Attorney who fought Florida helmet laws died in motorcycle crash while not wearing one

[Zorro]

Ron Smith, 66, and his girlfriend, 62-year-old Brenda Jeanan Volpe, were on their way to a funeral with a group of riders from the American Legion.

In the late 1990s, when Florida bikers were still required to wear helmets, Pinellas lawyer Ron Smith was an aggressive advocate for overturning the law.

Smith was a member of ABATE — A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments and American Bikers Aimed Toward Education — which lobbied against the law for years. He represented clients who ran afoul of Florida’s motorcycle requirements in court cases that some say helped overturn Florida’s helmet law.

One of the cases went all the way to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which ruled that Florida’s helmet law at the time was constitutional, but that the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles had failed to properly publish a list of protective equipment as required by law.

Smith didn’t like being told what to do and valued his independence, said Dave Newman, who met the attorney through an American Legion post in Old Town where they were both members.

“He thought everybody should have their own choice,” Newman said.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2022/10/25/attorney-who-fought-florida-helmet-laws-died-motorcycle-crash-while-not-wearing-one/

Well, he made his choice. Karma. And so did she; she died, too.

[Ocelot II]

1. His karma seems to have run over his dogma.

[3catwoman3]

6. Excellent wordsmithing!

[Ocelot II]

10. Not originally mine, but it fits a lot of occasions.

[Fullduplexxx]

2. Stupid is as stupid does

[Walleye]

3. Mandated ultrasound on pregnant girls, fine. Mandated safety equipment on vehicles, tyranny

[Montauk6]

50. And I'm sure there are some fascists

who WOULD impose a fine on said pregnant girls if something was amiss in said ultrasound. Just sayin'...

[Walleye]

51. Possibly prison for the pregnant girl

In Delaware they fought the helmet laws, and they settled on a law that says you just have to have a helmet with you. So I see these guys with helmets strapped to the back of their seats and wonder what they must be thinking when they’re flying ass over tea kettle in the air and see their helmet staying with their bike

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. A.B.A.T.E has changed the meaning of their acronym

Most chapters have shed the “Against Totalitarian Enactments” portion for softer wording.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_motorcyclists%27_rights_organizations

Their deaths are tragic, regardless of how DU’rs love to bash motorcyclists.

[LakeArenal]

14. That's a bit unfair. We are pointing out not wearing helmets.

Plenty of cyclists use precautions and don’t drive without helmets.

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. It's not unfair, it's my experience after almost 20 years as a member of this message board.

This subject comes up every so often, and like the poster below, many seem to want to call those who choose to not wear a helmet as "stupid", and she is apparently a rider. She is entitled to her opinion.

The only motorcyclists who do not own helmets would be those that never leave a no helmet law state, and I don't really think that is too many.

I'm pro-choice in the matter. I've owned motorcycles in the past and rode the last one pretty much all over the country, as I was able to carry it on the trucks I was driving at the time. I would wear a helmet where required and where they weren't required, I would often, but not always, ride without it. I lived in Detroit most of the time I owned it and if I rode into Ohio and it was cold, I would wear it.

When I was younger I lived across the street from the County Medical Examiner, and he was very pro-helmet but in his office he had a collection of damaged helmets he cut off victims. Way back in the 70's ** he told me the following;

In a car crash at say...55 mph, wearing your seat belt increases your chance of survival by 200%.
In the same crash on a motorcycle, wearing a helmet increases your chances by TWO (2) percent.

Many high speed accidents on motorcycles are just not survivable.

But again, I'm pro choice. Is it wiser to wear one? Of course. In those accidents where one lands on ones head - like I did way back just after high school, they can reduce injury dramatically.

But a helmet isn't a seat belt or an air bag.

** I'll add here that helmet technology has come a LONG way in the last 50 years, so the stats are probably not accurate, but the larger point I am trying to make stands.

[LakeArenal]

37. Choices have consequences. Sometimes tragic.

Your Not the Boss of Me is causing major loss of common sense beyond motorcycle helmet laws.

[Straw Man]

40. Hmm ...

In a car crash at say...55 mph, wearing your seat belt increases your chance of survival by 200%.
In the same crash on a motorcycle, wearing a helmet increases your chances by TWO (2) percent.

I agree that in a motorcycle crash at 55 mph, you're probably screwed, helmet or not.

But here's the thing: As a person whose sole means of transportation for eight years was a motorcycle, I was involved in two accidents, both of which happened at relatively low speed. In the first, a van driver shot out of a blind side street right into my path. I was going about 20 mph. I locked up my brakes and skidded sideways into the side of his van. In the other, a taxi stopped short in front of me on a narrow one-way street, and I had to dump the bike in order not to rear-end him. In both of these accidents, I was wearing a helmet, and in both I could have suffered a serious head injury if I hadn't been.

