Helmets are Just Plain Dangerous

220Swift

220Swift

New Member
theapocalypsetimes.wordpress.com
This link is interesting. I don't know if it's been posted before, but I'm a rookie here so please forgive me if so.

50 State Helmet Law Review

The principle anti-helmet arguments seem to center around the potential for neck injuries in a crash, or reduction of field of view.

I will admit that after 24 years on two wheels, I have found there is a slight foundation for their latter point. Too slight to have any merit, though, in my opinion.

As far as the neck injury issue, I'll take my chances with my Shark RSX over the dollar store bandana any day.
 
I have experienced slight field of view issues with my helmet, but who cares about a neck injury in a crash when your skull is cracked wide open??

I understand these guys that don't want the legal and insurance crap about having to wear a helmet, but come on you're almost never safer w/o a helmet.
 
I cannot bring myself to ride without a helmet. I'll take my chances with neck injury over a smashed pumpkin thanks!

I've crashed on motocross bikes MANY times being to aggressive and never had a neck issue, but I did crack a few helmets in those days with no head injuries. :tup:
 
Helmets, adversely effect, your balance, field of vision, and can actually make a minor bump, much more serious by turning a glancing blow that'll give you a graze, into something more significant that makes your brain move around inside your head, due to the fact that it makes the dimensions of your "head" bigger, and your head heavier so it hits the ground harder.

Now I can see the argument in the case of pushbikes.


A helmet will go a long way towards stopping you smashing open your head, and grinding the front of your face off on the road (unless it's open faced) and the number of "minor bumps" you're likely to recieve on motorbike are few and far between. A full faced helmet, will also stop rocks and bugs from hitting you in the face, which can get pretty unconfortable at speed. You can ride in the rain, and the cold, and the hail.

I reckon the good stuff well and truly outweighs the bad stuff. Even if they weren't compulsory here I'd still be wearing one.
 
ozzieboy said:
I reckon the good stuff well and truly outweighs the bad stuff. Even if they weren't compulsory here I'd still be wearing one.
Click to expand...

Debris is one of the bigger reasons I wear a helmet... great points Mike!

Here in NH, a helmet isn't required but you'll never see me without it! :D
 
I don't get their points about neck injuries!

If you hit the road hard enough to cause potentially serious neck injuries while wearing a helmet then the damage that the impact would cause to an unprotected head would be almost certainly be life threatening, if not terminal!

Personally I'm all for helmets and most the time, in my case, full gear but I suppose it's up to the individual.

The thing that bugs me most here in the UK about people not wearing helmets/proper kit is that everyone else has to pay to put the rider back together when it all goes wrong for them. At least in the USA, if you bin it without a lid, you're the only one who's gonna be paying for your healthcare!
 
(uh oh... newbie jumping into a helmet thread)

There are all sorts of excuses... er... reasons not to wear a helmet. I'm against helmet laws because I don't like the government bossing me around. (ok, and because I'm in favor of Darwinism in action). Despite any articles like this, nobody will ever convince me that I should consider leaving my helmet behind... ever.

RANDOM REASON #210 - Out here in the desert (todays high will be 114 in beautiful downtown Phoenix) I hear it all the time - "Isn't it hot wearing that thing?"

Truth is, yes, it's hot. But it's nothing compared to the effect of a blast furnace at 75 mph. That s# just hurts!
 
let us not forget bugs...not gnats.. i mean BA grasshoppers,beetles,chicadas,
we have bugs down here that need a saddle ,and some that need FAA clearence to fly...:(
 
Red Alert, Shields Up!

On my last helmet, A Shoei RF-900, when it was less than a week old, I had an example of 1 very good reason to wear it. A passing gravel truck let fly a golf ball sized rock (he was speeding more than I was willing to) and I was hit on the chin, while a smaller rock hit my forehead (coresponding areas of the helmet). Had I been riding sans-helmet, I would have had missing teeth, most likely a broken jaw and maybe a concussion. This may have been compounded by losing control of the bike at speed, adding to the list of injuries or worse. Instead all I suffered from was a couple of paint chips on a brand new helmet and me being pissed off.

But maybe I'm vain....ride naked if you like afterall, think about how much heavier you are in all that armour, you might skid down the road (or hit it) slower, naked. :nana:

I skimmed through some of the self serving BS on that link, ( http://usff.com/hldl/frames/50state.html ) and all I could think was wow what a MORON in the case of each author.
 
Last edited:
Oldschool said:
On my last helmet, A Shoei RF-900, when it was less than a week old, I had an example of 1 very good reason to wear it. A passing gravel truck let fly a golf ball sized rock (he was speeding more than I was willing to) and I was hit on the chin, while a smaller rock hit my forehead (coresponding areas of the helmet). Had I been riding sans-helmet, I would have had missing teeth, most likely a broken jaw and maybe a concussion. This may have been compounded by losing control of the bike at speed, adding to the list of injuries or worse. Instead all I suffered from was a couple of paint chips on a brand new helmet and me being pissed off.

But maybe I'm vain....ride naked if you like afterall, think about how much heavier you are in all that armour, you might skid down the road (or hit it) slower, naked. :nana:

I skimmed through some of the self serving BS on that link, ( 50 State Helmet Law Review ) and all I could think was wow what a MORON in the case of each author.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more.

I was wearing an RF 200 (how's that for dating me?) when this spinning hunk of shrapnel came into view and smacked me just below the visor. It hit with such force that it rocked the whole helmet back on my head. It then bounced off my fuel tank, hit me in the chest and came to rest on my seat against my left thigh, where it proceeded to burn me so badly I nearly panicked and lost control.

