[fabsroman]

Petey,

There is a huge difference between when we were kids and today, both in product safety and traffic. You probably don't see the traffic difference where you live, but you got a glimpse of it while you lived down here.

20 years ago, bicycle helmets consisted of a couple of strips of leather over ones head. Nowadays, they have plastic and styrofoam helmets that are much better. The technology is available to save lives, so it should be used. Same goes for motorcycle helmets, crumple zones in cars, seat belts, air bags, etc. This stuff just wasn't available back when we were kids, with the exception of seat belts. If I had a choice of wearing a seatbelt, having my air bags go off, and having my car totalled in a crash, yet walking away from it without any problems, versus having a tank that barely gets scratched in an accident but having my vertebrae relocated, I think I will pick the former over the latter, and I am sure you would too.

The streets I used to ride my bike on 20 years ago are so crowded with traffic that I try to avoid them as much as possible. One road that you are familiar with, route 97 a/k/a Georgia Avenue, I used to ride all the way up to I-97 right after school and into rush hour. That would be sure death today. I find that the best times to ride are between 10:00 and 3:00. After that, my life is in serious jeapordy.

Same issue with car seats, motorcycle helmets, etc. There are just way too many cars on the road and people are driving much more than they used to. It is now normal for people to commute over an hour each way to work. That leads to more auto accidents. With more auto accidents, you have a greater possibility of more deaths.

At the end of the day, laws are in place to keep the idiots in line. I am sure that responsible parents will make their kids wear helmets because they understand that a human head dropped from the height it would be located on a bicycle, would split open like a watermelon upon impact with concrete or asphalt. Likewise, I am sure you will have your kids wearing seatbelts in the car because of the flying threw the windshield factor during an accident. The laws are for the people that don't do this.

One woman was arrested here in Frederick County for having her kids locked in the trunk of her car. An officer saw her let them out at a gas station while she was getting gas, and then watched her put them back in when she was ready to leave. Her reason for doing this is because these kids wanted to ride in the trunk. Come on now.