Passes & Canyons Blog

Common sense prevailed in the Colorado Legislature this season. Attempts to pass a helmet law and allow police to stop and ticket you for not wearing a seat belt were both defeated.

Make no mistake, the two are connected. The nannies who think government has some right to poke its nose into private matters were behind these bills. I won’t argue with people who say not wearing a seat belt is stupidity. It’s just that stupidity is not illegal. The same with helmets. The job of government is to protect us from foreign invaders and polluters poisoning the common air we breathe or water we drink, those sorts of things. Helmets and seat belts don’t fall into that category.

Congratulations to the Colorado Legislature for showing some sense.

OK, I guess I spoke too quickly last time. Turns out there is an attempt in the Colorado Legislature to pass a helmet bill. As usual, it is the nanny-government Democrats at work again.

Let me restate this: I’m not a Republican. I am anti-government-sticking-its-nose-in-where-it-doesn’t-belong. I’m a Libertarian.

The proposed legislation would require all riders under age 18 to wear helmets. Simple enough, and maybe not a bad idea. Lord knows kids don’t have the sense to watch out for themselves. I know what I was like when I was a kid, and even more, I know what our kids were like just a few years ago.

If I could trust that this was all it was and that would be the end of it I might go along with this bill. But history shows me that that is not the case.

About 15-20 years ago the legislature passed a bill requiring seat belts to be worn, but they made the offense such that you could not be stopped for it, they could only cite you if they stopped you for something else. Then recently, guess what? They want to change the law so the police can stop you just for failure to wear a seatbelt. There is no doubt in mind that once they get this helmet law passed for kids they’ll be back later to extend that requirement to adults.

The legislators fighting this bill are Republicans. Now, I have no more use for Republicans than I do for Democrats. One wants to tell you how to think and the other wants to control everything you do. That’s why I changed my party affiliation from Democrat to Libertarian awhile back.

That’s also why I believe in divided government. As long as one party controls the executive branch, the other the legislative, they checkmate each other. They govern down the middle. I guess I’ll be working for the Republicans to take back some power in the next election.

I’ve mentioned here before the danger inherent in the push to make failure to wear a seat-belt an offense the cops can stop you for. Right now in Colorado they can’t do that, but if they stop you for another reason and you’re not wearing one you can get a ticket. The Legislatue is now working to change that.

What concerns me is that any group of legislators that would make that change is likely to want to mandate wearing motorcycle helmets at all times.

Let’s get this clear right now: I understand that helmets and seat belts frequently save lives. I also know that in less frequent situations they do more hard than good. I just don’t think it’s government’s business to tell me which odds to play. Don’t make that old argument about being a burden on society. I have insurance. Not only that, I often wear a helmet. But sometimes I don’t, and that’s my decision to make. As for seat-belts, I was out one night with a bunch of legislators just after they passed the original seat-belt law and I told them then that they could shove it, that I would continue not to wear one. That was almost 20 years ago. I finally got ticketed for not wearing my seat-belt just two weeks ago. I was speeding, but so was everyone else. And the patrolman only cited me for the belt, not speeding. While I appreciated not getting a speeding ticket I have to suspect he really stopped me for the belt, and speed was just his excuse.

Anyway, none of that matters now because just last week I got a new car and it’s one of these that has a system to totally annoy you if you don’t wear a belt so I’ve finally been beaten. I now wear my seat-belt every time I drive.

But let’s get back to helmets. I hadn’t heard anything about helmets in connection to this proposed seat-belt law, but I know the connection. Well, in this morning’s Rocky Mountain News, Mark Wolf ran five quotes from the forum they run. All five of them said the same thing I”m saying, that it’s no one’s business but mine. One person did say not wearing a belt gives kids the idea of not wearing a belt, but other than that he said it’s nobody’s business. And three of them said the same about helmets.

I was afraid of this when the Democrats took the Legislature and governorship. I firmly believe divided government is best; it provides the best checks and balances. I used to be a Democrat but I changed my affiliation to Libertarian a number of years ago for exactly this sort of reason. I may have to vote Republican two years from now to help break this imbalance.

This is too good not to come back to. I told last time about some flying objects I’ve encountered and the whole topic was raised by a posting I saw on a motorcycle forum. Here’s a link to that forum. You’ll find it just as fascinating and entertaining as I do:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145779

Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find:

I would have to say bats. Three of’em so far, #1 hit under the right edge of the bill on my MX helmet. #2 hit me dead center of my full face, almost went down on that one. #3 hit my left mirror then slid down the post and just sit on my hand hanging on for about 1/4 mile before it fell off.

