How long before the "concerned" demand mandatory ski helmets?

[Lost in CT]

I picture plenty of cable talking heads asking to take away our rights and asking for government to get involved in the next few days.

[babylonsister]

1. I bet Ms. Richardson wished she had been wearing one.

I haven't skied in years, but I don't recall helmets being mandatory. Course, I never was very good at it, so there wasn't much fear of hurting myself.

[Xithras]

105. It probably wouldn't have helped her.

Helmets really only help to dampen sharp impacts. I hit a tree about 10 years ago and a helmet would have REALLY helped ward off that concussion.

The problem with skiing is that there's a second type of brain injury that can occur, and that's caused by repeated rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head as you tumble end over end at higher speed. It's similar to the injuries that occur when babies are shaken, occuring only after multiple rotations of the head, and helmets do almost nothing to stop it (in fact, they can worsen the problem by increasing the mass of the head). We all know what whiplash is...imagine getting whiplash two or three times immediately and from opposite directions. The brain just bounces off the inside of the skull.

From what I've heard of her injuries and how she wiped out, I'd guess that she experienced the second type of injury and not the first. It doesn't sound like she hit anything, she just had a very violent tumble.

[lolamio]

119. oops- wrong reply. my mistake

[tridim]

2. If you don't wear a helmet on the slopes you're an idiot.

There, I said it. Check them out, they're light as hell now.

I've had plenty of falls that would have resulted in concussion had I not been wearing a helmet.

[tangent90]

5. Perhaps but shouldn't we allow people to be idiots?

As DUers are fond of saying "you can't fix stupid"
:shrug:

[tridim]

6. Adults yes. Children no.

I was hit by an out of control skiier when I was a kid and I was very lucky to survive. Nobody wore helmets back then.

[tangent90]

17. Well, I'm glad you weren't badly hurt but I think I'll still leave it up to the parents

whether their kiddos have to wear them. Being hit by another skier must be pretty rare, I've never seen it.

[Tracer]

38. Rare? I was hit by one.

A very large, out-of-control guy came barreling down the slope --- right to where I was stopped at the side of the trail.

Before I could move, he crashed into me, knocked me down and skiied over my leg.

Left a gash right down to the bone that required many stitches. I still have the scar.

At least he didn't ski over my head!

[tangent90]

69. Only once? Well then, it's rare.

;-)

[jobycom]

12. Problem is, you create peer pressure to not wear them.

It's a personal choice, but if it's mandatory, or even if it's only mandatory in beginners classes under certified instructors, then people won't fear being ridiculed for wearing them.

With bike helmets, some places made them mandatory, some places made them mandatory only for kids, and some places made no laws, but the cycling community itself promoted them, with most cycling clubs requiring them. Because of that, it's rare to see a serious cyclist without them, so even kids see helmets as part of the gear. There's less resistance to wearing them. On one of my rides I came across a guy about ten years ago sitting in a ditch with a broken collarbone, a ruined bicylce, and a shattered helmet in pieces along the road. His head was fine. That told me all I needed to know about helmets and heads.

If that climate had been in place in skiing... Maybe it would be just another amusing story to tell her friends.

[cali]

18. I'm an idiot.

but i'm going to reform. I hate helmets. I've been skiing for over 40 years. I'm a damned good, controlled skiier, and I only ski at times when the slopes are sparsely peopled, but I know I've been lucky. My son's been bugging me about it, and in fact, gave me a helmet for xmas a couple of years ago. I'm gonna start wearing it. blech.

[tridim]

19. I don't know about California, but here in Colorado helmets are the norm

Nobody cares what you have on your head any more. It's all about the sport, not the fashion.

[Parker CA]

21. CA is getting more like that, but the peer pressure, as someone up thread mentioned

is causing many younger skiers and snowboarders not to wear them. I think it's an absolute necessity regardless of talent or years on the slopes. When you're potentially traveling fast on steep slopes with ice or snow beneath you, a helmet is a very smart piece of equipment and can easily save one from serious injury.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

35. Exactly!

And one can get going, very fast, very quickly on skis. At Snowmass, last month, I clocked 50mph on a little gps unit, when I skied with it in my pocket. I've been skiing for 45 years, the last 5, with a helmet. All kids in ski school, must wear a helmet at Aspen/Snowmass now. Everyone should.


