Sorry for the "nagging mom syndrome" about helmets; it's just that the Northwest already has too many Republicans and conservative fundamentalists Christians. We need to try and prevent the head injuries that cause those problems. As for US transportation culture in general, the only thing that will probably ever turn us the right way is to lose a war in the Mideast, lose it in a seriously damaging and humiliating way. We need a hard collective slap as to the source of our oil and as to its price.