"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...

Amen. No belts/bags/helmets, no insurance coverage. Your life, your
choice.

Reality check time, Larry. Your buddy, who isn't the sharpest knife in the
drawer, is riding a bike without a helmet and gets in a crash. He's flopping
on the ground with a brain injury. Along comes the ambulance. "Eh, no
helmet," they say. "Let him lie." They get back in the ambulance and drive
home. Your buddy dies.

Or not. They take him to the hospital, as they're now required to by law. He
lives, after $120,000 worth of brain surgery.

Your buddy's assets amount to $623 net. The hospital has to raise its rates
for the rest of us, to cover people like your buddy. According to the State
of Illinois, roughly 85% of motorcycle-accident hospital costs are not
covered by insurance. The state winds up eating about 40% of the cost, with
the other 45% born directly by the hospital. You pay both ways.

Now, you have to change the law in some way to effect what you're proposing.
Either you let the sucker lie on the ground and die, or the hospital pushes
him into the street on a gurney when he's reached his insurance limit.

Questions: Do you handle it all up-front, letting him lie on the ground, and
let the highway cleanup crew remove the carcass after a few days, or do you
just push him out to die when he's run out of money? And, regardless of
which you choose, do you really want to live in a society that would allow
either situation? How about if YOU simply forgot to fasten your seat belt
one day, and got in a crash? When the EMTs saw you weren't wearing a belt
and turned around to walk away, might you change your mind?

Serious questions, they need a serious answer.

--
Ed Huntress