Helmets are not optional

[TheBigRed]

I have to chuckle every time I hear that statistic. I've been doing a little bit of thinking on that, and have come to the conclusion that it really is a bit of a skewed statistic.

Follow my logic here, while I will not argue that most accidents happen closer to home, I don't think it is primarily due to the familiarity (though that may be part of it) with the surroundings. However, think about this.

Most of us no matter where we are going, for the first couple of miles travel the same route, then branch out from there to wherever our destination is. The further out you get from your home location, the less likely you are to be traveling the same roads over and over again.

My point being, pretty much no matter where you are going, you HAVE to travel those first few miles just about every time. So, I would say statistically, you are on those few miles more than any other mile on the road, thus more likely to have an accident on them.

Hope that makes sense to more than just me.

Amos

It's interesting that you mention the accident happened close to home as this is what the Hurt report suggests for the majority of misshaps. It is also something they stress in the MSF classes and in most of the popular motorcycle riding manuals.

It is human nature to get complacent in familiar surroundings and experiences and it is hard to overcome. We doubt that anything can happen in a 2 minute ride to the corner store and we are often not focused on these short trips. I often find it takes me a good 15 or 20 minutes before I get in the groove with all senses fully functioning. I am always quite nervous in the first few minutes as I know this is the real danger zone.

Thanks for the information it has served to tune me up once again.

Cheers,
spyug.

[spyug]

You have an interesting thesis TBR and it does make sense. From now on, I'll add that to my "familiarity breeds contempt" theory. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. No matter really, the bottom line is be vigilant from the moment you swing your leg over and thumb the button ( or kick the lever).

Stay safe.

Cheers,
spyug.

[N56629]

Spoken like a true squid..It is a matter of choice. But it shouldnt be. Almost all (if not all) states in the Union require use of seat belts. Helmets should be required too. They may save your life, and they may not. But given the odds, why would you not wear one??

People don't wear them for the same reason you won't be found wearing a helmet and nomex suit in your car. Let's face it, those items could save your life too. I'm sure you would find it too inconvenient given the risk reward ratio. That is exactly why many people chose not to wear a helmet.

The comment about wearing nomex is not just me being sarcastic. About five years ago or so there was a car fire on 169 and two children in the back seat were burned alive. Both were securely fasten in their seats as required by law. Had the mother and children all been wearing nomex they might have survived. Just think about all those other drivers, who wearing their state mandated suits, that could have helped. State mandated fire extinguisher systems would also help save lives.

Most of the time I wear a helmet but occasionally I like to cruise around the countryside without one. Why? It simply feels good and there is no one around to see how "cool" I look.

[TheCafeKid]

While i do say i see your point...on the other hand you have a full cage of steel/fibreglass/aluminum etc surrounding you in a car. You have that extra bit of protection. and honestly on the nomex how often does someone burn to death in a car? Id say odds are pretty slim compared to the other ways to die in a car. However most motorcycle deaths i would say result from blunt force trauma to the head/neck.

[argonsagas]

Originally Posted by TheCafeKid
Spoken like a true squid..It is a matter of choice. But it shouldnt be. Almost all (if not all) states in the Union require use of seat belts. Helmets should be required too. They may save your life, and they may not. But given the odds, why would you not wear one??

People don't wear them for the same reason you won't be found wearing a helmet and nomex suit in your car. Let's face it, those items could save your life too. I'm sure you would find it too inconvenient given the risk reward ratio. That is exactly why many people chose not to wear a helmet.

The comment about wearing nomex is not just me being sarcastic. About five years ago or so there was a car fire on 169 and two children in the back seat were burned alive. Both were securely fasten in their seats as required by law. Had the mother and children all been wearing nomex they might have survived. Just think about all those other drivers, who wearing their state mandated suits, that could have helped. State mandated fire extinguisher systems would also help save lives.

Most of the time I wear a helmet but occasionally I like to cruise around the countryside without one. Why? It simply feels good and there is no one around to see how "cool" I look.

Actually, Cafe Kid had it right the first time.

This thread was started by a member who is attesting that his life is still his solely because he was wearing a helmet.

What should be obvious to all is that if he both shared and acted on your opinion of not wearing one by choice, there would be no thread, as he would be unable to communicate except, perhaps, by seance.



As to the nomex suit, such spurious arguments serve to mislead the reader, and nothing else.

[spyug]

Not to stir the pot but I agree with Argon all the talk about gear versus no gear when driving in a cage has no validity in this thread and takes away from the gist which is the helmet saved his life end of story.

He is to be thanked for sharing his "findings" with us. Nothing better than real world experience as a learning tool.

