I recently read three articles dealing with the topic of motorcycle helmets.  All three articles were published in the Standard Examiner.

The first article was published on June 11, 2010 titled "The Great Motorcycle Debate" written by Annie Valentine.  Ms. Valentine expresses a point of view of many wives and mothers of aspiring motorcycle riders.  Essentially she says that her husband has responsibilities and his responsibilities to her and their children come first before satisfying his own need to own and ride a motorcycle.  It is hard to argue with that logic.  However, she goes on to extend that premise into one that all motorcyclists should wear helmets when they ride.  The efficacy of helmet use in preventing devastating injury is open to debate.  Valentine cites some statistics and based on those claims that all motorcycle riders should wear helmets.  I have a better suggestion.  "If you've got to ride..." as Valentine states simply purchase enough insurance to care for your loved ones to which you owe a responsibility instead of imposing your will on all motorcyclists.

The next article was titled "Play It Safe While Riding - Wear a Helmet" written by D. Louise Brown.  This article too starts with a logical premise talking about children wearing helmets.  In fact it is the law in Utah that all motorcyclists under the age of 18 wear a helmet - she is correct.  She is also correct in assuming that the helmet that minors wear should fit properly.  However, like Ms. Valentine, Ms. Brown injects an argument that people not wearing helmets are engaging in natural selection.  To interpret her argument of natural selection bluntly I read it to mean that those that do not wear helmets will be killed and eventually through eons of time all reasonable people will wear helmets as a means to pass their genes on to their offspring.  An even more blunt interpretation might be that those that so not wear helmets are somehow less deserving or even stupid.

The third article was published on August 9, 2010 titled "Ride Aware - Drive Aware" written by Eric Stine who is the education coordinator for ABATE of Utah.  Of the three I suspect that Stine is the only one that actually rides a motorcycle.  He recognizes that people who chose to ride motorcycles do so for any number of reasons.  He also recognizes that people have rights in this country and that right, as the law currently stands, is that motorcyclists over the age of 18 need not wear a helmet.

Yes, motorcyclists are injured, often tragically and sometimes killed.  On a national basis, crashes involving a motorcycle and another vehicle, the vehicle driver is responsible for the crash about 73% of the time.  In Utah that statistic drops to about 60%.  The solution, as I see it, is better education of both the motorcyclists but especially vehicle drivers.  To that end the Utah Highway Safety Office needs to be commended for their DRIVE AWARE - RIDE AWARE advertising campaign targeted at reducing the rising rate of motorcycle crashes resulting in injuries and fatalities.

Let's watch out for each other and perhaps even more importantly let's respect each other out there - for all of our sakes!

Utah Bike Law is a law firm and its lawyers represent motorcycle riders and their families across Utah including the counties and cities of Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Washington, Wayne, Weber, American Fork, Beaver, Bountiful, Brigham City, Cedar City, Delta, Draper, Duchesne, Fillmore, Heber, Kamas, Kanab, Kaysville, Layton, Lehi, Logan, Moab, Murray, Nephi, Ogden, Orem, Park City, Price, Provo, Richfield, Riverton, Roy, Salt Lake City, Sandy, South Jordan, St. George, Tooele, Vernal, West Jordan, and West Valley City. Utah Bike Law and its attorneys are licensed to practice law only in the State of Utah and maintain offices in Salt Lake City, Utah. No attorney client relationship is established by simply visiting this website.

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