Many among you forwarded to me the story of the motorcyclist participating on Saturday in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York who died after he flipped over the bike’s handlebars and hit his head on the pavement. Apparently, the motorcyclist hit the brakes, causing the bike to fishtail and spin out of control. 55-year-old Philip A. Contos of Parish, N.Y., was driving a 1983 Harley Davidson with a group participating to the 11th annual Helmet Protest Run, which is put on by the Onondaga County chapter of American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE). New York is one of 20 states that require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets.
Not surprisingly State Troopers immediately stated that Philip A. Contos would have survived if he was wearing a helmet. Maybe, maybe not. Nobody will ever know. But an opportunity for me to remind people that motorcycle groups lobbying to repeal helmet laws believe that the government has no right to make helmets mandatory, saying that it should be up to the individual motorcyclist to make that decision. Their aim is mainly to support the training and education of bikers and lobby state and national transportation officials to invest more funds into motorcyclist training, and less into bike-specific roadblocks. Studies pretending that a helmet that meets federal standards reduces the wearer’s chances of being killed in an accident by more than 40 percent continue to be challenged by many trauma specialists in hospitals. I am pretty sure that ABATE and other groups fighting helmet laws will not change their viewpoint on this topic because of this accident.
i wont cheer someones death ,or wish harm on anyone who does something bold faced stupid so “i told ya so ‘s ” or “serves ya right’s ” in the face of a grieving family doesnt have to be the only things said .An event like this ,like indian larry’s crash ,like gary busey ,like any hosital on any given day with some trauma nurse trying to hold someones head together after removing a “novelty” helmet ,it just goes to show that no matter how many times you tell or show someone that what they do is going to have major consequences ,the only person that you need to concern yourself with listening to that advice is yourself .Now if we could only get people like that to sign a waiver saying that if they crack open thier head that they take full responsibility and will find thier own way to thier own hospital and it wont cost me a dime ,or 2 seconds of my time .
As I recall federal standards are pretty low-actually helments are not “legally” good for anything over 15-20 mph crash. I know lawyer talk, I thought I had read that insted of having a 100 ft tower to drop test the feds used a 10 ft tower 10 times. Does any reader have real info how good helments are? what speed? I remember that I “saw” that a lot of full face helments were doing damage when being removed, other helments were causeing spinal problems when they were forced back. Are these “old wives ” tales or is there any truth?
I lost a brother who was wearing all the latest and greatest safety equipment at the time of his death. His helmet only had the tiniest little mark on it, yet he died from massive head trauma. I believe that as free individuals, we have the right to make our own decisions as to whether or not to wear a helmet and not be mandated by the government as how to best care for ourselves. Yes HK, people should take responsibility for their own actions…something that is sorely lacking in this country.
I am sorry for the passing of the rider.
I agree that it is ultimately a choice, just like choosing to wear a jacket and jeans or chaps. Yesterday it was close to 90 here, I rode with a girlfriend. She decided that shorts and a halter top were the way to go, I was sweating quite a bit more in jeans, jacket, and helmet. I won’t lecture her about that though.
I hope I never get into an collision or go down on my bike (once was enough) because of operator error. I figure that if I can move things even a few percentage points in my favor, and walk away from that crash, isn’t it worth it? Even if I trash out my jacket or my helmet or all of it, the $500 or $750 of riding gear that I’m wearing when I go down, isn’t that still cheaper than my life?
I moved to Florida last year and I am thankful that I have a choice. Now that I have a choice I find myself “choosing: to wear a helmet more often than not. Again this is “MY” choice and I will argue with anyone regarding the value of liberty. It is my belief that helmets do their best work in a semi-controlled situation (Drag strip, Motocross, etc.). The human neck is designed to handle the weight of the human head, not the weight of a human head +2 lbs of helmet. Inertia in a collision can cause whiplash and perhaps even more severe spine injuries but you will NEVER here any law maker or insurance lobbyist talk about that. It is easier to cram information about closed head injuries down our throats.
