My mom remembers a time when people drove without seatbelts or child car seats and the death rate was actually lower.  As a child I loved to ride my bike everywhere.  Many times, I wiped out really bad.  I have scars to attest to this fact.  I never wore a helmet.  The freedom of the wind blowing through my hair was too important as a romantic metaphor for me to place a hard shell over it.    

Now, it seems like we have become over protective as a society.  Not me.  Perhaps not you but someone who makes legislative decisions has an incessant need to make sure we are all safe, padded and afraid to eat butter.  As far as I remember we all get one death in our lifetime so why live it in fear?

One of the funniest things I ever done saw a few years back was a guy speeding on a crotch rocket style motorbike wearing speedos, water shoes… and a helmet.  I was curious as to why he was wearing the helmet.  As he is laying in the hospital, skinless and broken would he think “I’m so glad that I had that helmet on so that I could be alive to experience all of this pain”? 

In no way am I suggesting that helmets are bad or don’t save people or that you needn’t wear one.  My problem is when other people attempt to quash my free will through statutory legislation and fines.  We as a human species seem to be really proficient as making sure the lowest common denominator survives thus ensuring our collective entropy.

By the way, no German men named Helmut were harmed in the making of this post.