Indeed, in talking to him it came out that he had wrecked his Harley and it sounded like he had been torn up pretty bad when he did it. We also have a lot of quad accidents with kids around here, so I can see how it is a sensitive subject for him. Around here the only law is protective eye ware, we're not even required to ware helmets. Generally I ware jacket, gloves, and at least jeans, and make the kids do the same. I didn't this time because as someone mentioned ATGATT tends to take away some of the fun, especially on a short trip on a beautiful afternoon.
I will by no means argue the risks of not wearing gear as I am well aware, but just something to think about with most accidents happening with in 10mi of home is that most of your driving is with in 10mi or home; it's not because things are more dangerous the closer to home you are. I will say, however, that the closer to home you are the less people tend to pay attention. This kind of plays into one of my favorite subjects in school, victimology. It tends to be a delicate subject to bring up, so let me explain: I in no way mean to say that the victim is in any way at fault for someone else's bad actions. That said, those classes got me thinking, and in 8yrs in EMS I have studied every accident I have been to. In darn near every case, while there was an at fault party, had the victims been paying closer attention they could have avoided the accident despite the bad moves of the at fault driver. In 10's of thousands of miles on the bike, I have never had a close call with another driver. This isn't because I'v never been riding near a bad driver, but because I recognized someone not driving well and avoided them before they did something stupid (this goes for people in traffic, inching out of a driveway, clearing intersections even though I have the green, etc.) Driving an ambulance lights and sirens has probably helped me with traffic awareness more then most people, so that is why I decided not to go ATGATT. Not to say I am ALWAYS that alert, but with a kid on the bike and only going a short distance, I am every bit that alert.
Despite the lack of law, I obviously always ware a helmet, as do the girls. Generally we all ware jacket, pants, closed toe shoes. It's very rare that I or we ride with anything less then that. While EMS has made me more aware of causes and ways to avoid accidents it has also made me very aware of just how bad it can be if you are in one on a bike. I would never tell someone to ware less gear then they choose, and often insist people I'm with ware more if they are riding on my bike. I have very few friends with kids, so no one to ask opinions of on the subject. I briefly questioned the practice of kids on the bike, regardless of gear, so while I will probably be more strict about gear with the girls I'm glad I'm not the only one who will take kids on a ride.
Thanks!
Clark