No amount of safety gear is going to prevent a careless motorist from causing a collision with you while they are texting on their I-phone or looking through their Ipod to find The Smith’s “How soon is now”. There are two types of motorcycle riders; those that “have” wrecked and those that “will” wreck. Treat every motorist as if they are trying to kill you and learn to rely on more that faith, leather, your helmet and your mirrors. Take a defensive riding course (I recommend Harley’s Rider’s Edge) and be a vigilant rider.
I never fault anyone for wearing ample safety gear but I do fault riders who rely solely on safety gear and then perpetuate the belief that “Motorcycles are dangerous” when they aren’t riding in a careful manner.
Would anyone advocate that a superbike rider or race car driver not wear a helmet and what would be the reasons behind that ?.Apples and oranges maybe ,but they wear safety gear for a reason and i cant see how riding on the street is any less dangerous ,i would say its MORE dangerous .Ive ridden sportbike for 15+ years and i never ride without protection head to foot .Ive been in a few tumbles and ive hit my head and dragged my body ,and without a physics degree or doctors diploma i know for a fact the gear had an important role in why i walked away . There is a reason they write “do not drink” on bleach bottles and signs that tell you not to put your hands in a wood chipper ,people arent smart enough to make thier own intelligent choices sometimes.Its not a “right” to ride a motorcycle on city streets,its a privilege…otherwise you wouldnt need a licence ,or a licence plate ,or insurance or red lights or stop signs it would be a free for all with tom dick and harry with 5 minutes of riding experience on a 200hp hyabusa filling the hospitals with bloody examples of why we need a few rules now and then .It is your right to run for office and try and change things tho.”THE MAN ” isnt always trying to hold us down ,sometimes…..SOMETIMES,hes the voice of reason when we are too thickheaded to listen to some common sense.
only I should be responsible for protecting ME from myself, I think any rider willing to sign a waiver at the time of getting a valid motorcycle license relieving the state(s) from medical responsibility should be able to do so in exchange for the option to choose. I have my own insurance, I police myself, I am responsible for ME.
dying doing something you love is for people who haven’t done enough yet .
If there is a waiver to sign ,they should add a section where it says .”if i fall off my bike and crack my head and i become a vegi burger ,feel free to bulldoze my body to the side of the road so i dont block traffic and let my family come and give me first aid when they have some spare time”
Looks like we have a militant safety Nazi here. They call it ATGATT. Short for All The Gear All The Time.
Awareness, education, and experience are what prevent the majority of accidents or lessen the degree of injury in accident.
Half the problems occurring in this country involve the people who want to tell other people how to live, what to eat, what to wear, etc. ad-nauseam. The other half involve socialists who want to legislate behavior and morality. It has never worked but it has ruined a lot of lives.
This is America, and on this Independence Day, I believe we need less laws, more freedom, smaller government, and a ban on nannies. Okay, maybe not a ban on nannies, just the right to continue to tell them where they can put their opinions and their laws.
Irony can be a real bitch and I’m sorry this rider lost his life. He was clearly doing something he strongly believed in and would probably be the first to say, if he could, that he wouldn’t have changed his mind about the protest on helmets. The cops sometimes say weather or not a person was wearing a helmet or not or if it would have made a difference. They are not experts and don’t have that right as professional law men and women. All they can say, if they know it for a fact, is whether or not the rider was wearing a helmet. What about all the ATGATT people who die anyway? What about those full face helmet wearers who end up quadriplegics? Personally; I’d rather check out than live like that but that’s just me.
to boomer ,is that page 5 or 6 from the “live and die free” handbook ?
I wear gear all the time because i like to ride hard ,been down on racetracks and dont have the time to spend picking gravel and changing bandages on a summer day instead of riding ,but hey we all need hobbies i guess.