On another note, my wife, who works as a nurse at the hospital in Aspen, notes many more injuries when the snow pack is icy/hard. Just last night, she told me they had to fly a patient out (to a big hospital) because of a bad head injury, snowboarding. And the kid is only 17.

[Parker CA]

56. I'm a boarder not a skier, but all the same in regard to keeping ourselves safe. I've had some

calls in years past that have caused me to wear a helmet for the past four or five seasons. Seeing someone getting hauled down the mountain in a rescue sled should be motivation enough to go out and buy a helmet.

[cali]

24. oh, I'm in Vermont, not California

and helmets are the norm here as well. My beef with helmets has nothing to do with fashion- and god knows at the duct tape mountains I usually ski, fashion is, well, non-existent. I don't like the way helmets feel.

[Runcible Spoon]

26. I've been riding horses since, well birth practically.

I ALWAYS helmet up. It's ridiculous not to. I tell people that a sport that is dangerous enough to take down Superman can take you down, too.

Helmets used to be fairly clunky and heavy but they're superlight now.

No excuses: HELMET UP! Even if you don't care about yourself, there is probably someone else out there who would be devastated if you were injured or worse.

[leftyclimber]

29. Like you, I've decided to renounce my idiot status. :)

I started skiing way before people wore helmets, just never felt comfortable with one on. I'd feel a lot less comfortable with a freak head injury, though.

What's even stupider in my case is that I climb both rocks and ice and wouldn't even *consider* roping up without a helmet, even on easy stuff. Which makes my resistance to a helmet when I ski even more nonsensical.

Off to buy another helmet...

[Lost in CT]

50. It didn't even occur to me to wear a helmet skiing until a few years ago.

I still haven't budged... I don't wear one on a pedal bike either but I do wear one on a motorcyle... (I dress like a medieval knight on a motorcycle)

[av8rdave]

62. I've skied for over 30...never worn a helmet, but

I think it's a good idea, and think I will start.

After all, I never throw a leg over my motorcycle without one.

[Matariki]

91. There's a big difference between falling in snow and falling on asphalt.

I've skiied for over 40 years. A helmet? That just seems weird to me. I also ride a motorcycle and I would NEVER ride without one.

[av8rdave]

107. It has occurred to me though,

That you could sustain a pretty good blow to the head skiing, considering the speeds reached. I've taken some really hard falls a few times, and remember thinking I was glad it wasn't my head that hit that hard.

[Lost in CT]

120. I'm an older fart as well and have never embraced the helmet culture

(except motorcycles and of all things skydiving)

Skiing hasn't changed that much in twenty years... and honestly I think for some people safty gear makes them more careless and more prone to get injured or even killed.

[Parker CA]

22. +1. Just not worth the potential injury. Never know when someone might take you out from behind

being out of control on a green-square slope. It can happen anywhere. Plus, they keep your head warm. ;)

[Matariki]

89. Oh god. You are a wimp. There, I said it.

Maybe you should ALWAYS wear a helmet. You never know when you might slip in the shower - or hail the size of a baseball might hit you on the head.

[tridim]

113. And there's my proof.

:)

[jobycom]

3. self-delete

Made a snarky comment before I realized the severity of the accident.

[tridim]

8. But it does kill innocent people occasionally.

All it takes is an out of control skiier running into an innocent bystander. It happens all the time.

Wear a freaking helmet! They're even in style now.

[jobycom]

15. You're right. I deleted my own comment because

I had not heard the full story. When I first read it, there was no mention of the severity of the accident. The comment was just a cynical sarcastic remark meant to ridicule people who don't wear helmets, more than to claim they shouldn't, but given what's happened--and I'm still hoping the reports are exagerated--the snarkiness was in poor taste. Sorry.

[Taverner]

4. They shouldn't be mandatory. Having said that, I always wear one

Its suicide not to - especially with how crowded the slopes are these days

[wtmusic]

11. I had no idea skiiers wore helmets now

Do they have to conform to any of the other standards in the helmet industry (ANSI/Snell)?

[Taverner]

13. I'm not sure - but they definitely aren't bike helmets

Much more like those used in auto racing

[aquart]

7. A beginner's lesson at age 45?

The instructor should have insisted.

