HI Dave,

On Fri 2038-Apr-09 09:22, DAVE DRUM (1:261/1381) wrote to RICHARD WEBB:

DD> I was a registered lobbyist in Illinois, working to repeal Illinois'
DD> helmet law back in the 1960s. On the day the legislature was
DD> scheduled to vote to repeal (we had the votes lined up) the Illinois
DD> Supreme Court struck down the legislation ... rendering our efforts
DD> moot. Ever want to cheer and cuss at the same time???
YEp, seen that one .  What part of ILlinois you from
DAve?


 RW>  My dad said it was a sad
 RW> day for the people of IOwa when they repealed it.  My old
 RW> man rode his Harleys and other bikes for years, and never
 RW> mounted one without his skid lid, and I wasn't allowed to
 RW> either back when I was doing a lot of playing off road with
 RW> small motorcycles as a kid.

DD> When you were a kidling your dad had control. Once you reached
DD> adulthood the choice was up to you. When I started riding
DD> motorcycles helmets were mostly painted papier mache' (or similar)
DD> or war surplus (WWII was not long over) tanker's helmets. 
Agreed, but should I find myself an opportunity to do some
motorcycle riding you can bet I"ll put oon a helmet, just
because it's prudent.  NOt because some bureaucrat told me
to.

 RW> AGreed, I've always said that failure to use proper safety
 RW> equipment should also mean that your insurance company
 RW> doesn't pony up.  Better and much more effective than
 RW> legislation imo.  What was that one group in Iowa?  Abate?
 RW> American bikers against tyrnaical excesses or something like that iirc.
 RW>  Bet they were active in the NEbraska thing too.

DD> ABATE = A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education. ABATE is active
DD> nationwide. The president of my motorcycle club (Vintage Iron
DD> Riders) is also a (formerly) retired attorney who has taken on being
DD> the legal representative, legislative liaison and lobbyist for
DD> Illinois ABATE. So far this session, among all the budget crisis and
DD> Rod Goblowabitch residuals helmets laws have been almost hidden.
DD> But, four have been submitted - three have been withdrawn by their
DD> authors thanks to George and ABATE educating the politicos to why
DD> their proposals would make things worse. The fourth is currently
DD> bottled up in committee - where, hopefully, it will die of
DD> starvation or dehydration. I expect a report at our next monthly
DD> meeting. 
I"d forgotten that, but you jogged my memory on what the
acronym means.  Thanks!!!  Been a long time.  I think I did
sound for bands that played a couple of their gatherings
over in eastern Iowa many many years ago.



 RW> INdeed, the way I"ve always thought of it, but my dad was
 RW> far from a libertarian.  Dad is of the belief that sometimes you have
 RW> to protect man from himself, by legislation if
 RW> that's the only way.  I figure that if a man needs regs and
 RW> legislation to protect him from himself, then, maybe he
 RW> needs to be left free running, HE'l take care of the
 RW> problem, hopefully before he
 RW> contributes to the gene pool.

DD> Ah, but here's the deal. You're a realist. And the legislators
DD> listen to the weeping "save us from ourselves" twats who promote
DD> such. And to the loverly $$$ spread around by insurance companies to
DD> promote MANDATORY safety regulations in individual matters of choice
DD> - in order to increase their bottom line (already obscene) profits.
DD> So, we're going to get mandated safety laws aimed at the individual.

Agreed, and the way it always is.  Dad and I have some of
our most vocal disagreements on this point.  Dad's argument
is that you can't expect everyone to be smart enough to know how/when to
protect himself, so at times you've just got to
tell him.  THe other day we were talking about the work
rules my lady and I have promulgated for our business, and
many which have to do with job site safety, i.e. wear the
hard hat when people are working overhead, etc.  HE did the
"see, I told ya" bit.  But, the employee has an option, use
the safety equipment, or look elsewhere for employment.
wHen we managed apartment compelxes for the better part of
five years we were totally injury free, as in nothing that
required more than maybe a band aid from the first aid kit.
wHen I managed commercial kitchen and restaurant facilities
I was proud of an injury free workplace record, and intended to keep that
string unbroken.  THe first lecture a new hire
got from me was on workplace safety.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+