I never said it shouldnt be a choice,but it should be a choice of mine to ridicule and step over a bleeding watermellon headed body when that person screaming for more freedoms and wraping thier head with a flag instead of a helmet is lying lifeless in my path .Would you play football without a helmet ? Ill agree that a helmet when skydiving is pretty pointless but what about a helmet on a contruction site ?Have you never bumped your head on a low door ,or fallen over backwards and smacked your head on the ground ? I will challenge anyone to a head butt competition and i will wear the helmet and they can choose a sweet skulled headband or thier choice of stylish harley davidson safety do-rags.
do what you want with your body ,i will NEVER force someone to wear anything more than they think is needed to stay in one piece ,but dont take a penny or a moment away from people with more sense .
A helmet is not going to keep your leg from breaking or your ribs from shattering ,but the odds lean towards a better chance of not becoming gary busey in a crash and thats cheap insurance IMO.
again can anyone tell me how helmets are checked?
I rarely wear a helmet. However, anyone who makes claims that they don’t offer head protection in a crash is delusional or in denial.
I live in Florida and almost always wear a helmet. While I don’t like mandatory helmet laws, we as a rider society talk the freedom talk, but don’t walk the responsibility walk. 72% of motorcycle related head injuries exceed insurance claims and end up burdening either the hospital (insurance payer), the tax payer, or both. If you want to risk your noggin, and I support you in that right, then carry adequate coverage of at least $300,000 so that I don’t have to pay for the feeding tube in your belly.
I don’t believe helmets should be mandatory, but they do save lives. Will it save you if you t-bone an SUV at 60mph….Probably not. But if you take a spill at 25mph around a corner, there’s good chance. My buddy was ran off the road and went down doing no more than 20-25mph. His helmet had huge gouges taken out of it from the sidewalk, yet his head was fine. If he hadn’t been wearing it, he’d be dead. Plain and simple.
I’m completely against any law telling me I have to do something to save my own ass. Helmets, seatbelts, etc…. Leave those choices up to me. But if some dumbass falls off his bike without a helmet and dies at a speed that he’d most likely live through…. fuck-em. 🙂
DNR … works for me
Boomer has it spot-on:
“…Half the problems occurring in this country involve the people who want to tell other people how to live, what to eat, what to wear, etc. ad-nauseam. The other half involve socialists who want to legislate behavior and morality. It has never worked but it has ruined a lot of lives…”
-nicker-
Ok guys…..Remember Dale Earnhart…..HE was wearing all kinds of safety gear….its always the sudden stop that gets you…your just a little bit better protected with gear and a helment…you still have that sudden stop that your brain cant handle….
Brother Tiberius….Your a smart guy to wear your gear….but wait till the girlfriends parents sue you for all her medical bills or wrongful death…….GoodLuck.
SSDD;David
Come on guys… “a little better protected if you wear safety gear”??? No, about 100 times better protected.
And as for the post about what speed a helmet protects against – you can’t put a number on it. They can protect against a G deceleration load, which is orders of magnitude higher than an unprotected head.
It’s not just about hitting a wall head on (which rarely happens). if you fall off your bike and slide down the road, it will protect you on the 6 foot drop from your bike to the road…. which could happen at 70mph as you slide to a stop.
There are always anecdotal stories about the guy who drowned when his seat belt trapped him in his car, or the mountain climber who got tangled in his rope and hung himself, or the welding helmet that caught fire and melted plastic to the guys face. These are the exception. You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that seat belts, welding masks and climbing ropes do infinitely more good than harm – and helmets too.
I don’t care too much if other people don’t want to wear helmets. It sets a bad example to their families and to new riders, and most of them do it because they are trying desperately to fit into the “biker culture” and they aren’t mature enough to get past the peer pressure of doing their own thing… but if they want to weld without a mask and climb without a rope, let them. But when they take a fall like the guy I saw and hit their chin on the ground, cracking it down the middle back to their neck and when they try to move their mouth, the two halves of their chin just move side to side like some kind of alien ant, I don’t wanna hear any whining about it.
