I am in favor of people having choice too but not if their choice makes them a drain on the rest of the community. In the event of an accident, the motorcyclist's choice of not wearing a helmet will very likely result in head injuries which are extremely difficult to treat, and generally need months if not years of recuperation. The cost of that care and recuperation can easily run into seven figures. If the victim is insured that cost gets passed on to all the policy holders of that company. If, as is too often the case, the helmetless victim is uninsured the cost gets passed on to the hospital or in the case of a public hospital the taxpayers. In every case the public ends up bearing the expense for the rider's choice.
I used to think, if the state passed a helmet law that absolved doctors and hospitals from treating head injuries where the rider
chose not to wear a helmet it would solve the problem. But then I realized, the only benefits of such a law would accrue to the lawyers contesting the law or litigating each and every decision to treat or not treat.
There are lots of safety rules and regulations for every mode of transportation from trains, planes, trucks, cars, and even motorcycles. These laws, rules, and regulations have all been passed in the interest of protecting the public from their own and other people's stupidity. Passengers and drivers in automobiles have pretty well adapted to seatbelt laws but some are apparently willing to pay $200 fines every time they get caught riding with the seatbelt unfastened to keep from wrinkling their skirt or because of the very remote chance the seatbelt does not release after an accident. So why shouldn't motorcycle riders be equally willing to pay a similar fine every time they get caught riding without a helmet?
How many kids do you know while growing up who didn't fall off their bikes (an essential ingredient in learning how to ride and a right of passage, so to speak) and who subsequently became vegetables because of a 'lack' of a helmet?!
I never knew of one.
Spend some time in the emergency room at a trauma center such as Parkland in Dallas or the next door Children's Medical Center if you have the stomach for it and you will see some. My son, a radiologist specializing in trauma studies, can cite you chapter and verse of several he has seen this year alone. Most were killed outright or died during treatment, some were hospitalized for many months, a few will never recover. Admittedly he has seen a lot more head injuries from kids riding ATVs but no few bicycle accidents. Face it when a 70 pound child riding a 15 pound bicycle gets into a contest with a 3,500 pound automobile — the automobile wins every time.
What Tacit said too. I am beginning to get worried that I am agreeing with Tacit too often. 