While I won't get into the freedom of choice debate either, I would like to hear someone standup and talk about their experience in a crash while not wearing a helmet. I really can't see how not wearing one would save you in similar circumstances but I'd be interested in knowing.

Whatever your feelings, always ride to arrive alive.

Cheers,
spyug.

[MissFabulous]

Glad to still have you hear to tell us about this grooveboy. Looking back at it, do you wonder if there was a chance you could have sped up to get past her or anything else to minimize the impact?

Sounds like you came out of it really well, all things considered. I hope everyone who witnessed what happened stop and think about being careful on the road.

[N56629]

[/i]
As to the nomex suit, such spurious arguments serve to mislead the reader, and nothing else.

No, it proves my point that everyone has a different preception of how much risk is tolerable. A quick search found many cases like this car fire death.

How many deaths in the home could be prevented if only we wore protective equipment. Falls and other accidents around the home remain the number one cause of death. I've seen people wearing helmets on riding mowers. No way in hell.

[tkent02]

You should see the little gay yellow "high Visibility" jackets and vests everyone in Europe has to wear if they work outside. It's really quite comical. While it may make sense for a highway construction worker it seems ludicrous on everyone else. It makes me laugh. Laughing is good. Unless your ribs are broken. But I digress.
They even gave me one to wear at work. Size small. It goes to my elbows.

[argonsagas]

Not to stir the pot but I agree with Argon all the talk about gear versus no gear when driving in a cage has no validity in this thread and takes away from the gist which is the helmet saved his life end of story.

He is to be thanked for sharing his "findings" with us. Nothing better than real world experience as a learning tool.

While I won't get into the freedom of choice debate either, I would like to hear someone standup and talk about their experience in a crash while not wearing a helmet. I really can't see how not wearing one would save you in similar circumstances but I'd be interested in knowing.

Whatever your feelings, always ride to arrive alive.

Cheers,
spyug.

OK. I can do that. I have a scar on my forehead from an initial impact, and a second on the back, which curiously enough, came from a second impact.
The first was where the car hit me and the second happened when I hit the concrete. My skull was split at the back.

The police arrived and found me with no life signs.

An hour later the wreckage was cleared up. I was checked again and still had no life signs, but the law demanded that a doctor officially declare me to be dead, so I was sent to a hospital. (This is the actual police report.)

I returned to life lying on a gurney, with lights shining in my face. Two doctors were standing by my feet, ready to turn and walk away when I sat up and asked for a telephone. Their mouths dropped wide open in shock.

Exit hospital.....

Just pour me into a cab and send it on its way. I had no idea which way was up, so I fell on the floor and stayed there.

I always had a near-photographic memory. Not anymore.

I did not have amnesia, just a malfunctioning brain. Memory came and went. Long-term memory seemed OK, but short-term was just that: often minutes, sometimes days, occasionally weeks, would pass, and then most or all of it vanished.

There was nothing but loneliness every day, because I had no idea where anyone was, including me, even hours before.

Perhaps the loneliness was what got me to marry a woman I had met only weeks before the crash, a woman I did not know. Not to worry, even today I have no trace of memory of the marriage ceremony or anything else concerned with it, including where it took place. All of it is blank.

I do recall falling over.....frequently.... and that lasted for many months. This was because, being a typical male, I often lost track of direction, but in my case it meant an inability to tell which direction was up and which was down. I usually found which way was down.

A daughter was conceived and born before my memory returned to normal and a son was on his way. Later, the marriage that should never have occurred, and which proved highly distasteful to both of us, was dissolved.


My life was literally taken and gone, and then it was restored, but it was totally and irreversibly changed.


I was not wearing a helmet at the time because I was changing a tire on my car when someone drove into the car, and that drove the car into me, and me into the concrete abutment that was behind me.

Is there any valid reason to say there is a difference between this and a motorcycle crash?
NO.
Absolutely not.
Impact and head injury is exactly that.


On the other side:


While in the right lane on a 3-lane highway a car from the far left chose to make a sudden exit and as it crossed the lanes its rear bumper intersected with my front tire. I had no chance of advance reaction as the car began its move across the lanes from behind me, out of my range of vision, and it was travelling faster than me. I did not see it until a split second before it hit me.

The bike almost instantly went over on its side, almost down, but after a bit of fighting with it, I got it back up, still at about 60MPH, and just in time to meet a bumper on the back of another car that was stopping on the side of the road.

I went over the car and landed on my head and shoulder. As I slid across the pavement face-down, with the open-face helmet and one shoulder taking the rest of my weight, I clearly recall thinking to myself " Am I ever going to stop sliding?"

