The safety police can take their gestapo tactics, regulations, statutes, laws, and rules and jam them someplace really uncomfortable as far as I'm concerned.
Helmets, gear, seat belts etc... all fine items... all fine CHOICES as well. I wear my lid the vast majority of the time, and it is important to me... but something that will always trump my lid is choice... my liberty. I'll never be cool with some bureaucrat making my choices for me. Never ever. I think we need to be real about this. While some laws are very reasonable, a lot aren't at all. And with unchecked power, law makers make rules more and more rediculous all the time. Soon you'll need a helmet in your car, then walking down the sidewalk, then no bikes at all, etc... May seem silly to some I'm sure, but there's no end to what some will always want to force others to do. Those my way or the highway clowns. They're a big concern and they're out there. As for me, I've had enough of them all ready.
And another thing. These bikes go so fast as to be just dumb anyway. For those who might argue in favor of laws about lids, while simultaneously arguing in favor of 160 hp street motorcycles, I argue back that no safety law will ever keep one safer than use of common sense. It's the key ingredient for getting every one of us through each day we make it through, whether we have helmets or belts on, or whatever. Besides, find a dude who doesn't do bikes and that guy will think your an unecessary future grease stain on the road, helmet or no. And that dude has you beat with that arguement, over yours railing against those without protection. Lids or no lids with bikes is nothing but a matter of degree regarding danger. Wanna be safer??? Get a weenier bike. Safer still??? Get a bicycle. Be completely safe on two wheels??? Play a game console. But whatever else... just don't tell me what to do. My body, and my life, and I'll handle both of them myself thank you very much.
At the very least... those who argue for more civil liberty regulation should stop the pretending, and try to remove that "land of the free" business from the public consiousness here in the States. Or at least throw an asterisk in the Pledge and Banner. IMHO.
