Quarterback Nearly Killed in Motorcycle Crash.

[Katt in Hat]

Team management and his team mates entreated him to wear a HELMET but the Q.B., a very intelligent group of athletes as a rule rejected the advise.

Roethlisberger Injured in Motorcycle Accident

Steelers quarterback undergoes seven hours of surgery for facial fractures suffered in a motorcycle crash. He wasn't wearing a helmet.
By Sam Farmer, Los Angles Times Staff Writer
June 13, 2006

Pittsburgh Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger had been warned repeatedly about his habit of not wearing a helmet while riding his motorcycle. He shrugged off the advice.

Now, he's a cautionary tale.




[Q]From 2 months ago:
"When a "Freedom Lovin'" yolt cracks his gourd on the pavement 'cause he don't have to wear no stinkin' helmet.

A young guy can cost us simple, decent, hard workin' folk $MILLIONS$ whilst he enjoys years of bed rest while connected to a respirator and a feeding tube and catheter.

Too graphic an example for yuh? As Casey Stengel famously said, "You can look it up!""{/Q}

 

[Strider]

What can I say? I have no sympathy for anyone riding a motor-sikkle without proper headwear. You know the risks. As they say: "let those who ride decide". He made his decision. He made his bed, and now he's sleeping in it. If he weren't an athlete, we wouldn't even be hearing about this. At the very least, if he never plays ball again, he already has a ring (however ill-gotten I may percieve that ring to be is neither here nor there). I don't feel sorry for people who die of emphysema after decades of smoking, either.

When you flat out know the risks associated with something that you do, and you purposely choose not to heed the warnings of your peers and go on about your business, why should I feel sorry for you when the time for you to finally learn the error of your ways comes around? [huh]

 

[indyjim]

Speaking from experience, I most likely would NOT be posting this today,
had I not been wearing a helmet one day some 30+ years ago.
Of course this was when helmet wearing was mandatory.
But nonetheless, I credit the helmet with saving my life.
Some people learn the hard way. Some people never learn.

 

[Scuffy]

Unfortunately I can see both sides. Now, this isn't always the case but most of time I have seen people riding sport bikes they tend to be a bit more reckless when it comes to both speed and judgement. As I said "stereotypically". I have yet to see a full news report but from what I have hear he was riding one of the newest bikes to the market- designated as one of the fastest street legal machines in production. This would help me believe that he was being a bit more reckless.

Personally I do not wear a helmet often I will under certain circumstances such as low temps or high numbers of large painful bugs! The conclusion I have come to is that helmets only help in the right situations. While they can save lives and bodies from damage there are many times where they do no good at all. If a person hits hard enough to crush or fracture their spine than with or without a helmet it can mean death. There have been quite a few accidents up here on the north coast as of the past three years where people have been killed both on city streets and freeways, all varying in speeds, because of neck and back injuries that stemmed from a severe impact to the head. In those many cases there seems to be equal use of helmets as there is lack there of.

I fully support the use of helmets, they can't do any more harm really. They can only help. But on the same token much more of it comes down to the resposibility of the riders and drivers around them. There are certain risks involved that one has to accept and face when riding.

Please understand- I am not trying to insult anyone's individual views here, just state my own. All in all I really do ride the fence on this one. I percieve the safety of helmets to be very situational. Sometimes they can save lives and at other times they will do nothing.

 

[Strider]

Better safe than sorry, I always say.[huh]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm amazed the Steelers didn't have a helmet stipulation written into his contract. These guys are contracted to eat a certain way, drink a certain way, go to the bathroom only when the team tells them they're allowed to do so.

And the Steelers don't put any moptorcycle safety stipulations into his contract? Absurd.

Well, whatever happens, it's hard to feel sorry for him. If he has head injuries they're his own fault. And i'm a Steelers fan.

bk

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

He ain't pretty no more.

 

[Strider]

He ain't pretty no more.

lol OWNED.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

He ain't pretty no more.

Well, now he has a good reason to grow that horrid damn beard he insisted upon last season ...

bk

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I'm amazed the Steelers didn't have a helmet stipulation written into his contract. These guys are contracted to eat a certain way, drink a certain way, go to the bathroom only when the team tells them they're allowed to do so.

