I remember as a kid growing up running a bicycle, with the wind flowing in my hair and there are times when I would fall off the bike and get a scrape or two. That was just part of growing up.
How things have changed and so have the laws.
Enter the helmet. A new line of headgear that started to became mandatory for many different events. The motorcycle helmet. Statistically speaking, motorcyclists who wear helmets suffer less severe head injuries... so we passed a law.
Seat belts... although not a helmet, however it is a law passed to reduce injury.
Kids riding bicycles, skateboards and in-line skates suffer more head injuries without a helmet. Therefore, we passed a law. [So much for the wind in your hair]
But what about other activities?
"A Consumer Product Safety Commission study found that soccer contributed to an estimated 14,465 head injuries that were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms in 2004. That is up from 9,269 head injuries in a similar study in "
That kind of makes sense... in soccer you are using your head more than other sports.
[Pun intended]
Although health studies have shown that head injuries for pole vaulting and surfing were relatively rare, cycling takes the lead in the rankings of the number of people treated in US emergency rooms.
the article contains a list of different injuries ranging from cycling to fishing. [Head injuries from fishing?]
Golf: 8049 injuries. [Could you picture Tiger Woods wearing a helmet on the golf course?]
what about injuries due to everyday activities?
Statistically how many head injuries are caused each year by tripping while walking or running? Should there be a law requiring pedestrians to wear helmets? I can just imagine how they would enforce this one. [If caught walking without a helmet... you'll be fined $50 and your shoes will be impounded] so forget about high heels girls, too big a risk of head injury.
How about we just wrap everybody in bubble wrap and call it good.
I'll admit I'm kind of making fun of the article a little bit and I acknowledged that head injuries are a serious matter... however, when you really stop and think about it. How much is enough?
hat tip to Lars Larson's web site larslarson.com for the lead to the article.
6 comments:
There are some states who do not have helmet laws. New Hampshire, for instance, whose motto is - Live Free Or Die. Freedom at work.
I concussed myself while fishing. It was hard, but I did it!
Robin, I don't know if you caught the editorial in the 7/25/06 Register Guard but I thought you might be interested.
It's by Katherine Haley Will
"The federal beast’s appetite for information never wanes. The latest example comes from the U.S. Department of Education, which wants to keep dossiers on every college student in the country."
"As Knight Ridder Newspapers reported last week, the federal agency would like to force colleges to turn over information on the 15 million students attending 6,000 institutes of higher learning throughout the country."
"A national student database would cost $10 million to $12 million, according to an Education Department official quoted by Knight Ridder. Of course, these massive federal projects seldom come in under budget, and taxpayers could expect a more expensive final tab for the undertaking. Even if it did come close to this budget, that money could be better spent on student grants than student surveillance.
The best argument against compiling this massive database, however, is that it’s none of the government’s business. "
thanks Bobkatt,
the government is constantly complaining about how undereducated America is and they have to import from other countries to fill the gaps and it seems like in our government is constantly throwing up barriers such as cutting funds to higher education which discourages or totally makes out of reach for many education.
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