Yesterday I received a phone call from the ABATE state office asking if I would be able to show up at the safety site to meet up with two fellow instructors / site coordinators. Our local Fox news affiliate (WXIN FOX59) wanted to do some live feeds during the morning newscast concerning our motorcycle safety program. The past few years we have gone to their studios and posed in front of a few motorcycles and gave a quick overview of how our program works and our mission. Having live feeds from a site was a little different and we were wondering what the spin was going to be.
In recent light of US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters recent request to raid the funds earmarked for motorcycle safety (see letter to Dick Cheney here http://www.mrf.org/pdf/Dick-Cheney.pdf [a duplicate was sent to Nancy Pelosi in the House of Representatives]) to use towards the promotion of helmet usage, we were expecting to be asked about mandatory helmet laws. To our surprise, the subject never came up. It was a nice interview that really focused on our program and what we offer the Indiana motorcyclist. They asked many good questions about how we train and what we focus on.
I hope that there were many viewers this morning as I expect that motorcycle sales are going to rise along with the price of gas. More people are looking for an economic way to commute and the motorcycle is one of the most efficient and boasts gas mileage at least double most automobiles on the road. It is an excellent alternative mode of transportation and a way to save money, but it is not for everyone. My concern, and I am sure the concern of many others, is that we will have this onslaught of new riders with no experience attempting to teach themselves because the rider safety courses just do not have the resources to keep up with the demand. Fatalities will rise and with that rise comes the push for helmets and the increase in motorcycle insurance across the board.
Don’t get me wrong here. I encourage the use of helmets and I wear mine all the time. I must confess that that was not always the case. I started wearing my helmet religiously in 2004 after I hit a deer and went down. Luckily, I had just shaved my head for the first time a couple of months earlier and my head was cold that morning so I wore my helmet, only to keep my head warm. But, I do not agree with mandatory helmet laws. I believe in freedom of choice. I want to open this up to all of you. I don’t think anyone can argue that wearing a helmet is the smart choice. But, what are your thoughts on mandatory helmet usage? Fire away in comments and invite your friends to do the same.
Until next time!
Ride Safe
HarleyMac1 and the MC Nation
