I agree, Jas, Andy and I were talking about it during our 2+ hour drive to the vet yesterday morning. I just don't get it. I started watching the other drivers on our ride, well over 50% of the drivers were on the phone. I saw 2 or 3 people pulled off the road talking, all of them were young folks.

Using cell phones and texting are dangerous when driving, so auto manufacturers should not be putting this *carp* in vehicles.

As a whole, the new cars have to many gadgets to be driven safely.

Moni

Me neither. I see people all the time driving down the staring at their GPS. Not even looking at the road. Too me that's more distracting than talking on a cell phone.

Here's what I don't get....

the sudden (past years) over protectiveness of parents who insist their child wear a helmet while riding a bike. I never wore a helmet and never will. Same with adults....ride on the sidewalk if you are afraid of getting hit by a car. I rode on sidewalks..still do.

Hope this one doesn't start a big to-do

Do you have kids, Samkaren? Just curious.

If you had a 6 year old just learning to ride a bike you wouldn't put a helmet on him? Not only do you have to account for individual accidents of tender heads hitting pavement but also people backing out of driveways, or making turns, or a variety of other car vs. bike situations that you can't control. Sidewalks go across driveways, they can be uneven or hazardous or you can run into pedestrians.

I don't care if adults don't wear helmets though I think it's stupid not to. However, not putting your kid in a helmet is child abuse, imo.

Btw riding your bike on the sidewalk is illegal in most areas. Bikes are expected to follow the same rules as cars. Sidewalks are for pedestrians.

Here, it's not illegal to talk on a phone while driving. Although I find it annoying when people do it all the time, I don't think simply talking on a phone is as big a deal as texting, surfing, twits (IMO, a more appropriate name) and programming GPS units.

And on the side topic I'll just say I think a some people are so stupid they should wear helmets to walk.

I want to see cars that deactivate these devices for all but emergency calls/messages when the car is in motion. The technology exists. If I had a teen, I'd pay to have that feature!

Amen Moni!

I agree, Jas. That's just plain stupid. I don't even like to look down and adjust the radio when I'm driving, much less send a tweet or update my facebook status!

Samkaren, you must not have kids. As a nurse who has seen helmets save many a life, your thinking is completely erroneous. Would you argue that putting seat belts in a car is not a good thing to do? After all, when I was a kid we never wore seat belts. Five kids crammed in the back of a station wagon, not a one with a seat belt on. Nothing bad ever happened to us.

Here in CA it is illegal to use cell phones while driving, yet I see parents on daily basis texting or calling while their kids are riding along. Good parenting by showing your kids it's ok to break the law! What I very rarely see are grandparents using cell phones while transporting kids. Nice to see some folks are law abiding citizens!

Most states mandate a bike helmet for minors....it's not a matter of "overprotective parents"......and I'm GLAD my grandkids wear them not only for bikes, but when skateboarding, etc. I think "that's a GOOD THING!"

As to if adults wear helmets, either bikes or motorcycles it is their choice, but if they get hurt or killed it should not be the responsibility of others to pay their medical bills or funeral bills. A helmet did save my son's life many years ago while wearing a motorcycle but then a person just recently was killed in this state and they were wearing the helmet. Guess it is the way the accident happens.
As to texting while driving--new law in ND NO not allowed. Guess a big class action suit is needed against the car makers to downsize the electronic stuff, but then again I remember having CB radios in our pickup and using it. We all just need to use common sense while driving--especially here with all the oil traffic, sand trucks (fracking sand) and farm equipment during harvest time.
Stay safe to all of us.
Marie

Some of the points made here are good examples of how the government cannot legislate their way to save everyone from harm. I suspect making texting illegal does little to nothing to curb the practice.

People need to be expected to use some common sense and intelligence. If they don't they suffer the consequences of their actions. I realize laws are enacted to protect innocent parties but as a society we've gone so far in protecting people that more and more no longer realize they have to take some responsibility for themselves.

I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who walk right out in front of a moving car (not in a crosswalk) and don't even look. What ever happened to looking both ways before you cross.

Likewise, idiots walk right behind a moving car while you're backing out of a parking space. So now we have laws requiring backup cameras in SUVs.

It's kind of a dumbing down of America.

Samkaren, since you don't have kids, how can you call parents overprotective for making their kids wear helmets?

Overprotective, Samkaren? No, not even close.

As for providing access to Facebook, etc., I would say that's an irresponsible act on the part of the automobile manufacturers.

i like that i can talk on the phone hands free in my car...but don't do it very often...i'm in the car to drive...NOT TALK ON THE PHONE...maybe the tweeting, facebooking is all voice activated...still I would think it could be done somewhere other then the car!! Geesh I'm already over connected!! sometimes I just like unplugging for awhile!!

