Radley Balko gets it right on Ben Roethlisberger:
Ben Roethlisberger is a grown-up. He made a grown-up decision. Consciously (he has boasted about not wearing a helmet when he rides). He's now paying for that decision. It's not the government's job to regulate away risk. It's telling that personal freedom is so scarce these days that editorial writers feel the need to put the word in scare quotes.
Bingo.
UPDATE: This story seems positioned to be hopeful about his return to the field, but then you read this:
Roethlisberger's doctors stressed during a brief news conference Tuesday that his knees are not injured, positive news for an athlete who needed knee surgery only last season.They also said his brain is functioning normally despite the concussion and the trauma of a crash that caused Roethlisberger to fly off his motorcycle and smack a car windshield with such force, his head left a glass-cracking dent in the shape of his skull.
"He is awake, alert, oriented and is resting with his family by his side," said Dr. Larry Jones, the chief of Mercy Hospital's trauma unit.
He could miss most of training camp, and is expected to lose weight because of the jaw injury. He'll need time to regain his strength, timing and conditioning.
Doctors also cautioned that medical problems can develop after such an accident, though all signs in Roethlisberger's case appear to be positive.
Sounds to me like they're crossing their fingers. Elsewhere, it seems that the Steelers warned the QB in writing that a potential injury while riding a motorcycle could jeopardize his contract with the team.
That’s fine for Ben, because if he is injured, his hospital expenses will be taken care of. But when a un- or underinsured motorcyclist gets a closed head injury that debilitates him (or her), the taxpayers will then pick up bill for hospitalization. And for fully insured cyclists, the taxpayers still may end up picking up the tab for long term disability payments — an insurance that few people bother to pick up. People who ride without helmets are free riders. They dance, and the taxpayers pay the band.
Golfblogger makes a good point. There’s a problem, however, when extending this logic to other at risk behaviors. How about laws mandating the wearing of protective gear while roller blading? What of the societal costs associated with obesity? Is this reason enough for greater regulatation of the fast food industry? No more than 2 Whoppers per week, lest the taxpayers have to pay for an uninsured’s bypass operation. Or ban Big Macs altogether. Where does it end?