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August 29, 2007
Filed Under (Rants and Raves) by John Davis
The death of Shane Chapman is a tragedy. Like many motorcyclists, Shane left behind a wife and young children. One of those children, 10-year-old Emily, has decided to do something about it. Shane Chapman was killed when a car pulled out in front of him. He was not wearing a helmet. Shane’s home state of Idaho does not require him to do so. Emily wants to change that. She has started a petition to change Idaho’s helmet law to require all riders to wear helmets. It is easy to see how a 10 year old could draw the connection between her father’s death and the lack of a law requiring him to wear a helmet. She is still learning the concept of personal choice and responsibility. Shane Chapman had a choice. He could choose to wear a helmet or he could choose not to. Instead, he let the state decide for him. There’s no law that said he had to wear a helmet, so he didn’t. As long as their are people like Shane, who place their faith in the state to tell them how to protect themselves, there will be broken-hearted 10-year-old girls, and adults who still think like 10-year-olds, trying to legislate their way further and further into our lives. If Shane Chapman were alive today, I wonder if he would sign Emily’s petition.
Comments:
3 Comments posted on "Choices"
Barry McKocner on September 1st, 2007 at 9:39 am #
*”Shane Chapman had a choice. He could choose to wear a helmet or he could choose not to. Instead, he let the state decide for him. There’s no law that said he had to wear a helmet, so he didn’t.”* In this paragraph, you say that Shane had a choice, AND the state made the choice for him. If the state made the choice for him, he would have been FORCED to wear a helmet.
Jake on September 25th, 2007 at 2:02 pm #
Thats so sad! R.I.P. Me, I say you ride you wear a helmet, it should be a law everywhere. Just my opinion.
Julie Chapman on October 19th, 2007 at 8:10 pm #
Hi, Post a comment
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