I did manage to pull over and get the thing off of me. This was when I found out it was half of a lug nut off of some truck or other. They are big, and they get hot, let me tell you.

If I didn't have that helmet on it would've knocked out my teeth, split the lower part of my face open and probably broken my jaw as well.

I should've kept that lug nut, but I tossed it. End of war story. :zzz:
 
I'd like to keep what little grey matter I have left in my head. I've taken 2 major spills and if it were not for my helmet my nickname would be hamberger face, not that I'm much to look at but at least my daughter doesn't run away when she sees me.
 
I had a grasshopper land on my faceshield and it created a smear down the side of my helmet 6 " long . it gives me the eebies just thinking about it and if I hadn`t had my helmet on... EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwww I hate bugs
 
Abolish all helmet laws, really.
I am a ATGATT guy but if other riders choose not to wear helmets or other gear it should be their choice not ours. I am getting so tired of the government saying what we can and can't do.
Plenty of people have been hurt/killed with all the gear too. Isn't part of why we ride is for the freedom of the road? I think let it be their choice.
Do I chringe when I see someone with only a tiny bit of clothes while riding? Hell yes, but it's not my place to say anything- it's their choice smart or dumb.
Ok my little :rant: is over.
 
To all the ATGATT guys gals, does this include pants (armor). I mean comon, can a brother just head out in some jeans (claims to be armor) but not really? I'd hate to be looking the part but not really the part if you know what i mean. I'm requird to always wear long sleeves, long pants, over the ankle boots (not sneakers) and of course gloves, helmet, eyepro. However I can tell you if I take a spill, the long sleeves i wear will hardly protect me quite honestly.

So even though I have to meet certain requirements by Military standards it really isn't going to do much if I spill at 50MPH. I do have armor jacket but won't wear that unless the temp drops to the 60's, howz that for dumb assness? Armor pants? Don't have em. Lets ride
 
gtbigup01 said:
To all the ATGATT guys gals, does this include pants (armor). I mean comon, can a brother just head out in some jeans (claims to be armor) but not really? I'd hate to be looking the part but not really the part if you know what i mean. I'm requird to always wear long sleeves, long pants, over the ankle boots (not sneakers) and of course gloves, helmet, eyepro. However I can tell you if I take a spill, the long sleeves i wear will hardly protect me quite honestly.

So even though I have to meet certain requirements by Military standards it really isn't going to do much if I spill at 50MPH. I do have armor jacket but won't wear that unless the temp drops to the 60's, howz that for dumb assness? Armor pants? Don't have em. Lets ride
Click to expand...

Well if you're wearing just a long sleeve shirt then you're right not much extra protection there at all. However, there's no reason that you can't wear a mesh jacket when it's hot. Maybe you should think about investing in one of those.

As for pants, yea jeans aren't going to offer much protection in a 50 MPH spill. I have both armored mesh pants and Kevlar reinforced jeans. I wear either one depending on the type of riding I will be doing.
 
ok.....

Funny thing......I had a 1923 track T roadster, an open wheeled little hotrod. It had a short windshield where your eyes were in line with the top rail of the windshield. You couldnt wear a hat without loosing it so it made for alot of sunburn on top of my head.....alot like unhelmeted bike riders. I remember driving it alot to work and showing up at the boss's house in the winter half frozen.....and were talking in So.Cal. It does get nippy in the winter at 6:00 in the morning driving the freeway over to his house. More than once I wore my HJC fullface helmet on the way to work, along with a pretty good bit of warm clothes.

I'm just saying....... to wear no helmet is just asking for it..
 
220Swift said:
I couldn't agree more.

I was wearing an RF 200 (how's that for dating me?) when this spinning hunk of shrapnel came into view and smacked me just below the visor. It hit with such force that it rocked the whole helmet back on my head. It then bounced off my fuel tank, hit me in the chest and came to rest on my seat against my left thigh, where it proceeded to burn me so badly I nearly panicked and lost control.

I did manage to pull over and get the thing off of me. This was when I found out it was half of a lug nut off of some truck or other. They are big, and they get hot, let me tell you.

If I didn't have that helmet on it would've knocked out my teeth, split the lower part of my face open and probably broken my jaw as well.

I should've kept that lug nut, but I tossed it. End of war story. :zzz:
Click to expand...
Well least you got pulled over cause if the lug nut is that hot think of how hot that whole wheel assembly is and then tell me the tire isn't going to start degraging and come apart, cause it will sooner than later. I'm glad you got stopped without wrecking or have something bigger come flying off that truck at you. I've seen that happen and its not pretty at all.
 
If a person doesn't want to wear a helmet, no problem, however...if they end up in the hospital as a vegetable, and I as the tax payer have to foot their bill, then I have an issue.

There is currently a dumbass "biker" in the hospital with massive brain injuries. And his "Bro's" are doing fund raisers for him because he has no insurance. Meanwhile the Austin taxpayer is paying for keeping him plugged in.

Now a helmet is not a 100% guarentee that the rider will not suffer brain injuries, but it will certainly help in most cases.

I crashed years ago on the track at about 110 to 125 mph, highsided and cartwheeled down the track. My Shoei RF had about 10 hits on it and blood on the inside of it from my face that was cut up from my glasses. I had a bad concussion and was out for about 30 minutes. My body was badly broken, and internal bleeding but my brain was fine.
 
Last edited:
@ gtbigup01 - Yes, ATGATT is pants too. They don't have to be leathers or mesh or textile, as Tony stated, there are "jeans" that don't look the part but provide you the protection.

Personally, I don't care what the laws are nor do I care what the temperature is. I'm in FULL gear for each trip on the bike.

If others choose not to wear some or all of the gear, that is their choice. Buzzards like squid the same as any other roadkill.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top