New Helmet Law In New Hampshire

[KevinmH9]

Looks like there is new law trying to be passed by the state Senate to try to get all children under 16 years of age to be required to wear a helmet.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050418/REPOSITORY/504180331/1031

[jazzy_cyclist]

For those who don't know, NH has an anti-helmet tradition (i.e., no laws), especially for motorcycles. It goes along with the "Live Free or Die" motto, and no state income taxes. Maybe things are changing...

[DCCommuter]

I recall that New Hampshire had a law requiring that dogs be secured in the backs of pickups at a time when it did not have a law requiring seatbelt use (for humans).

[chicharron]

Hello boys and girls, I'm Uncle Buckle the Safety Buffalo, makng sure that you are safe, in every thing you do, know matter where you are, no matter if you or your parents like it or not. Now, just take a note pad, write down with your Uncle Buckle Pencil in your Uncle Buckle notepad, all the dangerous things that Mommy and Daddy are doing right now, and send them to me, Uncle Buckle, and you can turn mommy and daddy in. You can get lots of free stuff. O.K. girls and boys.

[Travelinguyrt]

Yeh, right, "Live Free Or Die"......... takes a lot of non concern on the part of a parent to expose a child to a life in a bed or wheelchair because his/her head connected with a concrete sidewalk when thrown from a bike, or hitting a dashboard with no seat belt

Way to go dudes keep those hospital beds filled

[Old and Slow]

Travelinguyrt: I live in the Peoples Republic of Kanada, which has strayed further down the path of socialist stupidity than most places in the US. I can tell you from experience that once governments start mandating or restricting certain activities "for your own good" there is no end to it. Just one example - The Ontario government recently proposed putting a "fat tax" on fast food meals. (People howled so loud they dropped the idea, for now.)

If you really agree that governments must intervene to protect us from ourselves, you are treading on thin ice, from a bike advocacy standpoint. Starting from that premise a good argument can be made that bicycles are inherently dangerous to children, regardless of how much we dress them in bubble wrap and styrofoam, and should be banned. After all, many more children die from bicycle accidents than gun accidents.

There is a famous quote from C.S. Lewis that makes this point better than I can:

"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

[H_Roark]

I was going to post my own diatribe, but Old and Slow said it quite well. Remember, just because something is a good idea(wearing a brain bucket), it is not necesarily a good law.

[JohnBrooking]

I'm not so sure I'd rather live under a robber baron than an omnipotent moral busybody. Let's see, twelve hours a day of manual labor in unhealthy conditions for inadequate wages, or be forced to wear a helmet and even pay a tax on fast food? Hmmmm... Maybe it's just me?

A proposed new motto for non-helmeted bicycle and motorcycle riders in New Hampshire: "Live Free AND Die!" :rolleyes:

[rule]

Welcome to planet earth New Hampshire. My kid's pediatrician made us sign a statement when he was 2 saying that we would provide him with a helmet whenever he was riding anything. Otherwise, she refused to continue to treat him. She wasn't being a jerk either. She had just seen too many instances of when a helmet was not used. Cool by me. ;)

[H_Roark]

That's private, non-coercive action. I personally have no problem with that, although the doctor's presumptousness may have driven me somewhere else. That's just the point, though-you have a choice. Remember that everything the government does is done at the point of a gun.

[alanbikehouston]

Shocking. If the government gets away with this, where will government tyranny end? Speed limits on highways? Stop signs at street corners? Seatbelts in motor vehicles?

If we let the government interfere in our personal lives, no telling where it will stop. As they say in New Hampshire, "Live Free and Die".

[closetbiker]

As long as they allow people of the state to eat food that we know kills us and as long as the state refuses to pass a law that forces people to exercise, and as long as they allow people of the state to smoke, drink and drive in those killing machines called motor vehicles, I think they should allow the people of the state to ride bikes without helmets.

[webist]

Lawmakers make laws. Often that is not a good thing.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

My kid's pediatrician made us sign a statement when he was 2 saying that we would provide him with a helmet whenever he was riding anything. Otherwise, she refused to continue to treat him. She wasn't being a jerk either...Cool by me. ;)
How 'bout your pharmacist? Does he let his personal beliefs interfere with your medical care? Would that "be cool" too?

[closetbiker]

Wouldn't it be a terrible thing if doctors or pharmacists refused to treat those who aren't perfect? You smoke? No help for you. I doubt many do this because they would end up treating no one.

If insurance companies (or HMO's) only covered the healthiest or least likely to use their insurance, 99% of people wouldn't be covered.

[H_Roark]

I suppose I'd walk down the street to another pharmacy. The pharmacist doesn't have to do something he considers unethical, and I get whatever it is I have a scrip for. No need for government involvement at all.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

I suppose I'd walk down the street to another pharmacy
Be aware that not every person seeking medical care from a licensed provider has another provider just down the street. Medical providers who refuse to treat their patients on "ethical" grounds should consider another line of work more in line with their "ethics."

I wonder if the ethical pediatrician who turns away children whose parents don't sign her helmet fiat, also turns away children who are overweight, lazy, or whose parents have different "ethics" than the ethical doctor. Maybe her ethics are more selective/arbitrary than that. Not too cool in my book.

[zebano]

Well said Old n Slow

[chicharron]

Yeh, right, "Live Free Or Die"......... takes a lot of non concern on the part of a parent to expose a child to a life in a bed or wheelchair because his/her head connected with a concrete sidewalk when thrown from a bike, or hitting a dashboard with no seat belt

Way to go dudes keep those hospital beds filled
Can Uncle Buffalo come to your house and check and see if everyone is following all of the safety procedures? If not, Uncle will come to your house with a warrent and kick down your door to check if there is a non slip surface in your bathtub, and to see if you put the sharp end of the knives downward in the dishwasher.

[glowingrod]

Just one example - The Ontario government recently proposed putting a "fat tax" on fast food meals. (People howled so loud they dropped the idea, for now.)

That had several aims, one being to wean the poor off of fast food, a good idea considering that it only appears to be a bargain. $7-8Cdn gets hella groceries with lots more nutritional value than ONE combo meal at Mcdiddlys. I'm all for puting fast food further out of reach for the poor, it's not like the tax was for healthy pre-prepared food, just the crap. Like the crap alot?, eat at home 5 nights a week and you can have it all weekend with the money you've saved. If it hurts McDiddlys and the like, that's just gravy. It's no accident that fast foods largest target demographic are the poor/ignorant of any age group/gender/ethnicity. Plus it was a tax you could choose not to pay(don't buy the fast food), that some groups (brand new groups, advocates for the poor, with $$, probably from Mcdiddly) thought/said it would be required of the poor and cause them to starve en masse was hilarious, classic!

Say what you want about "socialist canada", the only place I've ever been harrassed by cops for being the only person of colour in a group is down south of here. (nope not black, latino, educated law abiding latino)