Doa462

Just thought I’d share something that tickled me a few days ago…

Young mother on clapped-out scooter with $99 helmet, two kids in front with no helmets. Brakes are obviously long dead, almost gets squished between a car and a truck trying to perform a stupid manoeuver. Catch sight of the reg plate which says it all:

DOA-462.

PS: well done Taichung City police. I’ve seen 3 or 4 people get stopped over the past few days for letting their young kids ride without helmets. Whatever the reason, this is a Good Thing. On my first and only scooter accident a few years back I was carrying one of those huge bottles of water in front and saw what happens to anything standing there even in a 20km/h slide. I feel like smacking any parent who sticks their 4 year old child on a scooter, let alone those who don’t even bother getting a helmet.

This is something that makes me feel ill quite frankly.

Where I’m from if a parent drove kids around on a motorcycle without helmets, the dept of social welfare would be very interested in their case. We must assume that Taiwanese parents don’t love their children any more or less than parents in our own countries so it probably comes down to education.

No kids ever have their seats belts on either and are jumping around the car like a frog. Are parents really too stupid or am I just too safe to handle?

I once asked a mommy why she let her child on the scooter without a helmet.

Her reply: “He is still growing and it’s expensive replacing the helmet every few months.”

It’s not an issue of education IMHO… Any idiot with an even half developed capacity for basic primate level reasoning can figure out the horrific potential repercussions of having little Chenny bouncing off the asphalt at 60km/h on his skull… The Taiwanese for some reason just do not have an issue with taking brazen, foolish, wholly unecessary risks… It seems the entire “minimize unnecessary and potentially catastrophic hazards” mind set that is entirely present in other Asian and Western cultures, just doesn’t exist here… and it’s not just rolling the dice with their kid’s lives either, it’s everything, everywhere :loco:

whether it’s motivated by some misguided belief in fate or good old fashioned ignorance or cheapness, I couldn’t say… but my personal suspicion is that it’s a mix of boorish ignorance, crass selfishness and fundamental cheapness…

In my more cynical moments I’m inclined to think, “Who cares, they should repeal all helmet laws and if idiots who don’t wear helmets end up smeared all over the streets, great! It’s natural selection in a brutal modern context.” :smiling_imp:

But here’s a big :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: for the 1 parent in 100 who has proper correctly sized and fitted kiddie helmets…

^^^ d00d!, take a chill pill. No way am I gonna get in a wreck today. I went to the temple at the weekend and paid my due$. I’ve got so much good luck I’m virtually bulletproof. :unamused:

[quote=“dumbassmom”]He is still growing and it’s expensive replacing the helmet every few months.[/quote]Finest example of antilogic I’ve heard this year, right up with last year’s winner.

The four kids were of course all on the scooter with dumbassmom and dumbassdad…