Why a WHITE helmet

[Mel46]

This thread reminds me of something I saw recently while out riding in traffic. Around here the 50cc scooters are called "drunk-cycles" because those who have their license revoked (because of too many DUI'S ) usually buy one of those. They don't have to be licensed or insured (though if you read the law it says you need a valid license to ride one). Many times the high school kids buy them to go to school too.

Believe me when I say that many of those riders die because of their inexperience and because of the way they ride them in traffic.

That being said, I was passed by a guy on an old, low-flying Honda Elite 110. No tag on the bike, and he was weaving in and out of traffic, and going through red lights. He had a helmet on but it was not strapped. He had a thin tee shirt on and work man's boots, half laced. You could tell that he was using the bike just like someone with a suspended driver's license...recklessly. The police seldom, if ever, pull over the little 50cc scooters.

I happen to know that this one was at least a 110cc model because he passed me on a stretch of road that is a 55mph road, and I was doing 60 mph. No 50cc scooter can do that. He even left the cars behind. He eventually got caught up in traffic and I was able to pull up beside him in the next lane. No tag. Not even a temporary piece of paper on it.

It looked to me like he had bought an old, used scooter that he was trying to pass off as a 50cc scooter. I predict that he will become one of our statistics, in which case the helmet color will make no difference.