A shot at motorcyclists ...

[rboe]

It would be a good thing if they made motorcyclists (and car drivers if they don't make auto drivers mandatory) take a lot more training. I see too many examples trying way too hard to reduce the gene pool. sigh.

[Henrik_imp]

This caught my attention in the op-ed:
Quote:The country’s largest trauma centre (at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre) found that motorcycle crashes cost the Ontario health care system six times more than car crashes do
I've always thought that's one of the primary dangers of publicly-funded medicine. Once the government is in control of health care expenditures, they can write rules and regulations that the recipients must abide by. It's only a matter of time until motorcycles are deemed a public health hazard like smoking or alcoholism.

Meh. Already got the talk, not from my mom, but from my mother in law. A shut-in who also is upset when I climb a ladder to fix her roof, get under their car to fix it, or get on an airplane to do my job. Because to her, as it is with some people, everything is a threat.

And to her old country way of thinking, the man is the provider in the family and if something bad happened to me, my wife would be penniless. My wife is a doctor, I am a glorified roady and warehouseman.

Basically I don’t ride to her house, and we don’t talk about motorcycles.

My mom? I showed her a picture of my CB when I bought it and she said it looked very neat and pretty. Recently, I took her to lunch, and on the way, I asked if she would mind if I stopped at a motorcycle shop to pick up a part that I had ordered. She wanted to come in with me to browse. She picked up a jacket and felt the armor, and looked at all of the helmets. “You wear all of this safety stuff, right?”

Yes, Mom.

Ok then.

Wow, that's an arresting insight regarding human nature. Some people are risk-averse to the point that it interferes with the enjoyment of all that life has to offer.

I've always thought that's one of the primary dangers of publicly-funded medicine. Once the government is in control of health care expenditures, they can write rules and regulations that the recipients must abide by. It's only a matter of time until motorcycles are deemed a public health hazard like smoking or alcoholism.

Meh. Already got the talk, not from my mom, but from my mother in law. A shut-in who also is upset when I climb a ladder to fix her roof, get under their car to fix it, or get on an airplane to do my job. Because to her, as it is with some people, everything is a threat.

And to her old country way of thinking, the man is the provider in the family and if something bad happened to me, my wife would be penniless. My wife is a doctor, I am a glorified roady and warehouseman.

Basically I don’t ride to her house, and we don’t talk about motorcycles.

My mom? I showed her a picture of my CB when I bought it and she said it looked very neat and pretty. Recently, I took her to lunch, and on the way, I asked if she would mind if I stopped at a motorcycle shop to pick up a part that I had ordered. She wanted to come in with me to browse. She picked up a jacket and felt the armor, and looked at all of the helmets. “You wear all of this safety stuff, right?”

Yes, Mom.

Ok then.

This seems to be a general fear in the US, and perhaps it would come true there should you move to a social healthcare system. Nevertheless, you will find that in Europe where social healthcare is the standard nothing of the sort has ever happened. We can look at Spain as a perfect example where motorcycles are extremely popular as a means of transport. For most of Europe, scooters and motorcycles are far more common as a means of transportation than what it has ever been in the US, in spite of social healthcare.

So, if looking at how things work out elsewhere, it does not seem as if this fear is actually realistic.

Wow, that's an arresting insight regarding human nature. Some people are risk-averse to the point that it interferes with the enjoyment of all that life has to offer.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but you also have helmet laws with much higher standards than ours, much more detailed and extensive mandatory motorcycle operation training, trial periods, tiered licenses, and all that jazz, right?

that's likely why the social healthcare does not interfere with motorcycling, because when you actually operate a motorcycle correctly with the proper training, it isn't nearly as dangerous as it is here in the US.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but you also have helmet laws with much higher standards than ours, much more detailed and extensive mandatory motorcycle operation training, trial periods, tiered licenses, and all that jazz, right?

that's likely why the social healthcare does not interfere with motorcycling, because when you actually operate a motorcycle correctly with the proper training, it isn't nearly as dangerous as it is here in the US.
It is true that we do have helmet laws, and generally require proper training in order to ride a motorcycle. That said, I'm not sure that is what makes the difference. We have similar statistics here as in the US with motorcycle riders being far more prone to serious injuries than car drivers. AT the end of the day, even with a helmet and full protective gear, we are still much more exposed than with a car around us. Also, although they do have helmet laws in Spain, with the climate they have you do not see many people in the cities riding smaller bikes and scooters wearing protective gear.

There have been some strange attempts done over the years to try and reduce the danger. France had a law for the longest time limiting the maximum power on motorcycles to 100hp for example. So you would buy say a Hayabusa and it would be limited to 100hp...

[Cormanus]

The same is true of Australia where we have a national health scheme. There has not yet been an attempt to ban motorcycles. There are never-ending attempts to make getting a motorcycle license more difficult, but they are driven by the road safety folks rather than the public health lobby.

In reality, although the cost of motorcycle accidents can be significant, the aggregate cost is not great when compared to the total cost of motor car accidents.

Rboe, I’ve thought for some time that it’s a great pity the modern world has become so fixated on trying to prevent idiots from improving the quality of the gene pool.

[the Ferret]

The same is true of Australia where we have a national health scheme. There has not yet been an attempt to ban motorcycles. There are never-ending attempts to make getting a motorcycle license more difficult, but they are driven by the road safety folks rather than the public health lobby.

In reality, although the cost of motorcycle accidents can be significant, the aggregate cost is not great when compared to the total cost of motor car accidents.

Rboe, I’ve thought for some time that it’s a great pity the modern world has become so fixated on trying to prevent idiots from improving the quality of the gene pool.

[Stichill_imp]

The same is true of Australia where we have a national health scheme. There has not yet been an attempt to ban motorcycles. There are never-ending attempts to make getting a motorcycle license more difficult, but they are driven by the road safety folks rather than the public health lobby.

In reality, although the cost of motorcycle accidents can be significant, the aggregate cost is not great when compared to the total cost of motor car accidents.

Rboe, I’ve thought for some time that it’s a great pity the modern world has become so fixated on trying to prevent idiots from improving the quality of the gene pool.

Politicians want to protect their constituents so they can continue to supply votes. Although in many precincts, even dead idiots still vote!

[Cormanus]

Does that suggest that idiots are in a majority?

[Stichill_imp]

Well, the problem is there are two or more idiot factions in each country, who disagree on which idiots they want to elect to represent their idiotic viewpoints.

[the Ferret]

every 4 or 8 years there are 51% idiots in this country depending on your view point.

[peterbaron]

Same here

[Cormanus]

Thanks all for the help in understanding intercontinental idiocy.