I don't own a motorcycle so help me out here....why do many folks not wear helmets in states that don't require one? I'm just curious as I live in a no helmet state and if I did ride I don't think I would need the law to convince me to wear a helmet, just as I would still wear my seatbelt if it weren't state law.

 

One of the reasons for riding is the sense of freedom, being in the wind. For some people, wearing a bucket on your head cuts that feeling down. I ride, but wear a helmet. Whatever floats your boat.

 

I guess its because they have a choice. I live in Ohio, and You do have to where one if you only have your temps or its your first year with a license. I only had my temps and had an accident. I wasn't wearing my helmet. I didn't hit my head (thank god), but got cited for operating without a license.I'm not sure about anybody else but I used to get a killer headache when I wore my helmut.It also felt like a parachute going down the road, wanting to pull my head off. Alot of body heat leaves through your head, it impairs that function also. Maybe it has to do with the quality of the helmut.

 

Better a slightly less sense of freedom than a split open melon! I wear a helmet riding my atv...never know when something you didn't plan on is going to happen. However, being that people can make their own decisions, let the individual rider choose. Make a law that says somthing along the lines of 'A motorcyclist may ride on public streets with or without a helmet at their own discretion. If a motorcyclist who chooses not to wear a helmet is involved in an accident and suffers head injuries that motorcyclist must themselves financially cover the cost of medical treatment.'
Freedom while riding is great, but why should the general public pay the health care costs for someone who rides without proper protection?

 

Moved to appropriate forum

 

> why do many folks not wear helmets in states that don't require one

They want to test out the "organ donor" line on their driver's license.

 

First off I'd like to say that when I rode motorcycles, I sometimes did and sometimes didn't wear a helmet, but more often than not I wore one. I rode a Chopped Triumph highway bike for a number of years and never wore a helmet during those days. I also rode a dual purpose bike for a greater number of years and I wore my helmet 99% of the time with it, because I was playing real hard in the mountains or on dirt roads and trails. I have also had some fairly decent crash n burns with injuries. The way I looked at it then..as I probably still would, if riding today... is that if you get into a serious scrape with another vehicle at highway speeds, blow a tire and lose it ( usually pretty unlikely), hit a deer...whatever .... wearing a helmet can do one of two things. It may save your brain from severe damage or it may break your neck from the simple weight of the helmet on your head. It's anyone's guess as to what may happen when something happens at highway speeds or even at slower speeds playing off-road, but we are talking about just the "brain bucket" and not the total effect on your entire body. Riding a motorcycle is much more dangerous than being inside an auto. The amount of damage to any part of your body is greater than inside an auto. The simple act of wearing a helmet is not the magic answer to saving your life...but it can also help. There's no easy answer as to why any one person does or doesn't wear a helmet all the time. I personally think those guys wearing those goofy looking helmets on their bicycles is a total act of futility. You get hit by a car or truck on a bicycle and that little thing isn't going to do much for you at all.

I don't think that wearing a helmet is going to always be a life saver, nor is it always going to be a killer. For the most part, if you are in a serious accident, I don't think it's going to matter if you are wearing one or not. A couple of the crashes I was in...one of them the helmet saved my head from serious injury as my head whacked a rather pointed rock when I hit the ground..... the others..... it wouldn't have made a bit of difference.

 

my wife has been in the medical industry for 20 years, and has worked in many ER's. shortly after we meet i remember her pointing at a guy on a mortor cycle with no helmet shorts and a t-shirt on and saying "oh look organ donor" i asked her what she ment and she said "anytime we hear that a motorcycle accident victim is coming in we ask if they had a helmet on and if we are told no we call the organ removal team down to the ER to see what organs they can salvage because the victim in most cases does not make it"

 

Some of the people that i know that ride without helmets do it so they dont seem like a wussy. I would rather be a live wuss than a dead tough man. Ive been in 2 motorcycle crashes, my riding pants saved my hide when i had to lay my bike over to avoid hitting a car that had pulled out in front of me in my neighborhood. The second one was when i was riding on a trail and hit a covered washout. Bike flipped and i landed on my head. I keep the helmet in my garage to remind me to always wear my safety stuff for a reason.

 

[QUOTE=Knobby4604X4] Make a law that says somthing along the lines of 'A motorcyclist may ride on public streets with or without a helmet at their own discretion. If a motorcyclist who chooses not to wear a helmet is involved in an accident and suffers head injuries that motorcyclist must themselves financially cover the cost of medical treatment.'
QUOTE]


I'm quite sure you will also support a law that says "If an individual has modified his vehicle in any way from stock form to allow it to have high-speed/power capabilities, and that vehicle/individual is involved in a wreck said individual will be responsible for all financial costs resulting from said incident."

