The Value of a Slow Break-in Cannot Be Overemphasized

Abstract

This chapter examines the arguments in support of helmets and the emergence of a motorcycle rights movement to oppose them. While helmet advocates struggled to establish an ideological focus during these early years, divisions among riders based on class were particularly conspicuous and responsible for the establishment of helmet regulation and the conflict that undermined effective resistance to it. Support for helmets was never simply about the loss of life but the loss of middle-class life, and opposition to helmets was never simply about freedom or individual rights. While motorcyclists began organizing “freedom of the road” demonstrations at state capitals across the country, they also consistently blamed these middle-class riders for the rise in the number of accidents and fatalities and for the enactment of helmet laws and other forms of regulation.