Why did the law change from having to wear helmets when on a motorcycle to not having to wear them.?

Question

I know in Phila, PA the law changed a couple of years ago. I don't understand. Aren't a lot more people gonna die now due to the lack of head protection if they were to get in an accident?

Answer 1

Last time I checked, PA was part of the "Home of the Free".
The helmet laws have been under attack and repealed in some states because it is meddling in matters that should be the choice of the individual.
Helmets may save lives. However the restricted view causes accidents. The object is to avoid wrecks, not cause them (which some argue helmets do)
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE- LET THOSE THAT RIDE DECIDE>

Answer 2

Helmets save lives’ and only in the good old US of A is this possible. (Oh for the joy of living in the land of the free!)
Else where in the world, it is mandatory to wear a Helmet. In Australia, you have to produce your helmet with the AS1698 (Australian Standards) sticker on it before you even get a motorcyclist Learners license (we have to do a pre-learners course). You are not supposed to buy & use a helmet 2nd hand (although people still do) because you don't know what has been done to the helmet & whether or not it will save your life when you hit the road with your head, another vehicle, tree, lamp/light pole, fence etc.
The problem is a lot of the laws are repealed because some IDIOT didn't go & get their helmet fitted properly, bought 2nd hand ones, and so on and so forth.
Ill fitting helmets will grab and roll the head causing a severing of the spine or brain stem. Whose fault is this? the rider who bought the helmet & refused to get one that was tight fitting (or change the style so it fitted better) and majority of these studies have been conducted on the minors (the children pillions, who are wearing helmets too big for them, and do not have the neck muscles that will help keep their head stable with the extra weight! (I do know that there is a law going to be introduced into Australia, that if a child is under the age of 12 they cannot ride pillion on a road motorcycle because of similar findings.)
You wouldn't drive your car anywhere without a seatbelt, because seatbelts save lives; even though they can do a lot of damage in stopping you from going out the front windscreen of the car, so why is it too hard to ensure you wear a helmet to ensure your life is saved in an accident.

I suppose the answer will be yes, more peoples lives will be lost because they CHOOSE not to wear an item that saves lives, because, it messes with that "cool” look they have going
(not that they going to look to cool at a closed casket funeral) but hey each to their own

Answer 3

I agree with a lot of the people in that the right to choose is important. These people have the right to choose to suffer horrible injuries or death if they wish to. I live somewher that (thankfully) medical support is free if you suffer road injuries so it is also right that certain requirements are in place so that you are not going to unreasonably be using expensive medical care. Proper helmets give good protection and bad helmets cause more injuries. I have been in an accident where a car turned in front of me and I ended up with a continuous bruise that went from my ankle to my neck but stopped there becuase I had a good helmet that fitted properly. I spent many years as a motorcycle racing offical and by far the worst injuries that I have ever seen have been on the open road because racers have a minimum standards imposed.
Good full face PROPERLY FITTING helmets save lives. Some poeple still feel it is more important to mandate that people have the right to be idiots. If you choose to not protect your head it shows how much you value it.

Answer 4

Lawmakers sometimes believe that a persons right to choose is more important than the insurance Co. lobbyists, with people over 18, many states allow motorcycle riders to choose whether or not to wear them. Many studies have been split whether helmets cause neck injuries and whether the truama from head injuries would have helped the rider survive, both sides of the fence are extreamly opinionated on the subject, our governer in Louisiana was a rider and abolished the law, when he was replaced the new govener re enacted it.

Answer 5

Because Pa & a majority of the 50 states have finally figured out that you can't legislate safety. The insurance industry and the American Medical assoc. scare tactics have been proven to be false & the old public burden theory(that the hospitals would be full of brain damaged, uninsured bikers) has also proved to be a lie. Yes, there are brain damaged, uninsured people in the hosp., but most of them were driving cars. It's amazing how a group of people that have never ridden a motorcycle & wouldn't piss up my butt if my guts were on fire, suddenly know what's best for me and are willing to force me to do something just because they say so. Guess what? No more. The law has been changed by a group of dedicated, educated,people that realize that big brother doesn't always know best.

Answer 6

I have been riding since long before the helmet and seatbelt laws and I am still alive.
With all the steel plates in my head , i don't think I should even have to wear a helmet,but the stupid law says I have to.

Answer 7

as a rider i agree you should always wear a helmet but im guilty of not sometimes but only if im cruising in front of a strip of bars n clubs. some people i know think that it should be up 2 them 2 decide, because if the accident is serious enough helmet or not you may not make it. i recommend a dot or snell approved helmet. full face not one that exposes the face. but to answer your ? im not sure y pennsylvania did that, i think its a dangerous enough sport and using a helmet along with ridig gear such as leather, gloves and boots will give u a much better chance of survival.

Answer 8

Because enough people spoke up.
A lot of these people wear helmets of their own free will, yet believe a persons rights should not be regulated by government.

The statement "Everyone who rides a motorcycle should wear a helmet" can be equally compared to "Everyone who walks should wear safety toe shoes".

The difference is who votes on it, and why.

"Let those who ride decide."

Answer 9

They only changed it in Bismarck, North Dakota, that you have to be 18+ years of age to not wear a helmet. They think that if you're an adult, they can't control if you wear a helmet or not.

Answer 10

In NC you have to wear a helmet but they let you get away with wearing a novelty helmet. In SC you do not have to wear a helmet.