Richard said.... <<we disagree as to whether commumities have collective rights over such properly personal decisions. I reject that premise, whether for seat belts, motor cycle helmets, or PFDs. >> Bill said.... |The problem with this argument, and it's a very big problem, is that once an |accident or injury occurs due to someone's wilfully careless behavior, the |injured person immediately (and rightfully) expects someone else to come to |his/her rescue - and in the case of helmetless motorcycle riders (for |example), to foot the bill too. Several studies have shown that the majority |of helmetless injuries to motorcycle riders occur to people who have no |insurance. But I can tell you from personal experience that they want at |least as much care as anyone else. There have also been studies that show that the states that DO NOT have motorcycle helmet laws have less accidents than the states that do. The states that had the lower accident rates had the highest number of riders and miles driven without helmet laws. The problem with the collective rights argument is when does The Collective stop intruding into the individuals life? Since The Collective pays for the health care costs of people who don't have health insurance, and even with health insurance, The Collective still pays via premiums, does The Collective still have the right to tell the Individual to stop a behavior? If an Individual is partaking in risking sexual behavior and contracts an STD should The Collective pay for the person's health care? Why should The Collective pay for this when the Individual KNEW what they were doing was dangerous? Even if the Individual has insurance The Collective will pay in higher rates. What if our Risking Individual contracts HIV or full blown AIDS. Should The Collective refuse to help pay for the very expensive cost of the healthcare for our Risky Sick Individual? And of course if the Collective DOES pay for our Risky Sick Individual, does that also mean that The Collective can pass and enforce laws to make sure that no more Individual's partake in risking behavour? Now that would be Harassment..... Hmmmm? Food for Thought..... Stir Stir Stir.... 8-) DanDCook McCarty *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Sep 08 2000 - 09:22:11 PDT
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