Helmets are designed to protect the skull, not the brain.
And HK needs to sign a waiver saying that if he’s going to continue to post like an idiot, he’ll repay everyone for the time they lost reading his nonsense.
Helmet mandates are effective. When helmet laws are enacted, motorcyclist fatalities decline by 30%.
That’s a pretty strong number.
In states that don’t have mandatory helmet laws, 40% of motorcyclists don’t wear helmets.
For all the talk of “cagers” not taking your safety seriously, that is a strong number of motorcyclists who don’t take their safety seriously themselves.
The reason laws like this ever come up in the first place is to help save lives. Not for a government to force a nanny state upon it’s citizens.
A more united front from motorcyclists demanding their safety from careless drivers by doing everything in their own power to protect themselves is the only way we are going to get anyone to pay attention to the other side of this coin.
Getting all bikers on the same page about the value of our lives gets a lot more attention than loud pipes.
CallMeRabbit? ” In states that don’t have mandatory helmet laws, 40% of motorcyclists don’t wear helmets. ”
Would you cite your source please?
to MF -if i stop posting like an idiot ,how are you ever expected to understand it ?
helmet=open casket ….no helemt=closed casket… i race a lot and i ride alot..my choice how my family sees me when im dead! nuff said
Check out pages 7, 18 & 19
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811399.pdf
The chart on pages 18 and 19 might be interesting to somebody. It has history of helmet laws by state; repealed – reinstated – repealed.
I’m with “HK” on this one…I am a Northern CA motorcycle dealer and we have a strong road racing customer base. All of the OEMs use racing–dirt or road–to develop new products and technologies. The OEMs research and development budgets are beyond what any of us could ever imagine or spend ourselves. All that time and money that OEMs spend on racing generates great products, data and useful information about new technologies, statistics and product development strategies. It was determined a very long time ago by our OEMs that wearing a helmet and protective gear reduces the chance of injury for all racers and riders. Race promoters agreed and made it a mandatory requirement for any professional racer. We would never even think of watching our favorite MX or road racers race without helmets every weekend. How can we realistically think it is a good idea to not wear a helmet when we ride? The answer is right in front of our faces every race weekend. There is a reason every racer has a helmet on–statistically, helmets increase his/her odds of survival! All the information we need to make a decision on helmet use is right in front of our faces–demonstrated by the people who ride for a living! To favor a “Helmet Laws Suck” position in the 21st century when we have all of the information we need is nothing but ignorance and pride. We are motorcyclists and by nature take pride in our independence. We don’t like being told what to do, or how to do it. And yes, we take a risk everytime we get on a motorcycle. However, HK nailed it when he said “…’THE MAN’ isnt always trying to hold us down ,sometimes…..SOMETIMES, he’s the voice of reason when we are too thickheaded to listen to some common sense.” AMEN HK!!!!!!!
http://www.google.com/m/url?ei=4U4TTrj1NOm0tweFgN_5AQ&q=https://www.msu.edu/~telder/donorcycles_current.pdf&ved=0CBUQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNHamtzz3b5KiJl3cTuoyQw3XscKSQ
It’s in .pdf form but it’s all there. This research paper has the numbers in there but it refrerences DOT research as well.
Funny thing, I was looking for this paper to justify not having motorcycle helmet laws bit end up changing my mind after I got a look at the numbers.
The paper is about mandatory helmet laws, the states that don’t have them and their affect on organ donor waiting lists.
I wanted to say that if a rider doesn’t want to wear a helmet and wants the added risk to his safety then by all means give your organs to someone who might need them. Unfortunately the numbers just aren’t there. In a universal system with no mandate, helmet-less organ donors would affect the list by less than +1%. Thirty percent more motorcyclist lives are saved when helmet laws are enacted.
The amount of lives saved with helmet laws outweighs lives saved without them.
Mucking Fonster –
That’s a nice summary of some of the helmet standards out there.
