A Moderate Proposal

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When will we stop the madness?
The situation is grave.
Children are dying from head injuries needlessly as the public and policy makers sit on their hands.

Fact is that adults also are dying needlessly from head injuries.

Take the recent case in Wyoming, where a mother and her 8 year old daughter each suffered a horrendous death through the head injuries sustained in a car accident.
The coroners jury considered the gruesome details and offered their recommendations.
First of those was a plea to lawmakers to pass a requirement that all occupants of motor vehicles wear a full helmet and visor. A simple, low cost law that would demonstrably save lives, and forgo pain, and reduce loss.

On that point, the saving of lives and reduction of injuries, the experts were remarkably in full agreement. The pediatric neurosurgeon from John Hopkins had studied the matter rigorously and his conclusions were convincing. A colleague from Berkeley reached a similar conclusion albeit with a different data set. Full helmets with visors simply offered the best bang for the buck from a national policy point of view.

As much as this pitch for sensible regulation is grounded with solid evidence, and resonates with good old common sense, there are the inevitable 'nay sayers'- rhymes with 'deniers'. These folk are not to be troubled by the growing consensus of those who brought science to the table. There is just no convincing some folks.

A small number have complained that such a regulation, to make helmets with visors mandatory,  would impose too big a burden financially on car drivers and passengers. One wonders what price such an advocate would put on the life of an 8 year old girl in reckoning the cost / benefit balance. Superfluously it may be noted that the cost of compliance relative to the cost of simply owning a car these days is trivial.

Then there are the incessantly noisy libertarians. Their sin is to ignore the costs of lost lives, and grievous injuries on the rest of society. A cost that goes far beyond medical bills and lost earnings. These are a decidedly selfish lot that enjoy all the benefits of a modern society but have no truck for making a fair contribution.

Felicitously the nay sayers are a diminishing minority.
Better yet there are signs that the movement for requiring helmets and visors is getting some ground level traction. For a list of national and local organizations that are supporting these initiatives check out the clearinghouse site at yestohelmets.org  .

Everyone may be right to be guarded about meaningful change.
And change for the sake of change is pure misguided.
But one is compelled to acknowledge that we living in changing times, that circumstances change, and that our ability to respond with appropriate technology is continuously improving.
And with the benefit of hindsight, we may have confidence that a changed regulatory environment is the right path for change. It's time for the public and or policy makers to be forthcoming in their support for sensible change to our motor vehicle laws.

Allow me to conclude with a personal observation.
I'm of the view that there is an inevitability to this trend of better protecting those who drive or ride in cars. We used to think that seat belts and airbags were impositions and annoyances.
Now neither merits a second thought.
And of course the proof is in the pudding. Loss of life, serious injuries, and all that follows from them, are way down. And none would dare to deny the connection.

The sad, very sad, counterpoint is that there are still way too many needless auto deaths and injuries.
Yet the counter-counterpoint is that change is in the air. And it is in the form of helmets with visors for everyone getting into a car.
It's coming your way.
Don't be slow to get on the bus.