[havocmom]

9. Since the accident happened in Canada...

Perhaps we will be required to wear helmet when traveling north?

[Dogmudgeon]

10. ... and the scolding "Consequences" posts

--d!

[Laelth]

14. Insurance companies will demand the laws to lower their exposure.

First, of course, they'll offer "lower" rates to ski resorts that require them. Then they'll pressure various legislatures to pass laws requiring them. Insurance companies are afraid of large judgments against them. They push for many of the laws, like the one discussed here, that seriously limit our freedoms.

For better or for worse.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Goblinmonger]

16. My kids have to wear one.

Especially since they snowboard. How about the money I have taken away because idiots don't wear them and insurance has to cover them?

[PVnRT]

20. If I'm running a slope, you're damn right I'll start requiring it

Or I will require anyone using my slope to sign a waiver saying they can't sue me.

[ogneopasno]

23. Why the scare quotes around "concerned"?

[LanternWaste]

25. I imagine it will take about the same amount of time...

"How long before the "concerned" demand mandatory ski helmets?"

I imagine it will take about the same amount of time that it would for someone to sing their laments and voice their "concerns" for an overly-dramatic, yet ficticious nanny-state...

[Lost in CT]

30. I like America I don't really want it to turn into North Korea or England...

Freedom to be a dumbass is just as important as any other freedom (such as the freedom to be poor that many communities are attacking)

[tangent90]

32. Nobody (almost) will SAY they want a cradle-to-grave nanny state, but

quite a few actually do. Bah.

[LanternWaste]

88. If I'm ever given an absolute and definitive definition

If I'm ever given an absolute and definitive definition of what "nanny-state" really is, without qualifiers or post-hoc conditions, I may be inclined to agree.

However, as many people use the term as nothing more than a pejorative without any real meaning, at a loss when actually asked to objectively define it as described above, I'm compelled to perceive the term as collectively used as nothing more that "those laws I don't like or understand..."

Humbug.

[LanternWaste]

39. Six people call it...

Six people call it nanny-state legislation, while six others call it common sense legislation.




I'm the first to admit that I'm not clever enough to know who's right and who's wrong-- I simply watch other people pretend that they're clever enough, which tends to save me quite a bit of time in the long run.

[Lost in CT]

46. My rule is if it effects only you (drug use, helmet laws) it should be left alone.

If it effects other people (fire safety and building codes as examples ) it is the business of government.

The problem is when people try to stretch the first ones (We all pay for theses medical costs, what about the children...) as no longer individual choice we go down a dangerous path where every personal decision is up to the will of the mob.

BTW I feel people should marry who they want (as long as they can give consent and are not close relatives) and eat what they want and live as they wish in their own home...

It's a live and let live kind of attitude.

[LanternWaste]

65. And I have little doubt...

And I have little doubt you yourself think your rule to be intelligent, effective and efficient within the context of our society and our cultural mores.



Again, six people may call it common sense legislation, six others call it may call it nanny state legislation.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other...

[PVnRT]

55. Yes, first it's ski helmets, tomorrow they're executing gays

Give me a fucking break.

[Lost in CT]

57. No first it's ski helmets next they're closing bathhouses...oh sorry they already did that. nt

[tangent90]

31. Shouldn't "overly dramatic" be before ""concerns""?

:shrug:

[LanternWaste]

42. Hence the placement

'overly-dramatic' describing the ficticious nanny state rather than the concern. Hence the placement...

Although the concerns may very well be overly-dramatic too, I don't like repeating key words or phrases more than once per paragraph unless necessary.

[SIMPLYB1980]

27. People should be required to wear ski helmets on a ski slope.

Especially kids. Of coarse most ski slopes make you sign a waver so they aren't held liable if you don't, so if you want to smear your brain all over the ski slope go ahead and ski without a helmet.

[tangent90]

33. Let's just cut through all the minutia and make accidents illegal.

Then we won't have to piddle with every little human risk.

[Lost in CT]

34. We should have a class action suit against gravity,. nt

[tangent90]

67. Well, I dunno...it's only a theory...

:silly:

[Lex]

43. Safe-guarding for foreseeable accidents is just good sense.

And yes, some accidents are foreseeable, given the risk involved.