And the Steelers don't put any moptorcycle safety stipulations into his contract? Absurd.

Well, whatever happens, it's hard to feel sorry for him. If he has head injuries they're his own fault. And i'm a Steelers fan.

bk

Accoding to the news report he was not supposed to enagage in any risky activities, and riding without a helmet was on the list. He just chose to ignore it.

Unfortunately I can see both sides. Now, this isn't always the case but most of time I have seen people riding sport bikes they tend to be a bit more reckless when it comes to both speed and judgement. As I said "stereotypically". I have yet to see a full news report but from what I have hear he was riding one of the newest bikes to the market- designated as one of the fastest street legal machines in production. This would help me believe that he was being a bit more reckless

Every year in Austin there is a big motorcycle rally, not sport bikes but "Harley" type bikers. I remember on the news that at least two of them were killed in separate incidents last summer, driving recklessly around and through traffic. I don't think sport bike guys have a monopoly on stupid. We like to call the guys without helmets "organ donors".

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

He wasn't being reckless, by the way. He was just going straight through a green light when some older lady turned left in front of him. In other words, a helmet would have protected him, unless he wore one of those little skullcap ones, which don't seem to really have a purpose.

 

[Pilgrim]

It's usually the car driver that causes the accident.

I'm only here because I was wearing a helmet in 1966 when hit from behind. I have a 6-inch steel plate in my left shin as evidence.

All I can say is - stupid, stupid, stupid. Regardless of whether you like helmets or not, to get on a motorcycle AT ALL in city traffic when your multi-multi-million dollar income depends on your physical health and ability to perform is outsize stupid.

 

[indyjim]

Actually, one of the reasons I quit riding was because of all the city traffic and traffic in general and the nutballs behind the wheel. I felt it was way too risky anymore. I want as much protection as I can get. There isn't a trip that I make anymore but what I don't see someone in our fair city run a red light, and I'm not talking about being in the intersection when the light turns but rather START
through it on a red light. I consider myself a good defensive driver, but I just don't trust people to see a motorcycle anymore, and even if they do, I don't trust 'em to not hit me.

 

[Feraud]

Actually, one of the reasons I quit riding was because of all the city traffic and traffic in general and the nutballs behind the wheel. I felt it was way too risky anymore. I want as much protection as I can get. There isn't a trip that I make anymore but what I don't see someone in our fair city run a red light, and I'm not talking about being in the intersection when the light turns but rather START
through it on a red light. I consider myself a good defensive driver, but I just don't trust people to see a motorcycle anymore, and even if they do, I don't trust 'em to not hit me.

I echo these words completely! I do not ride anymore because I got sick of having to monitor how everyone else was driving. My fellow New Yorkers go though stop signs, do not use signals to change lanes, pull out of parking spaces with disregard of anyone around them, etc. Riding a motorcycle became a chore not worth dealing with.

 

[Raegan]

Actually, one of the reasons I quit riding was because of all the city traffic and traffic in general and the nutballs behind the wheel. I felt it was way too risky anymore. I want as much protection as I can get. There isn't a trip that I make anymore but what I don't see someone in our fair city run a red light, and I'm not talking about being in the intersection when the light turns but rather START
through it on a red light. I consider myself a good defensive driver, but I just don't trust people to see a motorcycle anymore, and even if they do, I don't trust 'em to not hit me.

It's not just city driving that can be dangerous. We have three young children living with us until I go back to school because of a motorcycle accident. About 6 weeks ago my dad and his crew went on a local freedom ride. His cousin ended up hitting a cow, (that's right a flippin' cow!) They were only going about 40 mph, but they still hit the pavement pretty hard. His wife almost didn't make it, she had 2 major brain surgeries and was in the ICU for a month. She's in Bethesda Hospital in Minnesota now for rehab, but she still has a looong road ahead of her.

My dad was pretty freaked out after that and needless to say my parents are now planning on wearing helmets when they are out riding.

