The point person behind Pennsylvania’s repeal of motorcycle helmet laws is the past president of the American Motorcyclist Association, Lancaster’s own J. Richard Gray:
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/3649_Law-or-no-law–cyclists-say-helmets-will-stay-on.html
Lancaster attorney and avid motorcyclist J. Richard Gray said the change in Pennsylvania’s law is not a case of “helmets vs. no helmets.”
“It’s about who should decide what’s best for an individual person — that person or the government,” said Gray, chairman of the board of directors for American Motorcyclists Association.
Gray has been fighting Pennsylvania’s helmet law since it was instituted 35 years ago.
“I went to my first anti-helmet-law rally the night before Pennsylvania’s helmet law took effect in 1968,” he said. “Helmets are for personal protection.”
Despite his opposition to helmet laws, Gray said he has always worn — and will always wear — a helmet.
“I’ve ridden 30,000 miles already this year, many of them through states where you don’t have to wear helmets,” he said. “I had a helmet on for every mile.”
EDITOR: Is this a matter of cognitive dissonance?
Interesting. I suppose that’s why health professionals will continue to refer to motorcycles as donorcycles.
I have to wonder, though, if a motorcyclist is hit and killed by a car is it really grounds for vehicular homicide? In most cases the victim would survive the accident if he were in a car.
And what about employers not hiring motorcyclists? LGH won’t hire smokers so why would they hire a motorcycle rider?
EDITOR: Concernig “vehicular homocide”, our brains tend to only register what we are looking for. As a long time cyclist, I never assumed that I was being ‘seen’. Good cyclist learn to ride very defensively.
If his honor is so adamant about being opposed to the mandatory helmet law claiming it is a matter of choice, then why is he not also opposed to the seat belt law?
If I’m riding a motorcycle I have very little protection of any kind. When I’m riding in an enclosed vehicle I am protected by a virtual steel cage.
However, when I am in an enclosed vehicle I am required by law to wear a seat belt for my own protection. Why?
Perhaps the mayor would like to explain the differences! I was once a bike rider myself and thankfully I wore a helmet. It saved my life.