Hats off to helmet freedom

5/1/2012

Your April 22 editorial criticizing Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's signing of a law that allows adults to ride motorcycles without helmets could not be more off base ("Bad call on helmets").

A helmet can limit visibility and feel like a frying pan on your head when it is 90 degrees. That's heat stroke waiting to happen.

It comes down to freedom. As a 50-year-old man, I should be able to choose for myself. I don't tell you what to print in your paper, so don't tell me what to wear when I am riding the motorcycle I pay for, with the insurance I pay for, on the roads paid for with my tax dollars.

Kudos to Governor Snyder.

Mark Farren
Temperance

Car drivers should wear helmets

Before the car-driving editors of The Blade criticize the Michigan governor for repealing the motorcycle helmet law because it may result in an extra "30 deaths and 127 incapacitating injuries each year," they should research how many deaths and incapacitating injuries could be reduced by Ohio car drivers wearing helmets.

Race-car drivers wear helmets. Why not have all Ohio drivers wear helmets in their cars and thus save lives too?

But equal treatment under the law, for the safety of all drivers and passengers, might be too much for The Blade's editors to wrap their heads around.

Jim Brower
Oregon

No helmet? You're an organ donor

Those who are up in arms about the repeal of Michigan's mandatory helmet law should look at it like this:

People who are too stupid not to wear a helmet on a motorcycle or a seat belt in a vehicle can become organ donors when they are killed. There is a long list of people looking for organs.

Gary Buck
Scottwood Avenue

Loan for park unbelievable

Toledo City Council's approval of a loan for Mayor Mike Bell's pet project is unbelievable ("City to take $2.2M loan for Promenade Park," March 14).

The city's streets are falling apart. Alleys are deteriorating. Houses are boarded up. There's no money to hire additional housing inspectors, for homeless shelters, or to replace the pumps at the water treatment plant.

But City Council takes out a loan to fix up a stupid park. What will be the benefit for Toledo residents?

Brenda Hagman
McKinley Avenue

Captured drone a Trojan horse?

Can we hope that the loss of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone was intentional ("Iran claims to hold data from U.S. drone," April 23)? Could it be our modern-day Trojan horse?

I hope that reverse engineering will plant a little something that will cause Iranian officials to wish they hadn't delved into it.

David Georgia
Briarwood Lane