Young people love speed– not to go anywhere in particular, just to go nowhere, fast.
We all remember the experience of flying through time.
But in Dumaguete delay is the order of time. It seems now that the law requiring motorcycle riders to wear helmets on the road has been delayed, once again, this time until next year. No doubt many people, especially the local youth, will be pleased to have yet another “grace period”.
Many people don’t want to wear helmets while riding, and for many reasons. Helmets are expensive, but more than that, helmets are hot, and in a hot country they’re even hotter. No one wants to arrive at work or school in the morning with their hair soaked and their face wet with sweat. 
And then there’s the “Freedom Factor”. Boys in particular like the rush of wind in their hair, the feeling of speed, the feeling almost of flying. The helmet on their head says “responsibility” “maturity”, and they feel imprisoned within it; they feel the grip of a dull future, already upon them.
And inside a helmet they feel cowardly as well, as though a concern for safety were somehow effeminate- though not many girls wear helmets either. These aren’t rational reactions, but teen-agers are irrational by nature. It’s understandable, but they should understand the consequences also:
One night, coming back with friends from Bais on a Fiesta weekend, We came across four crashed motorcycles beside the road like squashed insects. And later, in our headlights, one boy, bloody and crawling from his broken bike down the road. Of course we picked him up and took him to the hospital; but he was just one of many that night, and some of them probably died. It happens all the time.
Many young lives have been lost on motorcycles. And many of those could have been saved if the riders had been wearing helmets. It’s nice to feel free with the wind, but if you’re dead you won’t feel anything.
Everyone who has a bike knows that, sooner or later, you’re going to fall off; and if you’re carrying kids, they’re going to go down too. Everyone dumps their bike once in a while. It’s just the nature of riding on two wheels. If you’re lucky, you get away with just limping on bad knees.
But maybe next time you won’t be lucky.