Any of you guys recall that study that Motorcyclist Magazine did a few years back? Yeah, it turns out the ‘softer’ DOT spec was actually better at limiting high-G shock loads than the supposedly better Snell standard. A couple of helmet companies pulled their ads, but Motorcyclist ran the story anyway. The euro standards are a little better, but what we need are helmets that will basically shred themselves protecting your gray matter from sudden impact.
That said, I always wear a helmet, not just because it’s the law in WA, but because I figure if the professionals do it, it’s probably a pretty good idea. Oh, and because the weather up here is usually cold and/or wet, not to mention it’s one more accessory I can customize. The choice is up to you…
More people die in the bathtub than anywhere else. I suppose you want everyone to wear scuba gear in the tub now, too. Chowderheads.
The ride would have never taken place without the New York State Government saying that helmets are mandatory. A nanny state holding citizens hostage at gunpoint for a plastic hat?
scuba gear doesnt protect you from harm ,it helps you breath under water .Good comparison ,whats next ? ..more people die from bullets shot out of a gun than thrown by hand ?
instead of being up in arms against “the man” for asking you to use some common sense ,why not just plain old worry about your safety and well being .When your mom told you not to run with scissors she did it cuz as a kid your not smart enough to understand you could kill yourself if you fall on them ,so when the “man ” tells you you are more likely than not to protect your head in a crash with a helmet its not because they need more rules ,they just want less stupid ……hmm wait ……..im with the no helmeters ,its def a chance for less stupid in the world.
I had a really bad crash on Halloween night in 1986. I was in a coma for 29 days. I was told by my doctor that I was lucky I wasn’t wearing a skid lid. If I had worn one, my minor injury to my neck would have been a deadly neck break because of where the helmit back sits on the neck. The helmit is more dangerously designed because it cuts down on side vision, hearing (both of which could save a life) and in the sumer it makes you so hot that you get dizzy or faint. I don’t feel like passing out on the highway because of “safety equipment” or killed because I couldn’t hear or see the car that ran a light or backed out in my lane so they hit the side of my bike. I have ridden for 44 years and have over 2,500,000 miles on bikes with only two accidents. One was when we had the helmit law here and I didn’t see the drunk run the red light and the other was without a helmit but she came over to my side so far that I was 48 feet into a yard before she finally got to hit me. I would rather not have to wear a helmit because I value my life and don’t feel like dying just because some person that is already rich bought some senate or congress member to vote the law in just so they can get richer. I wear boots and jeans to protect myself but a helmit is a dangerous item and I will never wear one. RIDE FREE !
Somewhere up the page, it was said that helmet laws reduced mc fatalities by 30%….in my state, education programs reduced fatalities by 50%. People who have riden for years and worked out the physics of staying alive on your mc, teaching new riders the same. What a concept. By reading the above letters, blogs, whatever there is one poster (at least) that I expect was the assclown that nearly put me in the graveyard at the gap last september, or at least of the same ilk. This is America, if you want to where all that gay looking gear to ride on the road, then by all means, exercise your right. I know very well the posibilities, without them, riding would be no more attractive than driving a cage. I also know that many accidents (auto on bike) that were the cars fault, could have easily been avoided if the rider was tuned in to what was happening around him. It’s called situational awareness. I play a game called invisable, I just expect every driver of every thing I see is gonna fuck me first chance they get. Doing that I find they rarely get the chance. If you’re afraid to get scuffed up or killed, don’t fuck with it. I hope not to get scuffed up or killed but it is not enough of a deterrant to keep me from doing what I love, how I love to do it. If the assclown road racer wannbe that ran me off at the gap is reading this….karma is a bitch baby.
Helmet laws do indeed reduce motorcycle fatalities, but only because many stop riding or ride fewer miles.
Who do you think is the single biggest lobbyist for mandatory helmet laws in every state? Who spends the most money by far year after year trying to make mandatory helmet use a federal law? That’s right, the insurance industry.
