Motorcycle Helmets ??

Should Adult Motorcyclists be mandated to wear helmets.  Let’s see.

I remember my Dad telling me I was hard headed.  Maybe that is why I never wore a helmet in my younger years.  No not really I liked the feel of the wind blowing through my hair.  I didn’t like the weight of a helmet, it made me feel more tired because I had that extra weight for my neck to support.  Then there was the fact that it obscured both my peripheral vision and my hearing.  But the most important thing was the heat.  It sometimes felt like my brain was frying.

Now that I am older.  I don’t have to worry so much about the wind blowing through my hair.  (I don’t have that extra padding).  For some reason I think my head isn’t as hard as it was.  It just might break open like an egg if I crash.  Helmets have improved since I started riding.  They are lighter. Better designed.  Made with vents to let air in.

I still think I should have the right to decide if I want to wear a helmet.  City riding I usually wear a helmet.  Too many cages (cars with texters,  eater/drinkers, cell phone talkers,    (without hands free devices), and many more reasons.  But on the highway I make the choice.  The people I ride with have CB radios, and with the in helmet voice activated  mics we can talk while we ride.  I can listen to my radio, Ipod, etc. This makes these runs more fun.  But if I am riding by myself and just want to get away.  I opt to not wear a helmet if I am in the country.  By the way I usually avoid interstates.  Nothing to see or enjoy there.  But highways and side roads generally take me past things I normally would not see or even know exist.  I have found many interesting things this way.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is urging ALL States mandate helmet laws.  (NO CHOICE).  Their reasoning.  Motorcycles (it doesn’t say if this includes scooters) make up 3% of vehicles on the nations roads.  but account for 13%  of  fatalities.  Head injuries is the leading cause of these fatalities.  We don’t know how many or the break down of causes.  We all know there are other causes.  But I can believe that Head injuries could be the leading cause.  I just don’t know what that lead is.  Their claim is that a helmet that meets Federal Transportation Specifications is 37%  effective in reducing these fatal injuries. This would mean your chances of surviving with a helmet on is (I am NO mathematician) about 1 in 3.7.   Is that right?  You math people figure it out.  But do they have conclusive proof or is this just conjecture.  They force you to wear seat belts because they “save lives”  But they never give you the probability of survival with out seat belts.  I’m sure Seat Belts also cause deaths.  But that is another argument.  Their claim is that Helmets will reduce deaths.  Maybe, and probably, but without more concrete proof we’ll never know for sure.  We just had an 11 year record breaking low in motorcycle deaths.  Maybe more people wearing helmets???

When I first began riding as a teenager, a very good friend was injured in a motorcycle accident.  Not his fault.  He has spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair.  And achieved much more than I ever will.

As for me I want my freedom of CHOICE.  The margin of survival with a helmet just isn’t that compelling to me.  But I admit I wear my helmet more than not.  But let those who ride decide.

That’s The Way I See It.