[SIMPLYB1980]

68. I take risks like everyone else, but instead of being dumb about it

I always wear the proper gear. Not just for my safety but also for the safety of others. Like I said above if you don't want to follow common sense when it comes to sports and safety then by all means go out and win yourself a Darwin Award. I just hope you don't hurt someone else in the process.

http://www.darwinawards.com/

[Lost in CT]

73. I hear this argument all the time... wearing safety gear doesn't make other people safer...

IF anything you can hit someone harder while wearing safety gear (Or so I recall from football)

[SIMPLYB1980]

86. Yes you can hit someone harder with safety gear on in football, but

that is also negated by the strength of the pads so injuries are less common. On the ski slope their are many ways that you can get hurt if you are not wearing a helmet. I've seen people have their scalps almost removed after falling down in front of someone else and getting sliced by skis. I've seen people out of control run over people causing sever injuries that could have been avoided if only they had wore a helmet. Hell I wear a motor cross chest guard under my ski bib because I like to do jumps and when I was younger and dumber I landed on a tree and broke 2 ribs. Anyone that thinks safety gear doesn't make you, and others safer are equivalent to people that don't think seat belts make you safer while driving a car.

[Lost in CT]

87. I agree it makes you safer I just don't think your safty gear helps others. nt

[SIMPLYB1980]

94. For one thing my saftey gear makes it less likely that I will get hurt.

Making it less likely that anyone else will get hurt trying to help me, or that I will lose control in the first place and take other people down with me. I can think of many other sports where safety gear can help. I like to take rafting trips, I always take a first aid kit with me which has always come in handy. But I guess that bit of safety equipment is not really needed in the middle of nowhere so maybe next time I'll leave it at home.

[tangent90]

77. I wear my seat belts because I don't want to smash my face into the dashboard.

That doesn't protect anybody else, they can wear them or not...I couldn't give a rat's ass less. And it's not what *I* want to do anyway, I just don't want the government telling me in far too many ways how I have to protect my own butt. I hope that explains my position.

[Matariki]

93. Yep, falling in snow usually results in 'brain smeared across the slopes'

man oh man.

[SIMPLYB1980]

96. Ever see someone take a big jump and land on their head on ice?

Ski slopes around here don't get much powder. Though I will admit I've never seen anyone actually crack their scull wide open.

[Matariki]

102. No. I've never seen that.

I've seen a few people break an arm or leg. It's a sport with a certain amount of risk.

[endarkenment]

28. One hard bounce was enough for me. Helmets are way cool now.

Like bike helmets and hockey helmets - my concern extends only to an urgent suggestion to take care of your noggin.

[handmade34]

36. My son teaches kids to ski in Stowe, VT

and they must wear one. He paints funny pictures on helmets and makes it fun. I was in a motorcycle accident years ago and am so thankful I was wearing a helmet. I am for choice but....
I am so sorry for Natasha Richardson.

[Incitatus]

37. There are too many laws that protect people from themselves.

We should just let natural selection run its course.

[Lex]

45. Except who pays for life-long care of a paraplegic person w/no insurance

who elects not to take simple precautions?

[Incitatus]

61. I didn't know it was that much of a problem. Bicyclists don't have to wear hemlets.

Why single out skiers? Surely, people on bikes without helmets cost far more than skiers.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

72. Here in NY, bicycle helmets have been required for years for children and

there are a few counties and municipalities that require everyone to wear them.

[tridim]

48. Is it "natural selection" when an innocent bystander gets killed..

by an out of control skier?

This isn't just about helmet-less idiots running into trees.

[Incitatus]

54. How does someone not wearing a helmet kill someone else?

If this has ever happened, I would be interested in seeing a source.

[Lost in CT]

58. Shhh he's on a roll.... nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

Taken a physics class?

Take a refresher....

And if the crashee is wearing one it may save his bacon, same goes to the crasher.

I know science, as in really basic science, is not the strong point of most people

Neither is history

That said, having that helmet, may not do much if the force is strong enough... read on coup-countercoup

But that is another matter

[Incitatus]

66. like I said

How does not wearing a helmet kill someone else? Obviously, it increases the risk to the person not wearing one. That is their choice.