But not for the reasons you might think. It’s not because they’re concerned for our safety; they could care less if we all died tomorrow. No, their motive is the oldest one of all, greed.
Since the overwhelming majority of accidents involving a car and a motorcycle are the car driver’s fault (statistical fact), insurance companies almost always end up paying a huge settlement to the motorcyclist on behalf of their careless cager client. As you know, hitting a motorcycle isn’t like hitting another car, it’s far more deadly and far more expensive than a dented fender.
In every state that has a helmet law but then repeals that law (like my state, Florida), motorcycle registrations soar, absolutely without exception. Conversely, in states that have no helmet law but then enact one, motorcycle registrations plummet, again, without exception. These are easily checked facts.
Also, when a helmet law is repealed, motorcyclists on average ride many more miles due to not being as uncomfortable. And again, the reverse holds true. Consequently, the more motorcycles on the road and the more miles they travel, the more motorcycle accidents there will be. That’s not just a statistical fact, it’s simple logic.
The insurance industry figured all this out years ago. Simply by reducing the number of motorcycles and miles traveled, they can save billions of dollars in claims each and every year. And what’s the most effective way to get motorcyclists to ride less or stop riding altogether? Force them to wear a helmet. But not just any helmet, it has to be so big and heavy that it actually causes physical pain if worn for long.
And what’s the most effective way to force giant helmets on all motorcyclists? Bribe politicians, pay off journalists, sponsor big ad campaigns and convince cagers (aka the vast majority of voters) that they’ll no longer have to worry about killing or injuring bikers once we’re all wearing Gazoo-style helmets.
Fact: Most motorcycle deaths are caused by internal injuries, not head injuries.
Fact: The majority of riders who do die from head injuries die wearing DOT-labeled helmets.
Fact: Even the government admits no helmet is effective at speeds above 15 mph.
Fact: This year 28 times more cagers will suffer traumatic brain injuries than motorcyclists.
Ah shit…
Ball-peen hammer or large crescent wrench in back pocket. They don’t require permits…knock the fucking passenger side mirrors out when they stop at the light cause they don’t need them anyways.
If you pack just shoot damn holes in the rear doors…when you do get back up beside them. Didn’t want to bring this up, but had to pull the ol pistol on Million Mile Monday for a 70 plus bi-focaled bitch in an over-sized RV that had passed me then slowed down and immediately came over at me…should have seen her hit the brakes when I got back beside her and real fire came out the pipe her way…You just may surprised how much that has increased driver awareness in south GA.
Boss Hawg
i wanted to read most of it ,but after i read a “helmit “makes you hot and you could get dizzy and faint and then die of course ,or was it acsend to heaven on a sweet 900 lb casket of chrome ….i lost total track of what i was reading after that .Good thing i wasn’t wearing my “helmit” cuz when i slapped myself in the forehead with a “WHAT THE FUCK ” i could have broken my neck or worse ,,at least that’s what my doctor said .
Seriously ….i will pay a thousand bucks to see someone jump off a bike at 100 mph without a helmet .,If you think rider education is your best bet against a crash ,you better sign up grandma ,the kid in the hot rod import and the old dude in an RV having a stroke because they dont give 2 shits about your rights to wear a lid or your vast wealth of motorcycle skills.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,”
ATTGATT = ASSHAT
Look up the word unalienable!
To all you koolaid drinking sheeples…
Who here rides to be safe? I bet you all have cars and trucks. We ride to be “free.” To some that means no helmet.
Notice this statement from the article: “Troopers say Contos hit his brakes and the motorcycle fishtailed. The bike spun out of control, and Contos toppled over the handlebars. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.”
1. It’s pure speculation that he would have lived.
2. Based on the type of fall, there is a great likelihood that he would have snapped his neck and ended up a drooler.
It’s also ironic that the State of New York did a study on how helmet laws impacted the State of NY (in the late 60’s I believe). The result: an astronomical number of people with neck injuries. This study has been successfully taken away from the internet. That goes to show that those in control of the data are driven to achieve a certain agenda – to control us…. and you sheeple that are condemning this freedom-fight have swallowed the Koolaid.
