Dear editor,In his Tuesday letter to the Daily News, Max Hunt identifies himself as the WIPB Operations Manager. That explains at least his preference for emotive PBS/NPR-style do-goodery over individual liberty. Had he read The Star Press on Sunday, he would have noted that the officer on the scene stated that, even with a helmet, Joshua Hudson would likely have been killed anyway. If not killed, the bounce of his hard helmet on the hard road surface would likely have snapped his neck and left him a quadriplegic. (If Hunt has so much "concern," would he have paid the resulting lifelong medical costs?)Having ridden motorcycles for 40 years - sometimes in helmet states and sometimes in no-helmet states - experience teaches that every bit of helmet visible to its wearer is a missing bit of peripheral vision. Worse yet, being shaped like a stereo speaker cone, a helmet deafens its wearer to all but engine noise, obscuring such sounds as tires on the roadway that alert the rider to vehicles in the blind spots of the riders' mirrors. Also, as no state requires a rider to go without a helmet, if he wishes to ride, Hunt can wear a helmet whenever he wishes, even while managing operations at WIPB - who knows when an awareness of the rights of the individual might come crashing down on him.The best way to avoid deaths such as that of Hudson, as well as catastrophically disabling injuries, is to avoid accidents in the first place. One way to avoid such fates is not to ride as described by Hunt. Another way is to improve the rider's vision and hearing. Yet another way is to prosecute Kevin Smith, Hudson's killer, for vehicular manslaughter to the fullest extent of the law, thus providing an example to those otherwise oblivious to loud, neon green motorcycles with bright headlights.In the meantime, I urge Hunt to resist the temptation to indulge in the morally satisfying urge to tell other people what they should do and let those who ride decide. Fortunately, it's still our choice.
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