| Subject: |
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Re: FIGHT BACK! FIGHT NOW! MAKE THE MEDIA TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT MOTORCYCLING ISSUES! |
| Name: |
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Frank Langben |
| Date Posted: |
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Apr 22, 07 - 11:52 AM |
| Email: |
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flangben@aol.com |
| Website: |
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http://flangben.photosite.com |
| Message: |
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First, the text quoted, "motorcycle helmet mandates ... reduce crashes" is pretty clearly a mistake, not a real belief that helmets reduce crashes. The claim presumably intended is that "helmet mandates reduce head injuries."
>Mandatory helmet laws are discriminatorily unconstitutional in that--by mandating helmets for motorcyclists as opposed to ALL motorists--they violate the "equal protection" guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. <
This is a popular claim but it's not true.
The 14th Amendment does not require that every motorist be treated equally. If discrimination by law is based on race, then the government must prove its law is "narrowly tailored" to serve a "compelling" government interest. If discrimination is based on gender, the government must show that the law is "substantially related" to an "important" government interest.
BUT, in all other cases, such as treating motorcyclists different from drivers, the government must ONLY show that the law is "reasonably related" to a "legitimate" government interest. (See Wikipedia on "equal protection clause," or hundreds of other sources.)
While some may disagree on the wisdom of the law, mandatory helmet laws are reasonably related to an attempt to reduce brain injuries, and the legitimate government interests are: 1) saving us from ourselves, 2) keeping our spouses from going through life without us, 3) keeping our children from being orphans, 4) reducing medical costs spent by society. Motorcycles are different from cars in that we're not protected by a ton of steel.
We may legitimately debate whether there should be helmet laws, but let's not look foolish by claiming they're unconstitutional. The same interpretation of "equality" would mandate seat belts on motorcycles, and THAT would kill motorcyclists. Is that what we want?
I'd like to see some of the "save our freedom" energy instead directed to making car drivers who negligently kill motorcyclists suffer a fair penalty.
Frank in northern CA |
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