I have heard this from other than bicyclists.

So what do we say to those employees who insist on not wearing their eye protection when working with Class 4 lasers? "Don't look into the beam with your one good eye!"

What should we say to someone who insists on not wearing respiratory protection in an environment with fine particals (asbestos, silica, etc.) and vapors that are hazardous to the lungs (NYC Fireman)? I don't have a good answer here, because I don't want to tell these national heros that they were jeopardizing their future; however many are finding this a reality.

What do I tell a timber faller's wife when her husband has nearly cut off his leg for want of chaps and bled to death for want of a radio, or another two wives whose husbands were lost while staying uphill of a wildfire trying to move expensive logging equipment? We don't use words like stupid here, as they only hurt. But the people are still dead, and all we have to show was two melted aluminum hard hats.

What do we say to bicyclists who refuse to wear a helmet? If we say it is stupidly, we loose them. If we say they are uninformed, then we get similar resistance. Should we simply let them learn their own lessons; this would be okay, as long as there were no other people involved. But others are always involved. They include family (wives, husbands, children), friends and family, coworkers and society itself. Have you thought of what the EMT/Paramedics would say when they go to pick you up?

And what do you suggest we say at a funeral? Do we eulogize the individual's spirit of adventure, courage, guts, etc.? This is what happened during the funeral for a scout who died in a skiing accident. The troop continued skiing very difficult conditions, conditions I didn't even think they would travel under, much less ski under (we stayed home; I was assistant scoutmaster and thought the event was canceled, as even driving to the site (some 200 miles over a mountain range) was itself hazardous). The scout was skiing alone, did a face plant in deep snow where he could not move, and suffocated. He was found dead over an hour after he was missed by his fellow scouts. I attended the funeral, and the way it was handled made me sick, as the scouts should not have been there in the first place.

I am on record elsewhere on this forum that helmets are not the end-all; they are the last line of defense, as is all personal protective equipment. But, without them, a nasty accident can become a tragedy. A safety professional, member of the American Society of Safety Engineers in Eugene, Oregon, died while bicycling this summer without a helmet when he hit a fence going down a hill.

I have my life experiences to share, and choose to do so in this forum. Perhaps I have lived longer, and seen more, than some of you. Please take heed.

John