This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
"The motorcyclist wasn't wearing a helmet"..... SO WHAT!
On June 21, I blogged the following:Back on April 12, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine almost died after the SUV he was riding in driven by a state trooper slammed into a guardrail after it was clipped by a pickup truck.
Corzine was in the front seat.
He wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
That little tidbit of information sent the entire country’s news media into a frenzy.
Trust me; having once been in the news business 24-7, I know that reporters are programmed to immediately bark out certain questions when it comes to a car accident. One of the inquiries, in addition to questions about speed and possible alcohol use is whether or not people were buckled up.
If a motorcycle is involved, it goes without saying: the reporter will initially ask if a helmet was worn.
I wish I had a dollar for every radio or TV news script about a motorcycle accident that ended with this sentence:
“The motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time.”
The truth is the Governor’s driver was going 91 mph in a 55 mph zone when the accident occurred. Speed was the critical factor, not the lack of a seat belt.
And so I had to chuckle when I read this letter to the editor of the Janesville Gazette:
What's with helmet reports?
Editor, the Gazette:
Why is it that every time a motorcycle accident happens, the Gazette prints "and the riders were not wearing helmets"? What does that have to do with anything?
It is not a state law that you have to wear a helmet in Wisconsin as long as you meet requirements set forth by the Department of Transportation. I never read "and the motorcycle rider was not wearing underwear." As far as I know, that is not required by the DOT either.
JOE BARBIEUR
Janesville
Good stuff, Joe!
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