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From: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu)
Newsgroups: net.cycle,net.politics,net.auto
Subject: Re: Seat belts, Helmets and Freedom of Choice
Message-ID: <113@eneevax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 15-Aug-86 20:26:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: eneevax.113
Posted: Fri Aug 15 20:26:08 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 19-Aug-86 08:06:36 EDT
References: <472@water.UUCP> <148@gouldsd.UUCP> <196@shuksan.UUCP> <87@eneevax.UUCP> <1460@felix.UUCP>
Reply-To: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu)
Organization: Imperial Widget Research Center, Kingdom of Maryland
Lines: 34
Xref: watmath net.cycle:1950 net.politics:18388 net.auto:12301

In article <1460@felix.UUCP> daver@felix.UUCP (Dave Richards) writes:
>In article <87@eneevax.UUCP> hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) writes:
>>
>>[accident clobbers teacher, who eventually recovers]
>>
>>Try to repeat that without a helmet.
>
>I think that I'd rather die than wake up to 10 months of hospital bills.
>This story doesn't seem like a very good one to promote helmet-wearing.
>If the helmet did such a good job, why was he in the hospital for 10 months?
>By chance, were there any neck or collarbone injuries?
>
>Dave

Largely for rehabilitation.  Needless to say, he looked a little like
Frankenstein after the accident, but was able to resume teaching almost
as soon as he returned.  I don't know if he took up bicycle riding
again.  Without a helmet, the chances of returning to a (semi-)normal life are
extremely low.  At 35 mph, it is debatable whether or not you would die
of your injuries; it would depend upon the circumstances.  Odds are good you
would live the rest of your life as a mental and physical vegetable,
and your family would be burdened for life with hospital bills instead.

I don't remember what other injuries he had, other than kidney trauma.

-dave
-- 
David Hsu  (301) 454-1433 || -8798 || -8715	"I know no-thing!" -eneevax
Communications & Signal Processing Laboratory	/ EE Systems Staff
Systems Research Center, Bldg 093		/ Engineering Computer Facility
The University of Maryland   -~-   College Park, MD 20742
ARPA: hsu@eneevax.umd.edu    UUCP: [seismo,allegra,rlgvax]!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu

"Evil...pure and simple!"