I want to report a satisfactory finding I discovered this morning while running an errand into McKinney and then back to Princeton, Texas.

The other day I griped about Texas rescinding its mandatory motorcycle helmet law back in 1997. The Legislature decided, to its discredit, that requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets was intrusive, that Texans had some sort of constitutional right to injure or kill themselves in the event of a catastrophic traffic accident. Oh, never mind the cost of such debilitating injury on the overall health care system … which falls on the rest of us.

Well, while running my errand I decided to observe every motorcyclist I saw this morning and whether they were wearing helmets.

This is purely anecdotal, but I saw the following: 14 motorcyclists on the road; two of them had passengers on the rear seat. All of them were helmeted. 

I was reminded of a pair of quirky electoral decisions that occurred in Amarillo about a decade ago. Voters twice rejected citywide referenda mandating a ban on indoor smoking in public places. Unlike many cities in Texas, the city council declined to issue an ordinance requiring a ban, even though it is proven that breathing second-hand smoke is bad for our health. Today, though, it is nearly impossible to find a dining or drinking establishment that allows smoking, which tells me that business owners in Amarillo are doing the right thing … all by themselves.

So, too, it might be with motorcyclists, if my anecdotal finding is playing out in the rest of the state.

I still would favor a law requiring helmets on motorcyclists. However, absent a law, I want to give a shout out to those bikers who understand the foolishness of tempting fate by riding a crotch rocket through traffic without proper noggin protection.