Freedom riders.Jacob Sullum's story of motorcyclists successfully fighting helmet laws ("Freedom Riders freedom rider n. One of an interracial group of civil rights activists in the early 1960s who rode buses through parts of the southern United States for the purpose of challenging racial segregation. ," November) brought a smile to my face. Arizona had a helmet law. The motorcyclists gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot, and it was repealed. In a subsequent unrelated matter, the legislature, infuriated in·fu·ri·ate tr.v. in·fu·ri·at·ed, in·fu·ri·at·ing, in·fu·ri·ates To make furious; enrage. adj. Archaic Furious. at voters for passing a medical marijuana exemption, passed laws overturning the will of the voters. Voters responded by passing an initiative that took away the legislature's power to override voter-passed initiatives. So now when the Insurance Institute comes bribing them to pass a helmet law, legislators can only shrug. Finally, the state Capitol where the legislature meets lies in a traffic circle. Whenever the local motorcycle clubs This is a list of articles of motorcycle-related clubs.
As an activist said, "If you aren't having fun, you are doing something wrong." Powell Gammill Phoenix, AZ I am all in favor of people making their own mistakes when only they suffer the consequences. But when I pay for those mistakes, it becomes my business too. When people are injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. in accidents, not only law enforcement but medical services spring into action, paid for by taxes and insurance. There is plenty of good evidence that helmets and seat belts greatly reduce these costs. When I lived in Kenya in the early 1970s, I met a young Kenyan doctor, working in a state-run hospital, who lamented la·ment·ed adj. Mourned for: our late lamented president. la·ment  ed·ly adv. that he spent all
his time patching up victims of road accidents instead of preventing or
curing other ailments. Every person who does not wear a seat belt is
imposing a cost on others: the part of the expected extra cost of
accidents that is covered by public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. or private insurance.
When I see motorcyclists lying at the roadside like deer, raccoons, and other road kill, I may decide that they made their own bad choices and that it is none of my business. Then again, I may decide that I would rather live in a more humane country, one which provides some public services and then imposes reasonable regulations to minimize their cost. Bernard Wasow Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation Washington, D.C. Because of a congenital congenital /con·gen·i·tal/ (kon-jen´i-t'l) existing at, and usually before, birth; referring to conditions that are present at birth, regardless of their causation. con·gen·i·tal adj. 1. birth defect birth defect Genetic or trauma-induced abnormality present at birth. A more restrictive term than congenital disorder, it covers abnormalities that arise during the formation of an embryo's organs and tissues and does not include those caused by diseases (e.g. and the limits of transplantation, I have been blessed with the need for not one, not two, but now three kidneys via transplant. Thrill-seeking motorcyclists provide a continuing source of organs for folks like me. I live in Michigan, which has about a four-year average wait for a transplant. Ohio, without a helmet law, has about an 18-month average wait. Live free and die, I say. James W. Govert Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, city (1990 pop. 109,592), seat of Washtenaw co., S Mich., on the Huron River; inc. 1851. It is a research and educational center, with a large number of government and industrial research and development firms, many in high-technology fields such as , MI |
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