It is really sad to see a child with a severe head injury with the parents by the bedside filled with guilt and grief because they didn't force their child to wear a helmet.
Just because a lot of us lived without safety devices while growing up doesn't mean they are worthless.

I agree. Why would anyone want to update their status or send a Tweet while driving. Just another distraction.

As far as riding a bike on a sidewalk in my city it is illegal unless you are a child. My SIL's Mom has been knocked down twice and suffered broken bones because of someone riding a bike and trying to pass her on the sidewalk. Bikes are vehicles just like cars and should be on the road unless you are a child. We also have helmet laws too for minors. I couldn't imagine getting on a motorcycle without wearing a helmet.

Sorry....maybe overprotective was not the best word. I just don't get why all of a sudden helmets are the thing to wear.

Chi83..you said "However, not putting your kid in a helmet is child abuse, imo".....so all our parents who didn't make us wear helmets back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, & 80s were guilty of Child Abuse? I know mine weren't.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

so all our parents who didn't make us wear helmets back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, & 80s were guilty of Child Abuse?

Of course not. Helmets probably weren't available in some of those decades. We can say about some things that we simply didn't know any better. Safety wasn't as much of an issue back then. But safety is what saves lives.

Sam, in one way I do understand what you are saying. It seems today kids are coddled way more than when we were kids. I know my Mom shoved us out of the house after breakfast and didn't let us back in until dinner. That doesn't happen today. But then kids were not fat back in my day. We were outside riding our bikes, roller skating, playing kick the can, catching fireflies and being generally active. No bike helmets, seat belts, or annoying parents watching over us.

And I really don't recall ever losing a friend or classmate to head injury, although I am absolutely sure it happened. I fell off my bike many a time, just never hit my head.

I have been a nurse for almost 30 years now (sheesh, how did that happen!) and diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury is still evolving. Just look at the new emphasis in sports (from high school to professional) to protect athletes from concussion and head injury.

If you have access to a product that would protect your child's life and you choose not to use it, then yes, it's child abuse in my opinion. Whether or not anyone else's parents were abusive isn't for me to say but with the availability of helmets these days, not requiring your child to wear one is negligent.

I grew up in the 90's and things are WAY different now so I can't even imagine in the 50's or 60's or 70's. What was safe then isn't safe now because things change, progress is made, the world becomes a lot more chaotic and dangerous. There are more cars on the road, more distracted drivers with cell phones and texting, less peaceful suburban areas, less sidewalks in favor of busy intersections, less parks or other areas with safe bike paths.

It would be like carrying your newborn home in your lap because that's how it was done decades ago. Just because many people survived doesn't mean it's a good idea now when we have the technology for products to increase our safety.

I just don't get why all of a sudden helmets are the thing to wear

Because we as a society we learn as we go, and modify our actions based on what we observe. The idea is to learn from those who were hurt, not to ignore because many were not.

When I was a kid we didn't wear seat belts, didn't worry about lead in school drinking water, didn't have vaccinations for whooping cough.

I'll bet back in the day some people thought polio vaccinations and Pasteurization were unnecessary too.

Just because we survived without doesn't mean we can't do better for the next generation.

I agree about all the stuff in cars. And you can't feel virtuous because you're using a hands-free headset to talk, because the research shows that it's the distraction of having a conversation *with someone who's not in the car* that's the problem, and the hands-free thing doesn't make a difference.

As to bike helmets, well, I'm definitely not a "better safe than sorry" kind of person, but there's virtually no downside to having kids wear helmets. They cost very little (and are often given away free to families in need) and the kids can still ride their bikes.

"I just don't get why all of a sudden helmets are the thing to wear. "

All of a sudden?
Where have you been?
My kids wore helmets when they were little kids and they are now in their mid and late 20s.
Helmets are nothing new!

"ride on the sidewalk if you are afraid of getting hit by a car. I rode on sidewalks..still do."

Now THAT'S dangerous, and would get you a fine here!
Sidewalk are for pedestrians, NOT for bicycles.

I and my kids didn't wear helmets which weren't available but grand kids do all the time when biking, skateboarding, sking..When I was an adult I fell off a bike and had a concussion which caused amnesia for a few days, If was wearing a helmet, I would have been fine. And I shudder to think I DID carry my baby home from the hospital in a snow storm holding her in my lap. No baby seats available then either. Change is good when it saves lives.

We have a man in our neighborhood who is now blind, probably because he wasn't wearing a helmet while bicycling. He was in a regional-park type, non-urban area, his bike hit a stone in the road, which was enough to throw him, causing some body injury & other head trauma, but, of course, completely losing his sight was the major. This happened about 10 years ago, & it's always sad to see him walking the neighborhood with his white cane. He had a very promising career before this all happened...he was only in his early 30ties at the time of his accident.

Do you wear a seatbelt in cars, samkaren? Pay attention to diet, exercize, stress, lifestyle factors? Smoke cigarettes? Talk/text while driving?