Helmets, what's your take?

[merryman]

Last August my wife's brother and three buddies from Las Vegas took a weekend trip on their Harleys from Vegas to a Cabin one of them owned in the Utah mountains.

They wore their brain buckets untill they left the main highway and were riding on secondary roads about 10 miles from the cabin. After stopping for something they decided to do the last few miles slowly without them.

Comming around a sharp curve at low speed brother in law hit a deer!! Head hit pavement.

In a comma for two months

In intensive care for two more months

In hospital untill March (Hit the deer Aug 30--went home early March )

Then two months intensive rehab.

Off work from Aug. to the end of April, still having significant problems over a year later.



He now believes whole heartedly in wearing.

He had unbelievable insurance (worked dealing at the Mirage in Vegas) so it was all paid,

But, the main problem with the "Let those who ride decide", is that most people do not have insurance that can cover a million dollar claim and other taxpayers end up paying the "deciding"



Vaughn

 

[Hammer]

One thing that confuses me on this new freedom the bikers get is this.....



All this hoopla about their lids coming off so they finally get it, no lids mandatory... ... .



BUT.....



In my near 7,000 lb truck I need to wear a seat belt or face a citation & points... ..... Go Figure... ... ... . Andy

 

[smartineau]

I certainly do not like the government saying "You SHALL WEAR A HELMET. " As mentioned earlier "let those that ride decide" but when that person is injured we all end up paying for the medical expenses. They can be injured with or without the helmet, I think that it is a catch-22.



I myself won't ride on the street, I have picked up too many injured and dead guys on the road. This one guy had a "helmet laws suck" sticker on his ultra small leather covered skull cap. Well for whatever reason he put the bike down and slid into the tailpipe of a car, he barely put a bend to the tailpipe, he died.



I have picked up several that have trashed their helmets as they slid down the asphalt, sure they had some road rash and maybe a few broken bones but in the long run they were fine.



steve

 

[Steve M]

All good points but I still say the stupidity begins when we throw our leg over the seat with or without a helmet. I'm just a bit less safety consious than stupid for not putting the helmet on when I throw the leg over.

However, I wear my seatbelt every time, safety glasses anytime there's a danger to my eyes, skip the beers whenever I ride or drive, and I don't smoke.

Funny how people with all kinds of self induced ailments lay in the hospital with no insurance but let some lowly biker thump his cranium and we're reminded how he's a liability to society and family.

Also odd why we're not required to wear helmets in cars and trucks. Race car drivers wear helmets and they have all kinds of safety equipment around them. Do people with no insurance never have head injuries in car crashes? Helmets are too inconvenient and uncomfortable so helmet laws for four wheelers would never catch on.

Nothing's been said about rider skills, safe driving practices, or riding under the influence. Just wear a helmet and go like hell. The helmet will protect you!

 

[Shovelhead]

For all those trotting out the old "We have to pay their medical bills line",... ...



Who do you think pay the medical bills when a driver drinks too much and climbs behind the wheel?

How about the scoccer mom who's yapping on the phone in the SUV?

How about the 80 year old who can't turn their head, and sits on a pillow so they can see through the steering wheel.

Or maybe the Fast and the Furious wanna-be in the ricer?



Nobody's complaining about footing the medical bills when their choices leave them wrapped around a pole, upside down over a guardrail, or mangled up against an innocent driver's vehicle.



They are all choices.

And these choices usually wind up running over a motorcyclist.



We lost a local County Police Officer on his way to work two nights ago when a moron turned left in front of him as he was riding his Motorcycle on his way to work. #@$%!

 

[BreaksEverything]

well I think if you don't have the brains too wear a bucket then you don't need it any how

 

[Shovelhead]

Thanks.

 

[Harley152]

The "public burdon" theory goes out the window when one compares the price of a funeral to 10 or 20 years of quadraplegic managed care!!!

Let those who ride decide!!!



Jerry

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

Could care less about motorcycles.

well I think if you don't have the brains too wear a bucket then you don't need it any how

These two reasons are precisely the reason I wear one. The attitude of about 90% of the moron drivers out there. Especially around this area. (DC) No flame intended SledPuller. My guess is you meant you don't ride. I personally think they should make it mandatory for ALL drivers to go through some sort of motorcycle training prior to getting a drivers license, just to make them aware that they aren't the only ones on the road.



Jim

 

[JohnE]

I put down a street bike once. Wish I could say I was wearing a helmet for the correct reasons. It was cold and I didn't have my watch cap or goggles.

I had grass stains on the helmet from skidding upside down.



Picture this

Inexperience rider, full face helmet, no (minimal) shirt, no gloves, shorts, and sandals on an overpowered crotch car.

And you think riding without a helmet is stupid?



Let the rider decide.

 

[illflem]

The "public burdon" theory goes out the window when one compares the price of a funeral to 10 or 20 years of quadraplegic managed care!!!

Let those who ride decide!!!

I've read that's exactly why the insurance industry isn't fighting helmet law repeals in some states.