I guess the real issue is the extent to which the government should be protecting us from ourselves. Tough call.

[ms liberty]

15. I'll bash them if they're stupid enough to ride without safety equipment

We don't go out unless we're wearing our gear, all of it. And it's damned hot here in the south in the summertime but I care more about my skin and my skull.

[Zorro]

16. I used to really enjoy riding without a helmet

in both California and Florida in the pre-mandate years, although I did come to realize the utility of both helmet and facemask after hitting one too many Florida junebugs with my forehead.

I'm older now and maybe not much wiser, but wearing a helmet is a sensible thing to do.

[Aristus]

5. Play stupid games; win stupid prizes.

Probably had the bad grace to pass his defective DNA down to a newer generation, so we'll almost certainly keep seeing this level of stupidity going forward.

[budkin]

7. Good for him!

He should be proud!

[sop]

8. The wrong choice he made:

"Helmets decrease the risk of death for motorcyclists by 37%...They are estimated to be about 41% effective for motorcycle passengers...In states without helmet laws, 57% of motorcyclists who died in 2020 were not wearing a helmet compared to 11% of motorcyclists in states with helmet laws...Florida’s death rate increased by 25% after its helmet law was repealed, according to one study, and the number of motorcyclists admitted to hospitals with head injuries jumped 82% in the 30 months following the law change."

[Demsrule86]

9. Karma...you what they call those riders who do not wear helmets? Future organ donors...

It is an ugly truth...wear a helmet folks. It doesn't matter what the law says. My Mother -may she rest in peace- was unusual for her times...a strong independent woman...she also drove like a bat out of hell. Both my sister and I said lots of prayers before climbing in the car with her and everyone wore their seatbelts-law or no law...she drove 90 miles an hour mostly on the highways and collected tickets like other folks collect stamps.

We always wore our seatbelts and survived into adulthood. I remember once a nice police officer stopped her. I was in my 20's then. He told her how he didn't want to see her die on the road along with her pretty daughter (me). She listened impatiently and interrupted him to say, "spare me the lecture and give me my damn ticket" He also confiscated her radar detector (she lost many of these devices). The point is even in early childhood, we all wore our seatbelts even though there was no law then.

[SimplyHadEnough]

47. "Wear your helmet folks"

I loved reading your comment about your Mom. I got to wondering how fast do I drive Lol but alas not 90 🤣 Your mom sounded like my kind of Gal. Bless her heart and may she rest in peace. I know she's really miss by you and family.

[Arkansas Granny]

11. Karma, indeed. And on the way to a funeral, no less.

[Demovictory9]

19. So much irony here

[LakeArenal]

12. I guess he died doing what he loved best...

Kudos.

[Cartoonist]

13. Helmets save lives

This is inarguable. Here's an idea that will raise hackles. Require helmets for auto drivers as well.

[Zeitghost]

24. Don't forget a HANS device and Nomex suits

n/t

[sir pball]

30. And a racing seat with a 5-point harness bolted to a roll cage.

Can't be too safe, after all.

(I did have all of the above in my old 240SX, but I competed in it)

[HAB911]

17. Now do gun humpers

[Hortensis]

18. "Live hard and die free?" He made it to 66.

I can accept his right to kill himself as long as he didn't duck out on any dependents.

[Johnny2X2X]

20. In college, I was a security guard

I worked at a rehab hospital for major injuries and brain injuries. The staff there referred to motorcyclists who bike without helmets as, "organ donors."

I had a moped I rode everywhere when I was a teen, I am here to type this because of the helmet I wore when riding. Got hit by an old lady on the road who just didn't see me, not only cracked my helmet, but scraped off a good bit of it on the road. There is a near 0% chance I would have survived. And if I had survived, most of my skull would have been removed by the road.

[SimplyHadEnough]

46. In the ER we called them Donor Cycles.

[Solly Mack]

21. Talk about being on point.

[GenThePerservering]

22. Mr "Play stupid games" here

doesn't realise that we ALL pay when some fool rides without a helmet - the costs of trauma care are very high and they ARE passed along to others in the same insurance pool, or to the taxpayers.

Also, what is with this business of women riding on the BACK of motorcycles like a lot of luggage? Ride your own bike and wear a helmet, woman!

[iscooterliberally]

23. As someone who used to scooter quite liberally I always wore my helmet.

One of my favorite ads in the motorcycle magazines had a slogan that said, "Buy a ten dollar helmet if you have a ten dollar head". I think it was Shoei that did that add. This was back in the 80s before the helmet law was repealed. I still have my motorcycle, but I don't ride it anymore. I was going to sell it, but it's a cat bed now.

