I am being a devil’s advocate above. If someone wants to ride a motorcycle with no helmet, operate a car with no seatbelt, do a stadium jumping round with no helmet, or not wear a vest cross country that is fine with me.
Just as long as the behavior does not jeopardize others.
As we used to say in the trauma business, it generates good teaching cases for resident training.
Playing along…
There are not laws about an expiration date on your motorcycle helmet or your seatbelt for every day use.
(said by someone who did replace their helmet because of its age and who owns an approved vest.)
I just find it frustrating when we make things impossible for most.
Sure, those that live near big events and seasonal showing venues can zip out and buy a helmet, pulling from the back to make sure they get the best date.
Those of us who can rarely find our size at the one place near them that sells helmets are not so lucky. We have to order online.
I know you’re playing devil’s advocate but… People getting needlessly injured or killed does affect others through negative externalities. Even aside from the emotional/financial toll on their families, we all pay to some extent in higher insurance rates, higher costs for medical care, and higher taxes to support emergency services and government assistance such as disability benefits. In the case of seatbelts and motorcycle helmets, those fatalities also cause protracted road closures during the investigation that can affect tens of thousands of people. Also an unbelted occupant can kill or severely injure someone who is wearing their seatbelt by becoming a projectile.
In the case of horseback riding fatalities, each one has the potential to scare away a future rider or horse/landowner, increase event insurance costs and thus entry fees, and chip away at our social license. It’s nice to pretend that everyone’s decisions are made in a vacuum, but it’s hardly ever true.
It does affect others though. It affects the entire sport, from a PR perspective and from a liability perspective for the individual events and the USEF/USEA. We give up some of our rights to individual freedoms when we choose to participate in and benefit from organized sports.
The sport also has a large contingent of minors who aren’t old enough to make informed decisions on personal risk. The rules should protect them, and as long as we’re setting that standard for minors it may as well apply across the board.
I bought my first new XC vest in 2000, the standard Tipperary eventer. I finally upgraded and bought a new Tipperary (the approved style) vest for shows in 2020.
I still wear the old one A LOT; it usually lives in my truck. It is my gallop vest, my breaking babies vest, my “Oops, I forgot my show vest in the other trailer” vest. The old vest is just slightly lighter weight than the new one, it has one or two very small worn patches on the fabric at the arm holes, but otherwise is in good shape. It’s dirty, stained, and I would prefer it to get covered in baby horse spit than my nice show vest. I’ve had minor falls in it, and I don’t feel like an approved vest would have been any more protective in those instances.
Nice show vest is reserved for XC schools and competitions. It is just slightly more bulky and hot than my old vest; not a problem in a 30min xc school, but more noticeable galloping 10 horses on a muggy FL morning. Could the foam be deteriorating a little bit? Sure, I guess. But it still offers roughly the same level of protection it always has…it won’t protect me from any kind of crush injury, but it will disperse some energy and may soften a blow from a hoof or cushion a fall on uneven ground.
Here in the presently over-heated land of ponies, at the start of each BE season all competitors must show their helmet to the Show Secretary to prove it is up to the required standard. A coloured sticky label is attached to the harness, which is valid for that whole season. New year, new colour. If the helmet is not upon to standard, the rider will have to sort it before they can run.
BETA is withdrawing the purple 2009 safety label on body protectors because some of them may now be 15 years old and so are considered too old to be safe, given the slow degradation of the materials. There has been a long lead time for the change as the most current label is 2018. Designs have changed a lot over the period. The BETA labels are attached to the exterior of the body protector so they are clearly visible. Next year, the poor secretaries will have to check body protectors too as wearing one, of the correct standard, is a BE requirement. The 2009 can still be used for hacking etc, just not in BE competition.
As I own only one precious head and I just don’t bounce back from injury as I did many years ago, I’m happy to comply.
On their own people can do what they want, but if they want to compete with their cars or motorcycles they are required to use safety gear.
Same as riding - do what you want at home, but safety gear is required to compete in some disciplines.
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