I'm curious - how many of the self-righteous gear folks eat meat? How about grilled anything (meat or otherwise), given that we know that charcoal smoke and the blackened char spots on grilled food contain highly carcinogenic polycyclic aromatics? How many of you smoke? What about driving on the freeway when riding on surface streets will get you there a bit slower, but more safely? How about sleeping in a
bed without rails? Or
sitting on a chair? Or
any other furniture for that matter?
Now, I'm of the opinion that people should, for the most part, wear good armor clothes while riding their scooter. I looked at the likelihood of injury from a fall, the amount of damage to me prevented by gear in such a fall, and the comfort (and discomfort) of wearing said gear and came to a conclusion.
I still, however, eat meat, don't smoke, live in a city (where there's lead everywhere) sleep in a bed without rails, and have been known to use the stairs while under the influence of alcohol.
Risk is relative and the negative utility of a crash differs from rider to rider. Sure, people *should* wear long pants and no flip-flops while riding at the very least, but it's impossible to stake out an absolute moral high ground based strictly on adherence to particular safety guidelines if one does not also put railings on ones bed, and so on.