 

[indyjim]

I'm having trouble understanding why the state makes us wear seatbelts but gives motorcyclists a choice. Obviously neither can keep you completely safe and serious injuries can occur on bike or in car, with or without helmets or seatbelts. And yes, I understand the "freedom of choice, not hurting anyone but myself" argument. But that's not entirely true. The more severe the injury, the more expensive it becomes for everyone, usually in the form of higher insurance rates. And we end up paying that, even if we weren't involved in any accident. But why do cyclists insist on participating in their sport without the necessary safety equipment? Would you skydive with only 1 parachute? Take a boat out without floatation devices? (I know, they are mandatory) Point is, on a bike, if something goes wrong, you're going to get hurt. Even in summer, I rode with long pants, boots, leather jacket, gloves, and helmet. Uncomfortable? A little, but given the alternative, I put up with it. When I crashed my gear kept my road rash from being any worse than it was. My helmet was scratched but my head was intact accept for my teeth. A full face helmet would have saved those, and I'm still "paying" for that, 30 years later. It only takes an instant, and life as you know it can dramatically change. Why take the chance?

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

The more severe the injury, the more expensive it becomes for everyone, usually in the form of higher insurance rates. And we end up paying that, even if we weren't involved in any accident.

Understood, but I don't like going down that road. Some people can use that logic to justify things I wouldn't want to live with.

My helmet was scratched but my head was intact accept for my teeth. A full face helmet would have saved those, and I'm still "paying" for that, 30 years later.

I hear that. I wish I still had my old full-face helmet with the deep gouge in the chin bar where it was ground halfway through the fiberglass when I had a fairly minor get-off on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southern California years ago. I'm sure glad it wasn't my face.

I'm not in favor of helmet laws, but I do believe that a rider who doesn't wear one is a damned fool.

 

[indyjim]

I hear ya, Tony. I'm not particularly in favor of a lot of regulation, either. We have far too much of it now, IMHO. I just find it very contradictory that we have mandatory seat belt laws and no mandatory helmet laws. If one doesn't want to wear either one, so be it. Just so they don't put the bite on me or someone else to pay for their injuries. Ya pays your money, ya takes your choice. I guess this is the role of government though, to protect us from ourselves:rage:

 

[The Wolf]

He did where a helmet when he played football, didn't he.
I presume he understood the idea of helmets being useful to protect ones noggin.
It's a shame he had to learn the hard way.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Katt in Hat]

Roethlisberger Apologizes for His Accident

Alan Abrahamson; Jonathan Abrams, From Los Angles Times Staff and Wire Reports
June 16, 2006


Ben Roethlisberger apologized to the Pittsburgh Steelers, fans and his family on Thursday, hours after being released from a Pittsburgh hospital, saying he was fortunate to be alive and pledging to wear a helmet if he ever again rides a motorcycle.

"In the past few days, I've gained a new perspective on life," the Super Bowl-winning quarterback said in a statement released by the team. "By the grace of God, I'm fortunate to be alive." (continues with link below)

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-newswire16jun16,1,7694193.story

Many complain about Government Regulations being excessive intrusions on their personal freedom and others object to the taxes that are taken from them, from their hard earned money. It seems to me that these selfsame complainers rarely bitch and moan over intrusions that they favor; the panoply encompassing the so called wedge issues, i.e. God, guns, gays and reproductive rights. A proposed new $40 billion aircraft carrier group hardly raises an eyebrow from most of the over taxed crowd. Our taxes should only be used by the War Department and to pay the interest on the bonds, notes and bills we have issued and no doubt will continue to print. To spend our (HARD EARNED tax dollars on anything else is decadent, soft,(gasp)Liberal woozy and un-Holy.

As regards to the mandatory motorcycle helmet contravesty, I offer a Modest Proposal.

Eliminate all traffic lights, speed limits, stop signs and seatbelt and helmet regulations. Do away with the need for drivers licenses and age limits and insurance requirements. If a driver can see over the steering wheel, with or without extra cushions, he's good to go. Dispense with vision and hearing standards as well. These changes would be a great start in the movement to a God given, Darwinian, Ultra Libertarian Country. We might even spread, one way or another, this Way of Life to the rest of the World.