I wear a seat belt in a car because in my work in insurance, I have noted that people who do not wear seat belts are generally worked harder in an mva. Of course, when I was 17, I was in an mva without a seat belt on and, although I shattered a femur, I would have likely died with the belt on because of how one side of the car was crushed (and I would have been, too, had I stayed on that side of the car). Seat belt laws are based on vast amounts of data compared to what we know about kiteboarding safety, yet there are still countervailing arguments to mandatory seat belt laws. Those laws are based on odds, but some people still get killed by safety devices such as air bags and seat belts.

Maybe the helmet controversy is more analagous to the motorcycle helmet laws. Some bikers fear that they can cause a more serious injury under some circumstances. Some bikers just don't want to wear them and resent the idea of a nanny state telling them what to do and when to do it at every turn. I am not surprised to see the same concerns here.

Other safe riding habits will go further than helmets. Putting a helmet on and then thinking that you are safe no matter what is like putting a seat belt on, congratulating yourself for being safety-minded, and then driving 100 mph in a pitch-black rainy windstorm in a car with bad brakes and bald tires.

If it's all about safety, then we should not be jumping or doing powered moves, kiting in gusty wind, kiting without boat support, kiting if there are any pollutants in the water, kiting for too long in the sun, kiting in shark-infested waters, kiting if the spot is crowded, kiting at night, kiting at dawn, kiting on the wife's birthday or Christmas morning, etc.

Let's regulate other riders only when their behavior directly threatens others (i.e., a newby launching a kite hot on a crowded beach, etc.). I don't want to be a nanny to anyone else and I am certainly not looking for a nanny to take care of me.