1. an entire pallet of canned Coke in the fast lane when I lived in China.
2. a bale of straw in the fast lane on 287 around NYC at about 70 mph.
3. a front bumper off a 78 T-bird in the middle lane of 287.
4. a guy taking a dump beside the road in WVa. He was in the apex of a real nice curve…
5. another rider… I was working thru traffic, passing buses, etc in the Alps. I thought he saw me, but he didn’t. His helmet caught my hand gaurd on the GS with a slight tap. His eyes were about as big as saucers. I shouldn’t have been in his lane, but I thought he saw me. Assume….. makes an ASS out of U and ME.

I was riding south on I-77 behind a pickup truck when the mattress that was in the bed of the truck flew up and over my head. whew!

1) A live turkey, back roads, Austell, GA. Spun me around but I did not go down.

2) Aluminum Ladder, I-285 Atlanta. Kinda jumped it, should have wrecked but didn’t.

3) A steel nut, about 2 inches in diameter, straight to the chest (thought it stopped my heart it hit so hard) I-285 Atlanta

4) Muffler and attached exhaust pipe, 575 near Canton, GA. No wreck

5) Water melon, I-75 near Valdosta. Almost, and I mean almost but no wreck.

6) Wooden pallet (empty) East/West Connector, Austell, GA. Scared me shitless.

7) A helmet, unstrapped and blew off another rider in front of me, Daytona. No wreck.

8) German Shepherd, near Bo-Bo’s house. No wreck but torn up a guys fresh grass stopping it.

Weirdest I have heard, guy from Earl Smalls Harley Davidson in Marietta, Ga was headed to the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlantawith a group of bikes. I-75 south after dark. He hit an upside down wheelbarrow tub that already had the wheels and supports knocked off. Was almost a perfect ramp. Said he was about 8 feet off the ground, got some good distance and landed without crashing. LOTS and LOTS of damage to the bike.

OK. You get the picture. Go check it out!

Every one of us who ride motorcycles hits or gets hit by things. Bugs are an obvious one, and if you ride without a helmet at times you’ve certainly been smacked in the face more than 101 times. Sometimes, as unlikely as it seems when you consider just how perfect conditions have to be, you’ll even end up with a bee or wasp getting scooped right up your sleeve. That’s one time when you stop and get off in a real hurry!

But what about other objects in the air? I encountered the question recently on a motorcycle forum that I frequent and figured I’d share here what I posted there.

Just last year, my friend Bill and I were coming down into Kremmling over Rabbit Ears Pass and a bird dove in close to his front wheel. Well, when we got to Kremmling and stopped for gas we found the bird stuck in right at the pivot on his kick stand. Extending the stand pinched it in and made it impossibe to remove so I had to hold the bike while he removed the oozing mess. This was not even the first time Bill has hit a bird. I’ve never done that.

Another time we were heading north from Laughlin, NV, and I was in the lead. We were pulling up on a semi and about the time I got close enough to think about passing one of his tires exploded. Big chunks and little pieces were flying everywhere but no one got hit by any. Very loud bang! Very scary to see big chunks of tread in the air.

Here’s another. John and Bill and I are the original three of our group, the OFMC, who first started riding. John and I were in Denver, heading over to Bill’s to start out on one of our very first week-long summer trips. On the way we were passing a golf course when a golfer hit his ball off the course in our direction. I was behind and I watched while it bounced off John’s rear wheel, right back onto the course. He didn’t even know it happened.

My latest issue of Rider magazine arrived yesterday and the irony was very heavy. There inside was the regular column on motorcycle safety by Lawrence Grodsky, who has been writing that column for Rider at least as long as I’ve been reading the magazine, about 17 years. The irony is that on April 8 Grodsky was killed by a deer that ran in front of his bike. Long lead times on hard copy national magazines mean this issue was already put to bed when he died. I’m sure the next issue will have the story.

You can read about the tragedy on the AMA site or at the magazine’s site.

Here in Colorado there are many collisions between cars and deer, though I don’t hear of many motorcycle/deer collisions. I know in other states there are riders who won’t even ride outside of the city after dark for fear of hitting them. I’ve had a couple close encounters and I’ll bet most of you have, too. It’s not a reason not to ride; it’s a very good reason to ride carefully.

Our sympathies are with the Grodsky family. We’ll miss you buddy.