Mandatory Helmets at Ski Areas

[Gravity]

Ski/Snowboard areas across the U.S.A. and othe countries are considering mandatory helmet laws (pushed by their lawyers and insurance companies) - what do you think of this?

 

[Oz]

Dude, the number of times I have landed on my head is probably why I just addressed you as dude. So I think it's a good thing that they make dudes/dudettes wear helmets ... we gots better things to waste brain-cells on than headbutting ice anyways. Make helmets cheaper, make em cooler, makes it easier.

 

[Gravity]

So as an extension of the same principle - should ski areas be administering breathalyzer tests in the lift loading area too?! :smile:

 

[Oz]

No way dude ... things move too slow at the loading area as it is. But put those little breathalizer things on the chair itself ... it will at least amuse those trying to distract themselves from the cold. Maybe you could work it so the chair is redirected to the nearest bar if alcohol levels are dangerously low.

 

[Matrim]

Ok, first of all, there's no snow anyways to go boaeding on so right now it dosen't matter about helmets. But when the time comes, I don't think they should be manditory. I think helmets are a good idea, but for people like I know, they do not push themselves when they go boarding. they take solace in just being on the mountain. Now think of how silly they would look if they were slowly riding down the trail not "going extreme" and stopping frequently to rest with a helmet on.

 

[nightingale]

Does anyone know any areas that have implemented a mandatory helmet law? I don't know of any...

 

[Sparky]

Ski/Snowboard areas across the U.S.A. and othe countries are considering mandatory helmet laws (pushed by their lawyers and insurance companies) - what do you think of this?

I know there have been previous threads on the effectiveness of helmets and the lack of statistical support for there need, but damn it it's my head. If I want to stick it into a cement mixer what harm is it to anyone else? We seem to be losing the right to make our own choices more and more everyday. Whats next? If some mountain is so out of touch with the essence of the sport that they actually do this I think a boycott is called for. It is obvious that they made a purely financial decission so they need to be addressed in the same manner.

 

[Vortex]

These threads have always blown up at the end in the past. I'm pro choice on this issue. No rants here please. I do wear a hard had most of the time know. Took 35 years of skiing to do it.

 

[ALLSKIING]

I like the idea as well. I just started wearing a helmet last year.

 

[andyzee]

I wear a helmet all the time, wouldn't ski without it. Should it be mandatory, for kids, yeah, just like on bikes. For adults, no way.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I don't think any safty equipment of any kind should be mandatory for any adult. If the only person you’re putting in harms way is yourself then the decision should be entirely up to you. Government should stay out of it.

 

[ALLSKIING]

I don't think it gives kids the right message to say you have to wear this but I don't. The best way to lead or teach is by example.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I don't think it gives kids the right message to say you have to wear this but I don't. The best way to lead or teach is by example.

I don't disagree, but that should be up to the individual not the government. I wear a helmet when skiing and biking, but I'd be pissed if there was a law that said I had to.

 

[andyzee]

I don't disagree, but that should be up to the individual not the government. I wear a helmet when skiing and biking, but I'd be pissed if there was a law that said I had to.

Same here in both cases.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

thinking about buying a ton of stock in brain bucket companies if that law passes.....

 

[hammer]

Not to go off topic (although I thought that this horse was dead a while ago :-? ), but I saw a "Similar Threads" area near the bottom of the page...how does this work?

 

[PowderDeprived]

I will probably have to take a neutral stance on this, because I wear a helmet. Helmets really are not to bad these days, even ski patrolers are starting to wear them. And for many helmets are pretty cool, because its a way to be wearing an extra few hundred bucks of gear (rich flatlanders)

Many resorts have polices requring helmets for kids in classes etc... And I guess a policy requiring helmets for persons under 16 like bike laws isn't that bad. But for adults I think all they should be able to do, is encourage Helmet use.

I can't really imagine how a ski resort could be liable for damages if someone suffered head trauma, and wasn't forced by the resort to wear a helmet. When you buy tickets, or by a pass, you sign a waver that basically says, that skiing is an inherently dangerous sport, and that you will probably be killed, horribly injured blah blah blah blah and that the resort can't be held liable for that.

If you want to require helmets for skiing, how about banning cocoa because skiers drink to much, and they get fat from it. Or better yet ban skiing all together because in a winter haters mind, anybody who goes outside in the snow is crazy, or because letting people go down a steep slope covered with ice is wrong, or say that nobody under 21 can go in the terrain park, because they are to immature to understand and accept the risks.

In my opinion skiing is a helmet sport, but I really think that people should have the right to choose, instead of being forced to because someone knows better than them.
Maybe it is stupid, reckless, self endangering to ski without a helmet, but the benefits of a helmet are pretty obvious, and its nothing that has to be forced upon anybody.

 

[RISkier]

I know there have been previous threads on the effectiveness of helmets and the lack of statistical support for there need, but damn it it's my head. If I want to stick it into a cement mixer what harm is it to anyone else? We seem to be losing the right to make our own choices more and more everyday. Whats next? If some mountain is so out of touch with the essence of the sport that they actually do this I think a boycott is called for. It is obvious that they made a purely financial decission so they need to be addressed in the same manner.

Certainly different in that the statistical evidence for or against helmets isn't very clear but it's somwhat analogous to seat belts. I understand the sentiment that "I have the right to decide whether I'll wear a seat belt or not, it's my choice." Of course when folks are injured when not wearing a seat belt (assuming they wouldn't have been or at least less seriously injured with a seat belt -- and there's tons of evidence that in the long run seat belts save lives and reduce the severity of injuries) increase vehicle and health insurance costs for others. So I think if it could be clearly demonstrated that helmets provide a clear safety benefit, sometimes the benefits to the many outweigh the costs to the few. So, I'm not in favor of mandatory helmets, but it certainly wouldn't keep me from skiing somewhere. I don't think the right to ski without a helmet is an unalienable right.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

and there's tons of evidence that in the long run seat belts save lives and reduce the severity of injuries) increase vehicle and health insurance costs for others. So I think if it could be clearly demonstrated that helmets provide a clear safety benefit, sometimes the benefits to the many outweigh the costs to the few.

I don’t doubt that seat belts save lives.

I also don’t doubt that if drivers and passengers where required by law to wear crash helmets, fire proof body suits, and body amour that that would save lives too.

If auto makers where required to make vehicles that would be safer, but of course would add thousands of dollars to the cost, that would save lives too.

The easiest way to save lives, and would even save money, would be to pass a law to lower the speed limit to 40 mph.

What do you think about these possible laws for the good of the many?

I don't think the right to ski without a helmet is an unalienable right.

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" - I do, I think it's the middle one.

 

[skibum1321]

I'm in agreement with the majority here that helmets shouldn't be mandatory. Don't get me wrong, I wear a helmet and wouldn't be caught without it, but it's not the place of the government to tell me whether or not I should be wearting it. Don't let the man hold you down!!