws passed before airbags were common, if a car had a crash w/o passengers wearing seatbelts, they would perhaps live, but medical costs (incl. long-term care and rehab) might continue for a lifetime. With seatbelts, not so much cost.

But if a motorcycle crashes w/o a helmet…generally no healthcare costs at all! (My late brother had a cracked Lexan helmet from high-speed contact with a guardrail post in his youth. W/o a helmet he might still be part of that post all the way down to his toes.)

Is it weird to think that both these laws were at the request of the insurance industry? (Also, we don’t have helmet laws in SC because we have bike rallies. Three at last count. If helmets were required, the rallies would move to another state.)

Thank you, Walter, for saying what should never need to be said.

"Your life depends on it."

(Yes I read it all. Anyone would be a fool not to.)