Helmets - Yes or No.

[hammer]

I agree with elvis and I was thinking maybe I should start wearing a codpiece.

[ndbigfish]

[ponch]

Originally Posted by hammer

I agree with elvis and I was thinking maybe I should start wearing a codpiece.

You don't have to if you have balls of steel.

[danimal2]

I'll be honest here and say that I only read down to page 8, then bailed.

I live in Arizona and we're a no helmet state.

I always wear a helmet. Never wore one when I was young and stupid. Now I can't go across the parking lot without having one on.

When I park my bike in the garage after a ride I'll usually have taken the bucket off and I feel naked without it even for those few feet.

As for the government telling me I have to............I could care less because I always wear a helmet. Might have a different take on that if I chose not to.

Always wear a seatbelt too.

My fiance is a registered nurse in a trauma ward. A large percentage of her patients are head injuries from motorcycle crashes. Some of them are veg'd never to return. The vast majority of these weren't wearing helmets.

I'd still wear on even if that weren't the case.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by danimal2

I'll be honest here and say that I only read down to page 8, then bailed.

I live in Arizona and we're a no helmet state.

I always wear a helmet, and always wear a seatbelt. Never wore either when I was young and stupid. Now I can't go across the parking lot without strapping up (sorry that sounded bad). It's true though. Seatbelts are a totally reactionary thing for me now. Just automatically put it on even for a few feet (feels kinda stupid sometimes, but I still do it out of habit).

Always wear a helmet. When I park my bike in the garage after a ride I'll usually have taken it off and I feel naked without it even for those few feet.

As for the government telling me I have to............I could care less because I always wear a helmet, and I always wear a seatbelt.

Do you ever look for the seatbelt when you get on the bike?

I always wore a helmet because I had to and still have to. :) The wife requires it. Honestly, it does feel odd without it. Much noisier.

[danimal2]

Hey Ponch. I either need to type it right the first time, edit faster, or you need to wait for me to quit making changes.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by danimal2

Hey Ponch. I either need to type it right the first time, edit faster, or you need to wait for me to quit making changes.

We'd have to be in the same room.

[ndbigfish]

danimal, Maybe they were that way before they crashed. ;)

[danimal2]

Originally Posted by ndbigfish

danimal, Maybe they were that way before they crashed. ;)

Entirely possible......... ;)

[gazza]

My older brother's got Cerebral Palsy, lack of oxygen at birth, so he's in a wheelchair & my Mum has had to care for him all his life.
When I got knocked off the Nomad, and they were checking my spine, all I could think about was, if I wasn't wearing leathers and full face helmet, I would have just made myself a huge burden on my Mother and family.
The chin part of the helmet is what I actually landed on and took the brunt of my impact with the concrete so if I wasn't wearing a full face lid I'd look like something from a horror film now.

Then again UK has got smaller roads and higher percentage of cars per mile and everyone seems to drive like lunatics over here. I would imagine there's places in the US you can ride and you might not see another vehicle so a helmet doesn't really matter?

[Loafer]

That was true here in Vermont 30-40 years ago. Not that way now.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by gazza

My older brother's got Cerebral Palsy, lack of oxygen at birth, so he's in a wheelchair & my Mum has had to care for him all his life.
When I got knocked off the Nomad, and they were checking my spine, all I could think about was, if I wasn't wearing leathers and full face helmet, I would have just made myself a huge burden on my Mother and family.
The chin part of the helmet is what I actually landed on and took the brunt of my impact with the concrete so if I wasn't wearing a full face lid I'd look like something from a horror film now.

Then again UK has got smaller roads and higher percentage of cars per mile and everyone seems to drive like lunatics over here. I would imagine there's places in the US you can ride and you might not see another vehicle so a helmet doesn't really matter?

Out west that's probably true. Where I live in Iowa, it's not bad for the most part, but it's slowly turning in the 8 years since I have been here. When I lived in NY, you'd need a shark cage to stay safe. My motto was when I went out for rides, "everyone is going to try to kill me today, act accordingly". Sounds paranoid, but it worked.

If I were in England, I think I'd have more issues driving on the left than dealing with the traffic.

My Mom's grandmother came from London. I have relatives in Kent though.

[Loafer]

FYI, Here in Vermont there is a small group of MC riders that have been trying to have the legislature take up removing the helmet law. They haven't been successful, some one keeps in a committee. This year a poll was taken from the residents in the Washington county area. The results were released: 90% said we need to have a helmet law, 7% said remove the helmet law and 3% said they didn't know.
That's a real strong statement from 46,000 (+/- ) residents.
If they ever decide to go after pipes, watch out!

[ponch]

Originally Posted by loafer

FYI, Here in Vermont there is a small group of MC riders that have been trying to have the legislature take up removing the helmet law. They haven't been successful, some one keeps in a committee. This year a poll was taken from the residents in the Washington county area. The results were released: 90% said we need to have a helmet law, 7% said remove the helmet law and 3% said they didn't know.
That's a real strong statement from 46,000 (+/- ) residents.
If they ever decide to go after pipes, watch out!

They say Vermont is very progressive and I mean that politically. Some things I agree with , like the gun laws, but others where the government is overbearing and intrusive, not so much. I wonder if these 90% could articulate in a cogent way why there exists a need for helmet laws?

[Loafer]

Originally Posted by ponch

They say Vermont is very progressive and I mean that politically. Some things I agree with , like the gun laws, but others where the government is overbearing and intrusive, not so much. I wonder if these 90% could articulate in a cogent way why there exists a need for helmet laws?

Back in the mid 60's there was a boom in MC's on the road. In '65 at my high school there was probably 3 MC's, in '66 there were 45. And this was carried throughout the state. With the Hollywood created image of MC riders, and the big increase in accidents with head injuries. Law enforcement wanted to put a check on MC riders. They started MC only check points. And lobbied for stricter regulations on the safety conditions of MC's. And they wanted separate testing and licensing for the riders. The state legislature put all the rules and regulations through. They were afraid we were going to become a stronghold of nasty bikers. They were all very paranoid. I don't remember all the things that were put into effect from the big push, but they included foot pegs for the passenger, fold back pegs for the rider, inspections and helmets. Law enforcement were so forceful on the riders that by '69-'70 lots of my friends had ,had enough and sold their bikes. I guess I'm just too stubburn.