my question is for card carrying donor in Evanston

I am a motorcycle rider and i do not choose to wear a helmet,My Aunt and Uncle were on there honda goldwing and they both had there helmets on with there full gear,a car hit them and killed them right away,but we were told if they didnt have there helments on they would have lived but instead they choose to wear there helments and it cut there heads off, so you see there are alot of pros and cons on helmets,what makes it any different when driving a car,yes you have seatbelts and airbags,but that doesnt always work either, i have seen people get into a motorcycle accident and have had there helmet on and they died because the helmet heald all the injuries in the helmet,and to just let you know i am a organ donor




biker rider in Illinois

Re: DODI HOLLAWAY ----- I agree that every situation is different. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I suspect that laws for motor vehicle (including motorcycles) are based on statistical information that has been gathered. If anyone reading this has more specific information, please let us know. When seat belts first came out, they were optional equipment. Around the time they were becoming required in some states, my cousin was driving a convertible and was in a bad accident. I can't recall all the details all these years later, but he was thrown out of the car since he was not wearing a seat belt and the car flipped over several times. He suffered a broken jaw and concussion. The authorities said that if he'd been wearing a seat belt, he'd have been killed because the car was so badly damaged (rather flattened by their account). From that experience, my mom refused to wear a seat belt until NYS made them mandatory. Yet most people nowadays wouldn't think of not wearing a seat belt because they do save lives in more situations than they cause deaths. I met a young man who had been in a motorcycle accident. He had not been wearing a helmet and as a result he has permanent brain damage. He is unable to work and has unstable moods. Yet this young man used to be smart, vibrant, athletic, and had held a good job. Now he lives in an assisted living group home. I also saw a motorcycle accident in front of my home. The driver ended up being thrown over the handlebars, hit his head and his body skidded for several feet along the road surface. He was able to get up and walk. I doubt that would have happened if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. I don't know what the statistics for injuries with and with helmets are. I don't ride motorcycles; so I've never done the research. Mostly I'm very careful to keep a distance between my car and any motorcycles in front of me and I try to be very aware of any behind me or to my side. They make me more nervous than other vehicles because I've seen motorcycle drivers do things such as drive between lanes of cars and cut in too closely when passing cars. Therefore, I try to be very aware of where they are on the road.

If I had a friend who I knew was stealing, this person would no longer be anyone I would do anything social with. I might pray for him but not want to see him again until he came clean and made restitution. I am not sure what I would do about telling on him. But, I would tell him to his face why I was dropping him. This is a sign of bad character.

I really don't want to hear another word about how evil tobacco advertising is supposed to be, or how certain groups are "targeted" by it. I'm also inclined to wonder what the banning of tobacco ads on radio and TV has proven, except that the industry can save money and still sell their products. Don't get me wrong - I hate smoking. The health effects, the smell, etc. It's a disgusting habit. That having been said, we all have the power to make choices in our lives - to smoke or not to smoke. Likewise, tobacco is a legal product, and until that changes, the companies that grow and sell it have the right to manufacture, advertise, and otherwise market their products. I know it isn't popular to point that out these days, but those are the facts. I'm really bothered by how my home state of California has a public-awareness (if you can call it that) campaign being funded by the California Dept of Health Services. Its TV and print ads depict a large, evil-looking alligator with the words "Big Tobacco" written on it. The caption often is, "Tobacco is legal, profitable, and kills people," with the gator adding, "Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad." This is despicable. It's tantamount to accusing them of murder, by an industry who markets legal products to consenting adults. What's the funniest thing of all? We have this huge anti-tobacco push going on in our society even as there is also a big push to allow people to legally and recreationally smoke cannabis.

Re: DODI HOLLAWAY. First of all, learn proper grammar and sentence structure. Second, the states have imposed helmet laws because the public has been forced to pick up the tab for treating people who sustain head injuries in motorcycle accidents. If the state where you live refused to treat these people at public expense, there would be no need for helmet laws.

Regarding "Concerned Mother" -- IF the father can change his behavior, that'd be great. But his attempts (if any) to change SHOULD NO LONGER be on his family's watch. They need to leave, NOW, and let HIM do whatever changing he needs to do on his OWN time.