Last year, Ben Roethlisberger thought he didn’t have to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle. He nearly paid with his life.

This year, Josh Hancock felt he could drive home from a bar after drinking twice as much as the law allows for drivers. Then he pulled out his cell phone and called his girl friend. He never saw the tow truck he would collide with until it was too late to save his life.

And now it’s Hill, another young man who felt immortal and now is dead.

The cases are utterly different in circumstance but utterly the same in root cause. In both deaths and in Roethlisberger’s accident, people didn’t think ahead and consider what could happen. Or, if they did, they didn’t have enough respect for the dangers in what they were doing.

In Hancock’s case, that would have meant calling a cab. In Hill’s, it should have meant wearing a life jacket.

Depending on whose statistics you look at, either 80 or 85 percent of all drowning deaths in the United States could be avoided by the use of life jackets. In most jurisdictions, kids have to wear them by law, but adults are allowed to make their own choices.

The last thing we need is a law requiring everyone to wear life jackets when on the water. The nation is loaded with freshwater lakes that are placid and are used by fishermen and people in those pontoon party boats. And few things make a guy — or a girl — feel as silly as wearing a vest on a big boat on a placid pond. It’s hell on the tan lines.

But there are times when it makes no sense not to wear one. I used to do a lot of canoeing. On flat water, I didn’t bother with a vest. But when rapids were ahead, I pulled it on. I was a pretty good swimmer, but if you hit your head, you can be Michael Phelps and it’s not going to help you.

I wore one when water skiing, too. I never went jet skiing — I’m a sail guy and I don’t like the things — but if I did, I’d wear a vest. It’s just a prudent thing to do when you could get thrown or collide with something. Or get caught in an undertow on unfamiliar waters.

He wouldn’t play football without a helmet and shoulder pads. Why go jet skiing without a life vest?

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