I think it was the sissybar that hit me just as I left the bike and broke my back. My wrist was also broken. One leg was lacerated more than the other, and more than a bit. The right side of my face had to be rebuilt as the sunglasses had bent down and in upon impact, shredding the skin and leaving my face full of broken glass and road dirt.

The helmet took the 60 MPH impact without splitting. My ex-wife (the second one) still has the helmet sitting in what is now her garage. I kept the leather jacket, and wore it for another 15 years, before finally using it to bury my cat, who always thought my shoulder was her favourite place in the world, and who had always found comfort being in and on that jacket (while I was wearing it) from the time she was 8 weeks old.

Since I both landed on it and then skidded for at least fifty feet on my head, there is zero question that the helmet saved my life and it allowed me to get the delightful experience of having surgeons spend a few hours cleaning me up and then cutting my remaining flesh into ribbons so they could stretch it, stitch it, and rebuild my face, all of this while I was fully awake.

Since then I choose to wear a full-face helmet and I choose to believe that people who choose to not wear helmets while riding motorcycles are fools.


Does that cover it?

[grooveboy]

Glad to still have you hear to tell us about this grooveboy. Looking back at it, do you wonder if there was a chance you could have sped up to get past her or anything else to minimize the impact?

Sounds like you came out of it really well, all things considered. I hope everyone who witnessed what happened stop and think about being careful on the road.

Thanks, Miss Fab. I agree that it could have been a LOT worse. Honestly, I don't really remember the actual impact, the concussion took care of that (which might honestly be a good thing, I have very little on the way of scary memories of the incident to prohibit me from riding in the future).

Anyway, looking back, there really wasn't much I could have done that I didn't already do. She was crossing into the intersection as my front wheel crossed her path, as I recall. Speeding up might not have done much at that point. I did very little damage to her car, as I layed the bike down and just caught the corner of her bumper. If I would have sped up, I probably would have been hit full on by the front of her car. I *think*, and this is just a guess based on how everything was positioned when I came to, that my front end caught the corner of her car, and I was flipped around/over the bike by the impact, landing on my right side/head. My legs were probably torn up by the bike itself.

Now, as for the ongoing debate about how much safety gear is appropriate, nomex suits in cars, etc..... This is an old arguement, and there is no good answer. Basically, we make decisions based on information, and I posted this whole incident as an example of a real world experience that was made remarkably less unpleasant by my wearing a helmet. There's an element of both sides in my story. My life was saved by a helmet, but my injuries could have been reduced had I been in full gear.

Do I hope that this leads more riders to wear full-face helmets and possibly save their lives if they have the misfortune to come across a similar situation? Absolutely. But it's still your choice. I'm just adding a small personal nugget of hard-earned wisdom to the wealth of information out there. The whole "nomex suit" angle is just kinda superfluous. I mean, seriously, if you want to 100% reduce the chance of a motorcycling injury, you could simply not ride. Taking it to that extreme is not what this post is about. It's about the fact that we do have choices, and the balance between fun/comfort and safety should be seriously considered based on the available information. I like riding without a helmet, a lot, but I like the love I see every day in my girlfriend's eyes a lot more.

Want to know why you hear very few "I had a head impact with no helmet and here's what happened to me stories"? Because a lot of those unfortunate souls are probably not here to tell them.

[N56629]

I was not wearing a helmet at the time because I was changing a tire on my car when someone drove into the car, and that drove the car into me, and me into the concrete abutment that was behind me.

Is it safe to assume that you now wear a helmet while changing your tire?

[80GS750]

several of my friends ride without helmets whenever they can


screw that. i will wear mine in every state and every time i get on. only takes a small spill and a tiny piece of concrete to put a big hurt on the noggin.

people that ride without them lack something very important--- common sense.

no offense to anyone on here

[MissFabulous]

Want to know why you hear very few "I had a head impact with no helmet and here's what happened to me stories"? Because a lot of those unfortunate souls are probably not here to tell them.

That's some truth right there.

[Regis]

... The right side of my face had to be rebuilt as the sunglasses had bent down and in upon impact, shredding the skin and leaving my face full of broken glass and road dirt.

...so they could stretch it, stitch it, and rebuild my face, all of this while I was fully awake.

Since then I choose to wear a full-face helmet and I choose to believe that people who choose to not wear helmets while riding motorcycles are fools.


Does that cover it?

Sure does! I'll assume that the helmet you wrecked with, wasn't a full-face as you suffered pretty serious facial injuries and now wear a full-face helmet. As of late, the temptation to wear a partial helmet has bounced around in my head, but after reading this, I have no doubt that the full-face helmet I've got, is the way to go. Thanks for sharing the terrible, but yet to us, enlightening details of what you went through. It's the same reason I like reading the 'close calls' thread. You pick up on things that just might save your hide.