Yes, we know. All those European countries have lower Covid-19 positivity rates than we do, here in the USA. But guess what? Europeans are the ones who stayed home over the past four centuries. They put up with dictators and monarchies. Our ancestors who emigrated to America in hope of independence and a better life were risk takers, and they still are. Risk taking is in America’s DNA

Consider these facts:

More than 38,000 people die every year in crashes on U.S. roadways. The U.S. traffic fatality rate is 12.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. An additional 4.4 million are injured seriously enough to require medical attention. Does that stop people from driving? Most of us own at least one motor vehicle, and don’t worry when taking trips and running errands in our cars.

57% of all motorcycle fatalities are due to drivers without helmets. — Risk Taking is in America’s DNA. 57% of motorcycle fatalities are because the driver didn’t wear a helmet.

Because motorcycles lack the protection of cars, accidents tend to be more severe for motorcyclists when a collision does occur. In fact, bikers are 27 times more likely to experience a fatal accident than car drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Some states require motorcyclists wear helmets. But many don’t. And yet, 57% of motorcyclists killed in 2017 weren’t wearing helmets, according to NHTSA,.

All grocery stores, pharmacies and dollar stores sell cigarettes. Smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.

Ever count the number of liquor stores in your city? They were considered an essential business during the pandemic. Few people stop to consider that 1 million people died from alcohol-related causes between 1999 and 2017. The number of death certificates mentioning alcohol more than doubled from 35,914 in 1999 to 72,558 in 2017. That year, alcohol played a role in 2.6% of all deaths in the United States.

Snack foods take up an entire aisle in most grocery stores, pharmacies, and dollar stores. Most of these chips and snacks are alarmingly high in salt. But they’re big sellers. Unfortunately, according to the American Heart Association a high salt diet may may lead to high blood pressure, heart failure, and strokes. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

On Labor Day, I walked past a house full of people having an indoor-outdoor barbeque . It looked like a family get together, and I didn’t see any masks.

Politicians and the CDC are desperately trying to regulate the behavior of Americans during this Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, people continue to congregate, travel, and go without masks. Is it any wonder? If you consider the above statistics, it’s clear that risk taking is in America’s DNA.

My first day on the job as a hospital dietitian many decades ago was memorable. One of the patients I saw while making rounds was a young man paralyzed from the neck down. The nurses said he had been in a motorcycle accident. He was handsome, well built, with curly blonde hair. And he would never walk again. This was not only a tragedy for him, but for his family, and the health care providers who would have to take care of him for the rest of his life. So now, when I see a motorcyclist without a helmet, I can’t help but wonder: Are cyclists who refuse to wear helmets selfish and/or irresponsible?

INDIANA IS ONE OF TWO STATES IN THIS COUNTRY THAT DOESN’T HAVE A HELMET LAW

In most states, the law requires cyclists to wear helmets. But not in my state. In Indiana, it’s unusual to see motorcyclists wearing helmets. Often, a male passenger will have a female on the seat behind him, hair blowing in the wind. They look free and happy. While I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle, I envy the joy they must feel as they embrace the outdoors with abandon. And, I can understand why they prefer not to wear helmets.

Their counterparts in Amsterdam would agree. https://www.treehugger.com/bikes/why-dutch-dont-wear-helmets.html Accidents involving cyclists are rare, because it’s a smaller country where people don’t drive crazily.

But, in fact, traveling without a helmet on a motorcycle in the US and other countries has been proven unsafe. An international study concluded that the “protective effect of helmets was about a 42 percent reduction in risk of death in a crash and 69 percent for risk of a head injury in a crash.”

Back to the hospital where I worked. Once, a nearby nursing home was flooded, and had to be evacuated. Our hospital took about twenty of the most critical patents. Of those patients, three were permanently disabled victims of motorcycle accidents, who would live out their lives while Medicaid paid for their care. I’m not sure whether wearing a helmet would have saved these men from this fate, but since head injuries are the most frequent cause of death and disability while driving a motorcycle, it would seem that a couple of these tragic situations could have been avoided.

I’ve never tried on a motorcycle helmet, and I’m sure they can be somewhat annoying. But it seems to me a small price to pay to save one’s family from the heartbreak of caring for a brain damaged loved one.

Tag: motorcycle helmets

ARE BAREHEADED CYCLISTS SELFISH?