A foreign guy dating the Sister In-law had an accident not so long ago, he told me he religiously wears his helmet, but one day, the FIRST time he went out without wearing his Helmet, he was involved in an accident involving two Filipinos (one a Bike the other a Tricycle) who forced him to try and avoid their dangerous maneuver which saw him wake up two days later in hospital with a serious head injury! He has to argue with the SIL to wear her Helmet he has provided for her, but even with proof of the dangers surrounding road use here (including me being severely disabled with a broken leg for the past 33 years from a motorbike accident where the Helmet was the ONLY thing that saved my life!) she and the family refuse to wear!
Indeed we are! Only the other day I saw a kano backrider on bike driven by his wife/gf - both no helmets and the guy holding a baby in the traditional pinoy hanging off the side of the bike position. I know the locals can be excused this kind of stupidity but what excuse for a westerner to adopt such irresponsible practices.
I used to believe that a person has a right to do whatever they like and if a girl didn't want to wear a helmet then that was her decision. Then I realized that I would be the one footing the hospital bill (or funeral) and possibly be paying the family off for the rest of the girl's disabled life if they were involved in an accident on a bike that I owned...so now anyone driving or riding on a motorcycle registered under my name has to wear a helmet. If they don't like it they can walk. Note: I still don't give a sh*t what other people think their heads are worth...so long as I don't have to foot the bill for their stupidity. I really hate that helmets are required by law. If the national or city government was sincerely concerned with the welfare of the people they would pass a law saying that they would help pay the medical bill of anyone in a motorcycle accident so long as they were wearing a helmet. Don't punish those doing the wrong thing, reward those doing the right thing (at least in cases where the "wrong thing" doesn't hurt anyone other than the person doing said thing). I bet the use of helmets would quickly rise and the rate at which people died in accidents would significantly drop. "We are all born ignorant but one must work hard to remain stupid" - Benjamin Franklin
You're right. And that thinking about possible accidents goes way beyond mine. I'm thinking about P1500 penalty for no helmet, even for a passenger. Let the lady afraid to muss up her hairdo make a 1500 deposit.
Not wearing a helmet should be looked on as not wearing a seat belt. Make any insurance held on the car or Bike null and Void. both are mandated laws But....................