Keep wearing your helmet and one day you too may crash and die. But at least society will have said, “Well, too bad, but at least he wore a helmet.”
But if you crash and become a vegetable, I’ll be the first one to say, “Poor slob, he shouldn’t have worn a helmet, and maybe he would have had a more merciful outcome for him and his family – death vs. a lifetime of quadriplegia.
The bottom line continues to be that there are those who believe in liberty, rights, and freedom, and there are those want government to force their ideas on others. Either you believe in liberty, rights, and freedom, or you do not. It really is that simple.
@ Bigfoot…couldn’t agree more.
You just listed the main reasons I usually choose not to wear a helmet (I’ve been riding in mostly urban areas for over 20 years); reduced peripheral vision, reduced hearing (I’ve never had someone sneak up on me when I haven’t a helmet on), reduced visibility from light deflection or the shield fogging up, increased sweat, neck fatigue, etc.
I have several friends that swear by helmets (as I used to), usually I don’t argue my point(s) when they nag me about it…I respect their choice to wear a lid. Based on MY experiences, I feel more in touch with my surroundings (thus SAFER) without one…and yes I have been hit in the face at speed by beetles, rocks, rain, etc. to the point of bleeding and swelling a couple of times, hurts like hell, but it’s never caused me to go down.
I would respect someones choice to not wear a lid if it wasn’t pepperd with “the man can’t hold me down ” ,,or “i might get dizzy and faint “,or i feel safer without one .If the argument was only that you dont wear one because you don’t have to if given the choice ,I can at least appreciate the honesty ….otherwise its all a bunch of idiot rhetoric disguised as liberty and freedumbs .
Seriously, if people really think they are safer without a helmet ,and a life could have been saved if someone wasn’t wearing one ,we are all in trouble of losing our rights to rational thinking .
Ok .we are done here ….this is over ! I going to contact mythbusters people and get them to do the test with thier dummy with thier shock sensors and ballistic gel necks and realistic torso’s and they will do as many tests as it takes to prove that a helmet more times than not will protect you in a crash at different speeds.
or try it at home and jump off your garage onto the driveway with a helmet and then without .I suggest you do the test WITH the helmet first .
HK,
I don’t wear a helmet all of the time. I wear a helmet some of the time. Gunpoint coercion sucks.
Realize this; it is none of your business nor that of the government(s) to make an issue out of nothing. Run the country right or sit down and shut up. Your opposing viewpoint rhetoric has missed the mark. In plain English, leave me alone.
If anybody needs a crash helmet, try riding at a skill level that doesn’t require the helmet. Quit running into things. If a helmet makes you the rider you want to be, wear it. Spend whatever you wish upon your helmet, leave my choice of helmet or no helmet out of your list of entitlements. You are not entitled to tell me what to wear nor what to do.
This last hurrah for Senator Frank Lautenberg has been a glaring failure of a scumbucket politician that stands on his record of sleaze and corruption. He is a blackmailer and a manipulator.
Mike Greenwald
When did i say YOU MUST wear a lid ? I said its impossible to understand the logic behind why a person wouldn’t .I didnt say it shouldnt be a choice ,I said the fact that its even plausible that someone thinks its going to kill you is goofy .I do believe the govt should not need to pester people into doing something they should already know ,and legislating common sense would seemingly be a total waste of time ,but in this context it makes sense .Please cite when i said its mandatry to wear a helmet because I said so ,and for some reason you feel compelled to make my opinion a fact i am forcing you to act upon .
Is it vanity that makes you not wear a helmet since you probably thought my song was about you ?
