Riding a motorcycle without a helmet is much the same. More "fun" than riding with a bucket on your head.

The philosophy stating "It's my life and safety, and if I choose to risk it in pursuit of freedom, pleasure, or adventure it's nobody's business but mine" is overly simplistic.

When that motorcyclist riding without a helmet splits his or her head open a guard rail, or the out-of-bounds skier suffers permanent paralysis as a result of an avalanche, the reality is that it becomes everybody's business. We dispatch rescue teams or ambulances, typically at public expense and with a certain element of risk for the rescuers. Once the medical insurance runs out, (if the victim even has any medical insurance), the taxpayers will be subsidizing what could be $millions in medical care and or rehabilitation costs. If the victims die and leave minor children behind, the rest of us shoulder a larger tax burden for public assistance to feed, house, and educate the orphans.

It was more equitable back in the days of the wild frontier. If a guy insisted on taking a fishing trip into country occupied by a hostile tribe, he just accepted that fact that he could be killed as a result- and everybody would simply say, "Gee, too bad about Harry, wasn't it?"

Somebody who deliberately skied in an avalanche-prone area 100 years ago would be left to rot until the spring thaw. Both the responsibility and the consequences were more "personal" back in that era.