Bikers and helmets
One of the less wise things Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania did was sign a bill in 2003 allowing motorcycle riders in the state who are older than 21 to shed their helmets. The helmet law repeal bill was widely opposed by doctors and the rehab community, who have to treat the head injury carnage that occurs when a cranium hits the highway, assuming the biker survives. But the legislature and Rendell gave in to persistent lobbying by a biker rights group called A.B.A.T.E., and so picked up a few hundred votes in exchange for potentially millions of dollars in extra medical costs for society. I'm writing this now because the group rallied at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., yesterday to thump the tub about their great victory three years ago.
A.B.A.T.E. says its initials stand for Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education, a warm and fuzzy name guaranteed to offend no one. If you poke around, though, you'll discover that in the past those initials stood for Alliance of Bikers Against Totalitarian Enactments. I've also seen "Excess" in place of "Enactments" on various websites. Either name is much more in keeping with the, "It's my life, go to hell if you don't like it," spirit of Easy Rider libertarianism that pervades the group.
Trouble is, society as a whole ends up bearing the cost of the wind whistling through their hair on the open road. Head injuries cost a fortune to treat. Whether or not a biker has insurance, the costs of treating his or her head injury eventually come back on everyone through higher health insurance premiums. Helmets are like seatbelts. They just make sense. Would you want your son or daughter riding on a motorcycle without one?
Perhaps a better name for the group--one that would allow it to keep its A.B.A.T.E. initials--would be Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Extinction. Get your motors running!