Ok i wil stop with the opposing view point ,no more posts on this subject from me .All i will say is yes, it should be a choice to do what you want ,when you want ,as you want and at whatever risk it may be.I just dont buy the bullshit about how its safer without one ,just say you dont wear one because you dont want to .The rest is pure bonkers.
out
Let’s call a spade a spade here. The simple fact is that pretty much all of the riders who ride without helmets don’t do it because they have performed some rational thought on the matter….
…it’s because they are trying to fit in with the crowd.
Do you think EVERY cruiser rider just happens to prefer blue jeans, leather vests, wallets-on-a-keychain, little beanie helmets (when required) and ridiculously loud pipes?
No, it’s just part of the costume. It’s like Valley Girls who just HAVE to buy the newest Louis Vuitton handbag because everyone else has it.
So these guys ain’t going lidless because they want to, but because they have to fit in with the crowd.
Mike,
Great points made as usual! I do not wear a helmet simply because I choose not to when I can as I feel like it without the law mandating such and I am definitely part of the costume.
Yes it should be a freedom of choice and if the energies most spend here were focused towards organized common goals we would all have more say so as to what we want and don’t want as a freedom of choice.
Boss Hawg
Wearing a helmet can increase your chances of surviving an accident most times but it is not a guarantee but riding safely and being aware of your surroundings at all times while riding will be much more helpful to your survival than any helmet.
I choose to wear a helmet “most of the time” but I do believe it should be a choice not a government mandate.
I ride to relax and unwind. I ride alone 90% of the time and my motorcycle doesn’t look like anything you’ve ever seen, fabbed many parts myself. My motorcycle is not a fashion accessory, I do not have a wallet connected to me by a chain, I wear jeans because abate taught me that they will slide on pavement for about 10 feet before the rash gets to your skin. I usually find a place to make a pretty hard pass at least once while I’m out. In short my motorcycle keeps me tethered to the planet. I don’t get the militant attitude by hk with regard to the merits or lack of by wearing or not wearing a helmet. We get it, you wear a helmet…maybe you’re right…maybe you’re a big pussy with a knight in shinning armor fantasy…I don’t know. I personally enjoy the adreneline rush (getting harder to attain with the passing of time) of riding fast when there is room to do so. If you think ATTGATT makes you smart or invincible, you would be wrong.The not smart point you have made abundantly clear in this forum and the invincible part will hopefully become obvious soon.
In PA, you can continually renew your permit for as long as you want without taking a test. However, all you have to do to earn your licensee is complete three non-stop figure 8’s inside a square outline. Pa does not require a safety course or a defensive driver course.
I will never deny that a helmet saves more people than they hurt just like a seat belt does. However, our government should worry more about making sure people are educated instead of making sure they wear a helmet.
I think they should have mandatory safety and defensive courses for every type of license. I also think every driver should have to pass a :driving: test every 10 years and if they fail, they loose their RIGHT to drive. Too many 90-year olds out there driving when they just shouldn’t be.
All the gear, all the time. Every time I ride in these warm summer months, I wear a full face lid, armored mesh jacket, composite toe boots, gloves, and chaps. Why? Because I was sitting on my bike three years ago at a stop light in Ocean City, MD when an asshole in a Durango ran into me at 50mph. I might’ve gone through the car in front of me, but I lived because of my gear. I will always defend what I believe to be our right to not wear a helmet. Why? Because I don’t want people peeing in the gene pool. Go out and ride without a helmet! Enjoy it! I’ll spend the rest of my life racking up miles and offspring.
“There are many things that we can point to that proof that the human being is not smart. The helmet is my personal favorite. The fact that we had to invent the helmet. Now why did we invent the helmet? Well, because we were participating in many activities that were cracking our heads. We looked at the situation. We chose not to avoid these activities, but to just make little plastic hats so that we can continue our head-cracking lifestyles.
The only thing dumber than the helmet is the helmet law, the point of which is to protect a brain that is functioning so poorly, it’s not even trying to stop the cracking of the head that it’s in…”
-Jerry Seinfled