[nadinbrzezinski]

74. Same argument used with seat belts

same argument made with bike helmets and motorcycle helmets

Exactly same choice

Given PUBLIC health numbers on reduction of things such as life changing injuries, that cost us as a society, due to those things implemented, it is also my choice..

Hard at times for people to understand that a person going through the windshield affects more than just him, and direct family

Chew on that....

After all, we are in a SOCIETY and as such... we have costs that affect all of us

[tridim]

60. I'm talking about the innocent bystander.

Maybe an 8 year old with parents who don't make him wear a helmet, hit by a 300 pound idiot barrelling down the slope out of control at 40mph.

Is his death what you would consider natural selection?

As I mentioned above, that happened to me when I was a kid. I was extremely lucky that all I got was a three day headache.

[Incitatus]

64. I have no problem with requiring kids to wear helmets.

Adults should be able to go without if they choose. Kids around here have to wear helmets on bicycles, but adults do not.

[Lost in CT]

70. But if the 300 pound idiot is wearing a helmet wouldn't he be even more careless?

One problem with helmets is they tend to make allow people to take more risks.

[tangent90]

78. Oh shit, now you've stepped in it...you wrote "300 pound idiot"

:rofl:

[Matariki]

100. An 'out of control' skiier in a helmet is still an 'out of control' skiier

I've been skiing for 40 years - I guess I didn't get the memo on what a deadly sport it is.


This tactic of cloaking 'concern' that somehow people taking risks to their own person might somehow hurt others is just dishonest.

Jeez, welcome to the world, I got news for you, you're going to die. No law you might try and pass is going to prevent that.

[tridim]

117. Have you ever ridden an icy terrain park on a snow board?

It's extremely easy to catch an edge on a board and fall forward or backward onto your head. Have you ever ridden the trees aggressively?

My helmet has saved my brain several times in the past 10 years. It's so worth it.

I'm not saying you or any adult HAS to wear a helmet, it's not my gray matter at risk. I would certainly suggest it though.

[pampango]

40. When I start paying for your medical care. As long as you're paying for it,

"it's a free country" where, or don't wear, what you want.

[Lost in CT]

108. So your saying with universal health care we give up some of our rights????

I don't think so... Thats sounds like a backdoor conservative argument against universal healthcare... Guess what you have no right not to pay for my medical costs no matter how stupid I am... we are a society of free men and woman and many of us are adult enough to conduct our own affairs.

[emilyg]

41. Would save lives.

[Critters2]

44. Flatlander here, so I need some help. What's a ski helmet,

and why will the "concerned" demand them? :shrug:

[Lex]

47. Kind of like a bike helmet, but for skiing.

Just a guess.

[Critters2]

49. Okay. That makes sense. nt

[uppityperson]

81. Think hockey helmet.

[WillyT]

98. Looks Like This...

:evilgrin:

[AngryAmish]

51. I just don't like skiing

Actually I really just don't like skiiers. What a collection of jerks.

And, by the way, why is everyone on DU right now? Shouldn't your be in a bar?

[handmade34]

53. hey, my kids are all skiiers and they are awesome!

I should be in a bar drinking green beer, but I am stuck in Portland OR doing paperwork

[defendandprotect]

52. I think at least kids already have to wear them . . . don't they?

[WI_DEM]

59. It's probably a good idea. But let fools be fools if they want.

[ceile]

63. I work for a brain injury non-profit

March is "Brain Injury Awareness Month", so if anyone has any "concerns" about whether or not helmets should be mandatory, please feel free to look at the stats regarding brain injury.
http://www.biausa.org/aboutbi.htm
My thoughts go out to Ms. Richardson and her family.

[uppityperson]

71. Interesting. Having had a tbi, and what with military injuries, hoping there will be more research

into treatments as well as prevention. I got 2 in short order, 1 from ramming my head into the side of the sliding door opening of a van, second from a fall at work.

I can see helmets being mandatory for liability insurance, and for kids, but think adults should be free to hurt themselves. Having taken care of people with neuro issues (nurse), and been there myself, TBIs suck.

[nadinbrzezinski]

76. They suck major time

and from a public health perspective I'd make them mandatory... due to the reduction in these injuries we've seen form cars, motorcycle and bikes

I also got tired of picking the idiots up from the streets, neck brace and backboard, and Oxygen, and asking them the popular game of twenty questions...