[Sky Jewels]

33. Awww. Cutest little biker ever.

Get your purr motor runnin'
Head out to the garage
Lookin' for some kitty noms
And any mice that come your way ...

[iscooterliberally]

38. That's where she likes to wait for me.

If she gets impatient, she knows how to go around back and come in through the cat door.

[Sky Jewels]

49. ...

[gratuitous]

34. My motto as a cyclist is

If there's nothing inside your skull worth protecting, feel free to not wear a helmet. I hate to think what might have happened on the two occasions where I broke my helmet, but not my head. And that's at cycling speeds of 15-20 mph. Go 60 mph or faster without a helmet? Please be sure your organ donor card is current.

[iscooterliberally]

41. I used to tell other riders that it's OK to not wear a helmet if no one even likes you.

I do have the "Donor" label on my Florida drivers license. If they can't save me, hopefully I can save someone else instead. I think that's good policy even if you don't ride any kind of cycle at all.

[niyad]

54. Of course you cannot sell your kitty's bed!

[iscooterliberally]

55. I am so opulent. You should see her water bowl.

Okay, she likes to drink out of the pool.

[niyad]

56. Naturally. Only the best for our feline overlords!

[Samrob]

25. I wonder if he was "pro choice" or Anti-abortion? mt

[Orrex]

26. I'm sure that he kept an open mind at the very end

[Old Crank]

27. Suicide by stupid

also manslaughter for the death of his passenger.

[twodogsbarking]

28. He died doing what he loved. Riding with no helmet.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

29. Darwin award winner !

Might have been on the short list for TFG, too bad

RIP

[Sky Jewels]

32. Freedumb!

We had a relative who was a big anti-helmet activist and he died the same way. The police thought a deer probably jumped out in front of his motorcycle, and he swerved. This was years ago.

[ZonkerHarris]

35. Motrocycle Helmets, not just a law, it's a good idea.

[DFW]

36. I wouldn't have thought it necessary to point this out, but..........

Republican is as Republican does, so.............

Hey, Republicans? This is NOT what we mean when we say we are pro-choice. Capito?

[sakabatou]

39. No sympathy from my end.

[Aviation Pro]

42. Fucked around....

….found out.

[kimbutgar]

43. What do you bet they were TFG supporters and republican?

Two less votes for DeSatan.

But Karma can be so sweet sometimes. I hope when he died and went to hell that he was mad he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

[LudwigPastorius]

44. Freedumb!

He was certainly free...right up to the point where he was dead.

[TheRickles]

45. Interesting update from the linked article:

Regarding the biking club at that American Legion post:

The post isn’t requiring helmets, though they are highly encouraged, Rodriguez said. He said the group doesn’t want to alienate those who might not want to wear them.

Even so, that rule might not be needed at this point. Riders who had previously resisted helmets have started wearing them, Rodriguez said. And on his first ride after the deaths, Rodriguez made an observation while looking at all the riders in the group.

“Every single one had a helmet on,” he said.

[Initech]

48. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!

[liberal_mama]

52. Like when someone doesn't wear a mask, then gets Covid and dies or becomes disabled

Or spreads their asymptomatic Covid to someone who dies of it.

Lots of people doing stupid things these days. I just can't stand it anymore.

[Jose Garcia]

53. Not the same, as his not wearing a helmet didn't endanger others,

only himself.

[liberal_mama]

57. That's true. Not wearing a mask or taking precautions endangers others

But I meant that it's really hard to feel any sympathy for someone like him, as I don't feel much sympathy when my cousin calls me up and says, "I'm so sick with Covid again! Why do I keep getting Covid?" She's literally had Covid 5x (we live in New York State so there is always lots of Covid spreading around) and never wears a mask.

My beloved Dad died of Covid 2 weeks ago. He had all his vaccines, was in his early 70s and healthy. He always took Covid precautions. He hurt his back and had to go to the hospital and caught it there. It was a horrible death. I've never seen anyone suffer like that. I will never be able to unsee the horror of his suffering and dying. I feel like he was murdered by these people who can't be bothered to wear a mask or stay home when they are sick.

[ecstatic]

58. So sorry for your loss. That really sucks. nt

[ecstatic]

59. True, but if a reckless, helmet-free motorcyclist crashed into my car and died,

even if it's not my fault, I would (potentially) carry that emotional burden for the rest of my life. Whereas, if that motorcyclist lived due to wearing a helmet, I assume there would be no emotional damage done.