Its a two way street dont ya know, so before you wish something on somebody else, be sure to think about how it might be changed to affect you too!

As for helmets, there are plenty of dead/disabled riders who thought a piece of plastic would save them. The number one way to avoid injury is to avoid the accident (ie Rider and Motorist Education programs) If you know how to actually ride (and not just putter around on one) you will know how to avoid most accidents, and the ones you do get into you will know how to crash in such a way as to reduce the injuries you may have. 20 years riding (and 15 yrs rider instructing) experience speaking here... been down twice.... once at 70Mph when a Semi shoved me into the median, and once from a stuck throttle into a curve around 60.... no helmet either time, and both times walked away from the crash, and actually finished the ride out of state on the one that put me in the median (only damage was a busted brake line and bent brake pedal).

I'm off my soapbox now!

 

Well said! And as to the rest of your post...another well said. Not much else I can add.

 

as a rider for 11 years and a pro stunt rider for 3 of those years i have crashed about 25 times some slow some fast...i have looped over a wheelie at 70mph and ended up in a swamp, ill show ya the pix of the helmet with the stripe all the way to the fiberglass shell that if i wasnt wearing it i would be dead now...some where there was a deep gash in the material from things like road reflectors etc....i got leathers that have holes burnt in them from crashes and 5 pairs of gloves with the palms blown out from sliding and using my hands to steer away from stuff while takin that asphalt express ride....helmets have saved my life 4 times out of 25 crashes ...thats 4 times that if i wasnt wearing my lid id be in the ground now....i believe in them and i also believe that riders experience comes into play..a helmet isnt a sheild of invincibility sodont act as such but it will save you from medium level impacts and abrasive conditions if your head hits the pavement when you fall....now bear in mind that if you fall off at 40 and hit a guard rail helmet or not you are in trouble.....and knowing your riding limits are helpful as well...i have seen so many novice riders eat ***** trying to push themselves too hard to keep up with the pack....i wish it was like europe when it came to bikes....they have to start out on smaller bikes and work their way up to the larger ones.,...by the time you are allowed to ride a 1000cc you are 21 years old in some cases, here in the US you can walk in to a dealer and order a brand new literbike and become another statistic.....i worked for a yamaha / kawi dealer here in Tampa and i have seen it myself where a guy bought a new R-1 and beefed it in less than a minute flat!! one guy crashed 3 times before he made it out of the lot.....another almost died when he was struck by a pickup after pulling out in front of him and stalling....OW....so helmet or not ride safe and use your best judgement.....as far as im concerned, i dont wanna look down at my body as i leave this earth and say to myself "man oh man if only i had on a helmet id be at home now " take care guys

 

Here's a simple test....

Step 1

Take a 10 lbs melon and drop it from a four foot height while travelling at 35+mph.

That could be your head, when you have a blow-out tire, slide or fall.

Step 2

Take a melon and put into a DOT approved helmet (used, garage sale helmets are good for this). Follow step 1

Notice the difference?

Step 3

Destoy helmet, It has suffered an inpact and should be replaced (glad you used a garage sale helmet huh?)

 

Innapropriate test.... you forgot to strap on a 175-200lb weight (Avg adult male) to the bottom of the melon to simulate the added inertia and force of impact for the melon test. Now go out and drop it at 50Mph from the back of your pickup (have a friend help you do this) sliding of the road into the ditch, or a gaurdrail or telephone pole. Now go back and inspect the melon and be glad it wasnt your head inside the helmet, and that you took the riders ed course and know how to avoid being in a wreck.

STILL the number one way to survice a wreck..... DONT BE IN IT! (And if you are, know how to crash! Compare it this way, how many people have you seen that just panic and lock the brakes on the car when the **** hits the fan, whereupon a simple bit of proper training could have avoided the whole thing??)

 

I still remember the sound of the helmet hitting ground when I got flipped over the handlebars of my '89 Honda NX 650 (kinda a XL/XR 650 enduro with a lot more plastic) on a path in Upstate NY - wet morning grass, let off the throttle too fast at 50MPH, and the front-end oscillated out of control, throwing me over the handlebars (much higher gearing than stock, so the decelleration braking is pretty high).

The ground there is a mix of hard clay and rocks ... I still remember the sound of the helmet hitting as I went head first into the ground - made me glad I was still alive, even when my dislocated shoulder kept hurting over the next 1 and a half years...