Can't get out of my head the kids who died in ICU a day or two later from massive head trauma and thinking... could they be here if?

I also know I would not be here if I wasn't religious about wearing my helmet while on the job...

There were a couple times where I could have either died, or ended up seriously hurt

[flvegan]

75. I haven't been on my snowboard in a few years, but

if I were to head out again in the near future, I'd probably wear a helmet. I wear one when I mountainbike, and tbh, I'm a better mountainbiker. Only makes sense. I don't think it will be mandatory any time in the near future.

[Blackhatjack]

79. The same arguments were raised against seatbelts in cars when first introduced...

.... and today the statistics are unassailable that seatbelts have saved tens of thousands of lives.

It is usually some 'free spirit protector' who makes the argument that they ought to be free to kill themselves if they want by not wearing a seatbelt.

However, meet a family who lost a loved one because they wanted the 'freedom' of not wearing a seatbelt, and you might change your mind.

Lives are precious, and sometimes society has to protect people from themselves ....

[tangent90]

80. Thanks but no thanks...I have ZERO interest in living in a "society" that thinks

I need protection from myself. I can't even believe a person with a functioning brain would imagine that'd be a good thing.
jeezuschrist
:eyes:

[uppityperson]

82. Growing up in those days, we started using them after an accident.

only 1 of us got hurt, but my parents had something done to the car so it wouldn't move until all the seatbelts were hooked. My dad would rev up the engine but the car wouldn't move. Had us confused for a while.

[Incitatus]

83. I'm sure that's what our founding fathers had in mind.

A government that protects people from themselves and that takes personal liberties too seriously.

[Blackhatjack]

90. Come back and tell us all how you feel after one of your family members dies not wearing a seatbelt

The idea of being 'free to kill yourself' does not 'free' others who have to live with your stupid decision. Your surviving family members, those who have to pick you up at the accident site and provide you medical care to try and save your life, not to mention often months of physical therapy if you do survive.

I guess you feel the same way about safety guards on power saws? I am sure that the 'founding fathers' had no idea that safety guards on power saws would be a good idea --so to follow your logic, we shouldn't have them today right?

[Incitatus]

92. They all wear seatbelts, and so do I.

Safety guards should be on power saws just like seat belts should be in cars, but if some idiot wants to take the safety guard off his saw, whatever.

[Blackhatjack]

99. That is the point ...The law protects children and fools....

... because they cannot make informed rational decisions.

[Lost in CT]

101. We should stop protecting fools... nt

[Blackhatjack]

104. So when they turn 18 it should be OK to drive without seatbelts, boat without life preservers,

...use powersaws without safety guards, etc. BECAUSE THEY ARE FOOLS?

I don't think so.

[Lost in CT]

106. I'm no libertarian but I believe yes and they should be able to have sex and smoke pot... and

all the other things that government tries to regulate adults with.

[ColbertWatcher]

84. Have we suddenly become Libertarian Underground?

I understand the whole idea of ridiculing people who do stupid things, but when a proposed change in the law is backed up by statistics ... I don't know if the ridicule is warranted.

As far as what I expect to see/hear from the GOP-controlled media: I expect they will promote ridiculing safety precautions because it's more government oversight, regulation, etc. Which I expect will touch on the topic of gun control, but avoid the issue of who can get married.

[Matariki]

95. Well the statistics of falling while skiing to severe head injury isn' t on the side of helmets

people fall all the time while skiing. taking risks in sport should be up to the individual. you want to wear a helmet, fine. Don't fucking insist that I have to wear one, or worse try and pass a law.

[ColbertWatcher]

103. Does that stat cover head injuries for beginners?

For what it's worth: I ride a motorcycle and I wear a helmet.

[Lost in CT]

Matariki is right... the stats are not as helmet friendly as say Motorcycles.

I was just as much complaining about the media... you know the reporting of the danger of rollercosters every summer cause some idiot stands up.

[Lost in CT]

110. A Dupe a deer a female deer.. a ray a baseball team that won..

[La Lioness Priyanka]

85. is it your right to drive without a seatbelt too?

