Many people have such a mindset about something, they seem to completely lose all common sense of freedom of choice. Here is the truth about several aspects of motorcycling that should open up our eyes and minds to allow people to live thrie own lives in peace and enjoy our sport.

1. Because of it’s small size a motorcycle may look

farther away then it is. It may also be diffi cult to judge a

motorcycles speed.

2. Because of it’s small size a motorcycle can be easily

hidden in a car’s blind spot.

3. Motorcyclists often slow by downshifting or merely

rolling off the throttle, thus not activating the brake light.

4. Turn signals are not necessarly self canceling. Some

riders especially new riders, may forget to turn them off,

after a turn or lane change.

5. Motorcyclists often adjust position within a lane to be

seen more easily and to minimize the effects of road

debris, passing vehicles, and wind. understand that

motorcyclists adjust lane position for a purpose not to

be reckless, show off or allow you to share the lane with

them.

6. When a motorcycle is in motion, don’t think of it as a

motorcycle, think of it as a person!!!

Now for some Helmet Facts & Stats.

*30 states allow motorcyclists to make their own

decision about wearing helmets. Since 1974, the states

that allow riders to choose have had a statistically

lower fatality rate than the states that require the use

of helmets. If helmets are such a great safety device,

how can that be? Source: US Dept. of Transportation,

National Highway Transportation Administration.

* The two states with the lowest fatality rates per

registered motorcycles are Colorado and Iowa. Neither

of those states has any law whatever regarding the use

of helmets. Source: US Dept. of Transportation, National

Highway Transportation Administration.

* A helmet can kill a motorcyclist during a crash if it

snags on anything substantial. The cause of death is a

broken neck, just like being hanged. When state laws

allow adults to ride without helmets approximately 50%

quit wearing them. Something called *displacement*

occurs. The fatalities from tramatic head injuries

sometimes go up. However the fatalities from neck

injuries go down even more. The net result is that total

fatality rates go down. Since a helmet is a potentially

lethal device, adult riders should be allowed to choose

to wear one or not. Source: Jonathan P. Goldstein Ph.D

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.
Well there are some Helmet facts and stats to think

about and some car and driver info you can pass on to

your non-rider friends. I encourage you to get informed,

and visit the CMT/ABATE website. You can send me

comments or questions to me the Director, the E-mail is

on the website.

United we ride: Divided we drive

Brooklyn Tom Corporate Director

CMT/ABATE of Tennessee

http://forum.motorcycle-usa.co...63893

 

Though you have to consider that states like NY or CA that require helmet usage also are much more congested in terms of traffic and you have more people oblivious to motorcycles in general.

They go over these myths in the MSF course. You're 3 times more likely to survive when wearing a helmet and while some motorcycle fatalities are a result of neck injuries it's difficult to prove that it occured as the result of a helmet.

States have these laws for a reason, that reason being that helmets save lives time and time again. Granted, they do not guarantee invincibility nor the same safety you might experience in a car, they do however have a notable impact on reducing fatalities. If someone dies of a neck injury while wearing a helmet, what's to say they wouldn't die anyway if their head was bare?

Just my $0.02

 

Some good points there. But those statistics are for the birds imo. They are skewed to fit certain agendas, so I don't pay attention. Facts are one thing, such as "4,008 Motorcyclists were killed in 2005". But those statistics about wearing helmets and such is BS. I wear a helmet because if my head hits something, I want it to be protected. I think anyone that doesn't wear a helmet is insane, especially if their reason is that they don't want a neck injury in a wreck caused by a helmet. I mean if you hit something hard enough to break your neck with a helmet on, think of what your head would look like without a helmet....

 

I have a bad habit of just rolling off the throttle when I drop speed or come to stop. It's just so much engine braking that engine braking and the front brakes just seems like overkill. Then again, I could just drop it into neutral and come to stop, but it's funner to downshift through the gears while coming to a stop hehe

 

So your helmet gets snagged on something and breaks your neck. hmm. I wonder if this thing your helmet gets snagged on is strong enough to say... stick through your brain?

 

i would think that any accident that was traumatic enough to break your neck with your own helmet, then without a helmet, your head would recive an equal or greater injury anyway.

and im a noob rider, and i am guilty of the turn signal thing. but i try to remember when i can. the slowing down thing too, i do that, but i try to tap on the rear brake a cupple times just for the brake light. since my front need the switch to be adjusted.

 

I think the helmet statistics are BS. Just another example of how statistics can say anything you want them to.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EKhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think the helmet statistics are BS. Just another example of how statistics can say anything you want them to. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Word.

Step back for a second and use your brain, how can not wearing a helmet be safer? It can't.

If anyone wants a demonstration I will punch you in the side of the head without your helmet on and then once with your helmet on and you can tell me which one you feel in the morning

 

eh, i'm blah about helmet laws, I think they're redundant.

If you're stupid enough to sit on an engine attached to two wheels without head protection, you deserve to be dead when something goes really wrong.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civhatch90 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
* The two states with the lowest fatality rates per registered motorcycles are Colorado and Iowa. Neither of those states has any law whatever regarding the use of helmets. Source: US Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Transportation Administration.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the most popular bike in these states is H-D. I would expect that they have a low fatality rate, since the bikes are always at the stealership getting new chrome accessories put on or just being broken.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pauldo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the most popular bike in these states is H-D. I would expect that they have a low fatality rate, since the bikes are always at the stealership getting new chrome accessories put on or just being broken. </TD></TR></TABLE>

When I went to buy a new bike my dad told me that sport bikes have well over double the death rates of all other bike makes.

Harley's don't really break anymore anyway, the new engines are built like tanks. So true about the chrome though.

 

Honestly why would you even consider riding with out a helmet. If you doing 40 an lose it an your head hit say good bye. I just dont see the point in making something that is already dangerous as hell with all the cages an dickweeds on other bike anymore threatening than it has to be

 

You aren't supposed to ride even a bicycle without a helmet, god forbid something that can triple almost any speed limit you can find in the US.

 

Even if you don't care about safety, I don't imagine taking a pebble or a large bug to your bare forehead would feel too good at highway speeds.

 

Just for everyones information, Jonathan Goldstein has a PHD in Economics

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just for everyones information, Jonathan Goldstein has a PHD in Economics</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well ****, he must know everything about head injuries.

I seriously don't pay attention to statistics with all these hidden agendas. Just state the facts and be done with it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GetawayInMoscow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If anyone wants a demonstration I will punch you in the side of the head without your helmet on and then once with your helmet on and you can tell me which one you feel in the morning </TD></TR></TABLE>

I did that once.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civhatch90 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">3. Motorcyclists often slow by downshifting or merely rolling off the throttle, thus not activating the brake light.
4. Turn signals are not necessarly self canceling. Some riders especially new riders, may forget to turn them off, after a turn or lane change.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's the rider's responsibility to ensure that the brake light gets flashed when decelerating and that signals are canceled.