USA helmet laws.

On May 4, 2:05*pm, "Simon Mason" wrote:
"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote in messagenews:aritv4tgvchjucgoen7nl39b0u59fos3bg@4ax .com...

On Mon, 4 May 2009 10:11:55 +0100, "Simon Mason"
wrote:

Interesting story about USA motorcyclists' fight to ride without helmets
which means that in the majority of states, they can ride a 100 mph+
machine
with no crash hat.

I'd imagine that if mandatory helmets for cyclists was ever imposed in the
UK, it would make the sight of helmetless hairy road hogs riding through US
state capitals in protest look like a village tea party.

Well, I was going to say that I disagreed because of our tendency to
just roll over and accept any amount of **** from our "masters", but
owing to the hardcore of indignant, precious cyclists with a massive
persecution complex and a holier-than-thou attitude towards everyone
else, you may well actually be right in this case.

On May 4, 6:19*pm, Nuxx Bar wrote:
On May 4, 7:19*pm, Marz wrote:

Speed limit varies between 55 and 75mph depending on how urban an area
is. Though if no cops are in sight then folks average about +10 the
posted limit, but rarely +20mph as getting caught doing more than
20mph than the speed limit can mean jail time.

Jesus. *It's not just this country whose speed-related enforcement
needs reform then. *Getting jail time for going at 95mph on one of
those long, straight, open, empty roads is bonkers.

Oh it's so much worse than that. There are no speed cameras, but the
cop holding the radar gun is also packing a real gun. If you get
caught doing crazy speeds on the highway you'll get a free trip to the
police station of their choice, you get the pleasure of having your
car towed at your expense and the chance of paying at least $500 in
fines. Once you get home you'll still have a court date about a month
later and you may have lost your license and half to sit though 10
hours of drivers education or community service to get it back.

Of course you can fight the ticket and have your day in court, but if
you loose your court fees have just all tripled.

On 4 May, 14:10, Jolly Polly wrote:
Simon Mason wrote:

"Ian Smith" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 4 May 2009, Simon Mason wrote:

*Interesting story about USA motorcyclists' fight to ride without
*helmets which means that in the majority of states, they can ride a
*100 mph+ machine with no crash hat. There are a lot of parallels
*with UK cyclists, notably:

*"You sit at a stoplight, especially in Florida, you're sitting
*there in 100 percent humidity, and the sun is beating down on you,
*and that heat's coming up off the road, which is like 140, 150
*degrees

Global warming has evidently had more impact on Hull than I would
have expected

I've ridden when it was 33 Celsius a few years ago, I wouldn't like to
have had a plastic hat on even that (relatively low) temperature.

I've ridden in Sevilla Spain, in 50C, not fun, felt like my head was in
a pressure cooker. The locals openly flouted the law, either not wearing
one or having one 'perched' on top of their heads - I guess that's
common sense- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If that was the city of Sevilla, they were not actually flouting the
law, as neither motorcycle nor pedal cycle helmets are required in
built-up areas in Spain. And if you're talking about pedal cycling
only, at 50C it's legal to ride bareheaded in the countryside too.

On 5 May, 02:49, Marz wrote:
On May 4, 6:19*pm, Nuxx Bar wrote:

On May 4, 7:19*pm, Marz wrote:

Speed limit varies between 55 and 75mph depending on how urban an area
is. Though if no cops are in sight then folks average about +10 the
posted limit, but rarely +20mph as getting caught doing more than
20mph than the speed limit can mean jail time.

Jesus. *It's not just this country whose speed-related enforcement
needs reform then. *Getting jail time for going at 95mph on one of
those long, straight, open, empty roads is bonkers.

Oh it's so much worse than that. There are no speed cameras, but the
cop holding the radar gun is also packing a real gun. If you get
caught doing crazy speeds on the highway you'll get a free trip to the
police station of their choice, you get the pleasure of having your
car towed at your expense and the chance of paying at least $500 in
fines. Once you get home you'll still have a court date about a month
later and you may have lost your license and half to sit though 10
hours of drivers education or community service to get it back.

Of course you can fight the ticket and have your day in court, but if
you loose your court fees have just all tripled.

And they think things are harsh in the UK!

--
Simon Mason