They'd rather you die.

 

[Mike Ellis]

Tough call for me. I am like smartineau, no urge to ride a street bike at all. But if I did, I wouldn't like the gubmint forcing me to wear a helmet. Ought to be the rider's choice as long as they are of legal age. I am the same on seatbelts, when I bought my 1-ton truck drivers of same didn't have to wear seatbelts. They amended the law here in Texas a year or two later to include 3500's, and presto! Now I'm illegal if I don't wear the belt. One day OK, next day criminal. Go figure.

I have ridden off-road a lot, and I always wore a helmet with motorcycle. Never wore a helmet while biking off road, or while riding horses. In fact, for the first 35 years of my life, I never saw ANYBODY wear a helmet riding horses around here. Now people get outfitted like skateboarders before climbing on.

In my view, let the individual take the level of precaution they are comfortable with. If they die from it, so be it. We are ALL going to die, no way out has ever been found by mortal man. I used to worry about safety to the extreme, but I no longer have the illusion that I am able to control all aspects of any situation.

Guess our entire nation is becoming feminized when it comes to safety legislation. Maybe it's a good thing, who knows. All I know is I am mighty, mighty tired of people searching relentlessly for ways to control every aspect of our lives.

 

[parcher]

Since the subject of horses came up, the Hurt Report state that you are several times more likely to be injured on a horse than a motorcycle. The average human head when dropped from a height of 6 feet will be traveling at a little over 13 mph. 13 mph is the magic speed for a fatal head injury. How fast would the average human head be traveling when dropped from the shoulders of a seated horseman?

 

[The patriot]

I'd like it to be determined by the rider if he/she wants to wear one.

Young passengers should be required to wear one.

I feel the same way about seat belts.

I wear seat belts about 75% of the time. If I gotta move, or get something on the other side of the truck at a stoplight, it gets taken off and usually stays off.

Helmets are mandatory here. I'd probably wear one anyway, but I dont feel everyone should be made to wear one. JM. 02

Eric

 

[Sled Puller]

Originally posted by Rams-n-Hogs

These two reasons are precisely the reason I wear one. The attitude of about 90% of the moron drivers out there. Especially around this area. (DC) No flame intended SledPuller. My guess is you meant you don't ride. Jim

Jim,

Yes, thats what I meant. I take extra precaution when driving around them, giving extra room, no smoking, etc.



The same courtesy I extend to little kids playing... ... . LOL!

 

[Shovelhead]

Morning news reports a man sitting at a red light on his scoot (helmet manditory state) was hit from behind by a female Moron in her car DWI .

The skid-lid was useless... ... . he died instantly.

 

[RustyJC]

My best friend was killed in 1972 riding a motorcycle on the beach at Galveston - with no helmet. Drag racing a car, hit a washout, went over the bars and head first into the sand. No big deal, you might think. Sand's soft, right... . not! He died of a fractured skull. I've been riding for 45 years and won't get on a motorcycle now without a helmet.



I used to have a "take it or leave it" attitude about seat belts until I was in an accident in a rental car. The engine wound up in the transmission tunnel, I went head first into the driver's side windshield "A" pillar, and the front seat passenger went head first through the windshield. I was lucky - just a concussion and some ugly contusions. The passenger had numerous surgeries for the next year. Now I won't get into a vehicle without buckling up, and if I'm driving, everyone else will be buckled up as well before the vehicle moves.



Experience can be a tough teacher... .



Rusty

 

[klenger]

I started wearing my seat belt religously after watching an Indy 500 race a couple of decades ago where someone crashed at around 200 MPH and walked away. The commentator (Jackie Stewart) had a video all queued up that demonstrated the safety of seat belts in passenger cars. We've worn them since that day, and have been involved in a couple of accidents since then. In one of them, my older daughter got a broken nose because she was riding in the back seat w/o her seat belt on.



Keep the comments comming.

 

[fkovalski]

originally posted by: Sled Puller-

Could care less about motorcycles.

DISCLAMER: meanings get lost in the written word. If I misunderstood your intention- my apologies. OTHERWISE- watch for the flame…



This is the attitude that kills motorcyclists- not the helmet issue. Motorcycle rider have the SAME right to the road as cagers do. If your attitude is that “I could care less about motorcycles,” (sic) then you should have your driving privileges revoked as well as your head examined! You might as well have the same attitude about another car because both are registered vehicles. You’re the reason that bikers are killed because you don’t give a I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER about their rights. I am mad as hell right now because of idiots like you who do not look for others on the road. Open your eyes- literally and figuratively!



Frank J. Kovalski

ABATE member

District 14

State of Colorado

 

[klenger]

Could care less about motorcycles.

Glad for the riders, though, small step, getting Big Brother off their backs.

I'm going to stick my neck out in defense of Sled Puller. I think he was saying he personally has no interest in motorcycles (nor do I). Note the next line is about the riders.



The key here is "motorcycles", not "motorcyclists".