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Comment by jgilias | Hacker News Reader

When I did my bike license the instructor outlined how different the approach to safety is between my EU country and the States. Here a helmet is required to drive. But not glasses. In US glasses are required, but no helmet. Meaning, the US cares about you not endangering other people, but you do you, whereas here they care about you not dying.

From a purely utilitarian perspective, the US approach actually makes more sense. And more donors. Win-win.

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> the US cares about you not endangering other people

Through their rigorous license process to operate road vehicles…yeah right.

The US cares about you not damaging or inconveniencing cars.

Driving is state regulated. Most states require a helmet on a motorcycle.

In general anyone making "in the US" type generalizations about stuff regulated at the state level is either misinformed and blowing smoke up your ass (more common in real life) or lying in order to support a point or agenda (more common on the internet).

I was honestly shocked when I first started seeing people without helmets here in Texas. But, sure enough, if you are over 21 you are entitled to drag your skull and exposed brain across asphalt if you so choose.

Cool, I didn’t know this. It’s hard for outsiders to follow what’s regulated at state level and what’s regulated federally!

EDIT: And maybe then we shouldn’t go around spouting nonsense, but hey, that’s Internet :D

Have you rode without eye protection? Riding without glasses is way more dangerous than no helmet.

Totally, I guess the assumption is that helmets usually have eye protection, which is not necessarily the case. The argument by the instructor was that it’s dumb, and both, a helmet and eye protection should be required in case your helmet doesn’t protect the eyes.

The idea was that in case you ride without a helmet you only endanger yourself, whereas without eye protection you endanger others as well.

And this, makes all the dark humor in this thread even more dark.

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