[Paddlewise] PFDs, helmets, etc...

My libertarian intuition makes me suspect of laws compelling one to wear

a helmet, PFD, galoshes, whatever. And indeed, repeated statistics show
that compelling the use of saftey equipment (helmets, safety belts)
often *increases* the frequency of accidents and doesn't overall affect
the injury rate, as people adjust to the perceived increase in
protection and take further chances..

But that doesn't mean I'm going to flaunt the laws to prove a point. I
always wear a bicycle helmet, seat belt and PFD, and I've benefited in
each instance by doing so. I also believe in compelling *minors* to do
so, and I've been known to advise parents biking helmetless with their
kids how hard it is to raise kids with a closed head injury.

And one reason I do wear a helmet on a bike is to show kids that the guy

with the coolest bike in the neighborhood thinks it's cool to wear a
helmet.  (Unfortunately the kayakers who see me in a boat don't get
quite
the same impression, but I'm working on that.)

Some of the more sheltered places I paddle are full of novices in Pungos
and similar boats, with no PFD, no flotation, no skirt, no clue. I ran
into such a couple in the middle of a 1.5-mile wide lake a few weeks
ago, and I wondered how they'd deal with the swim three quarters of a
mile to shore, dodging all the ski boats and lake lice on the way.
Assuming they *could* swim.

-- mike


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