[gratuitous]

97. What right would be taken away?

I checked the Constitution, and the right to a debilitating brain injury doesn't appear to be enumerated there.

I mean, if no one's going to mourn a person getting gorked, I suppose that's all right. And if the person is independently wealthy and can pay out of his or her own pocket for decades of around-the-clock nursing, feeding, turning, and other care, then all to the good. Employ some caretakers, buy some medical equipment, pour some of that money back into the economy.

But if I'm expected to be on the financial hook for someone else's care and feeding because they wanted the "freedom" of engaging in a dangerous activity without taking reasonable, inexpensive precautions, then yeah, as part of We the People and a part-owner of my representative government, I'm going to endorse the concept of safety mandates. And I decline to hear the whining of the irresponsible.

[Lost in CT]

109. So poor people have less freedom than rich people...they shouldn't ski at all?

Look the reason many skiers don't wear helmets is because very few injuries would be prevented by them... in fact the head injury that prompted the OP would not have been helped by a helmet. (apparently its a shaken baby style injury not a impact injury)

Most ski injuries are of the broken neck, broken back and broken leg variaty... By you reasoning poor people shouldn't ski at all because society should not have to pay if they get hurt.

[gratuitous]

114. A suitable helmet costs $25 or so

Don't be ridiculous if you can help it. I don't know why a $25 one-time cost would be prohibitive for anyone from going skiing who can afford a $100 day pass for the ski lift, plus $500 for skis, $150 for bindings, $400 for boots, and $50 for poles. If wearing a helmet prevents a million dollar injury, it seems a cost-efficient and prudent precaution. A broken leg is probably not going to be a lifelong debilitating injury like a traumatic brain injury, and will almost certainly not be in the cost range.

But again, what "right" is being taken away by having folks wear a helmet? I'm missing your "reasoning" entirely.

[Lost in CT]

116. it isn't the cost of the helmet it is the cost of the medical care...

I think that the taxpayer should pick up the full medical coverage and rehab from any ski related accident. (or anything else for that matter)

Wearing a helmet doesn't prevent that many injuries in some cases I am sure it helps however.

I simply feel it should be a choice no matter what kind of medical insurance someone has.

[gratuitous]

118. But until that glorious day . . .

Who's going to pick up the tab for someone else's foolishness? And, is it unreasonable to assume that the people picking up that tab might not require reasonable precautions? You're kind of all over the place, and your argument is not very cogent, to say the least.

And, for the third time, what "right" is being taken away from a person by requiring them to wear a ski helmet? Or can't you support your own assertions?

[Mrs. Overall]

111. I'm all for helmets. My teen daughter's life was saved this summer in a horseback riding accident

because she wore a helmet.

Definitely, helmets should be mandatory for children in certain sports. I'm not so sure about legislation for adults--I see the pros and the cons to legislating self-safety for adults.

[DesertRat]

112. I don't think it will happen, but helmets should be encouraged

People who don't wear helmets on the slopes are fools. Everyone in my family who skis/snowboards wears a helmet.

[SurfingScientist]

115. I'd make them mandatory for kids only ...

... just because they cannot responsibly estimate the risk they take and are far more fragile/vulnerable to adult skiers' sharp steel edges, poles, lardasses etc.

For adults, on the other hand, I definitely do not want yet another law made by overzealous paranoid soccer moms and enforced by out-of-control rambo cops:
I don't like to be told what to do and not to do when having fun. Enforcing helmets would require slope cops (!) - these already exist - I read that at some resorts, they already have speed cops to revoke your season pass if you go to fast.

That being said, I do wear a helmet *voluntarily* - just bought a new one. Learned to ski as a kid and the helmet kept me out of trouble more than once. Crashed my bicycle into a car in 2001, totaling the car with the back of my head and, 27 stitches wiser, have been wearing a bike helmet ever since that saved my skull in another encounter with the forest ground.

I do more than once kind of fun stuff (surfing, martial arts, cycling, expert-level skiing), tend to get carried away by speed rushes a bit too easily and have decided to trust things that have saved my butt in the past. Love life and want to enjoy more years of adrenalin rushes in the great outdoors.

Interestingly, I find that wearing the lid can actually seduce you to do crazy shit you would otherwise not attempt. Got that confirmed from some buddies.