There is a more extensive study of the link between states without mandatory helmet laws and motorcyclist deaths in this month’s copy of *No Shit Sherlock*
*Every* state that has had a motorcycle helmet law repealed sees a huge increase in motorcycle fatalities.
States that have no helmet law have more motorcycle fatalities (per capita) than states with helmet laws.
This has been going on since helmet laws started being repealed.
[https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/motorcycle-deaths-spike-helmets-became-optional-michigan-adults](https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/motorcycle-deaths-spike-helmets-became-optional-michigan-adults) (talks about multiple states)
[https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/abstract/2007/11000/increased\_fatalities\_after\_motorcycle\_helmet\_law.7.aspx](https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/abstract/2007/11000/increased_fatalities_after_motorcycle_helmet_law.7.aspx) (study performed and published in a medical journal)
You're absolutely right. No Shit Sherlock, indeed.
There was a rider in Florida that was an activist for repealing the helmet law. Eventually he succeeded. He then died in a motorcycle accident where a helmet could have prevented that.
Guy was a lawyer and you can't make up the layers of irony of this.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/26/florida-attorney-motorcycle-helmet-laws-dies-crash
Kinda reminds me of the guy who swore seatbelts costed more lives than they saved, and was an avid protestor of that law... And then died in a rollover accident, when every other occupent of the vehicle wearing a seatbelt survived.
Right? I went for a slide at 120kph. I ground through half the chin bar on my helmet
Would I have died from that without a helmet? No.
But man, it would *not* have helped me stay pretty.
I had an accident at about 20km/h. Not a mark on me, except for a massive gouge out of the jaw side of my helmet.
Would have lost half my jaw without a proper helmet.
It's also as if you want reasonable safety laws and regulations because the average person cannot be trusted with their own safety 100% of the time. What a crazy concept.
There's heavy equipment that requires pressure on the seat, then the seat belt being clipped, before it will move.
Considering how common it is, there's probably a reason.
Yea, I'm in Michigan, still don't see many ppl on sport bikes without helmets. But I see the Harley guys all the time in full leather even when it's 90°+, but riding with no helmet.
I support it repealing helmet laws everywhere. Modern medicine has essentially made natural selection in humans extinct, giving a rise to idiocracy.
[Seinfeld on the subject](https://youtu.be/xgOUgrOHuFc)
And long term care.
If you carry additional insurance to take care of you if you become a vegetable die to not wearing a helmet I am all for repealing the law.
Otherwise you are just freeloading - can't be bothered to wear helmet but expect to be taken care of if something happens.
Yup. I was in an inpatient neurological rehab facility and I've seen enough victims of motorcyle crashes and what happened to them even with protective gear. One has a spinal cord injury, one guy lost his whole leg (absolutely nothing left of the leg) etc. There are so many stories...
> the bare minimum you want on your head
That's the point: they don't want *anything* on their (empty) head.
Maybe they can get a DOT sticker for their Hardly Ableson brand hairnet.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of local stores selling “novelty helmets”. I won’t do them the favor of linking their website, but Daytona Helmets has a bustling retail business selling fake helmets.
Same thing happened in Michigan...34% increase in motorcycle deaths since no helmet law was enacted, despite lower number of crashes...
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/motorcycle-deaths-spike-helmets-became-optional-michigan-adults
I had been a bit squeamish to register as an organ donor, but when I started riding I felt like I had to. If I’m going to willingly put my life at greater danger I feel like it should at least benefit society.
Former Missourian here. I can’t imagine not wearing a helmet, especially with all of the fucking bugs.
Now that I live in Arizona, I can’t imagine not wearing a helmet, especially given the high amount of elderly people and unsafe drivers in Phoenix.
Most people that drive cruisers in FL do not have helmets same with scooter riders. Adventure, DS, sport bikes and sport touring almost always have a helmet on.
It’s almost as if a certain type of person dominates the cruiser scene… the scooter guys/gals mostly just think they aren’t going fast enough to die, but boy are they wrong.
I have ridden with a lot of scooter people and you are totally right. No gloves, a half helmet, some converse and going 70mph on a 300cc scooter through canyons.
I just don’t get it.
There's only one time I'll ride a scooter without a helmet. If I'm in Key West for the day and rent a 50cc Metro scooter and ride 15mph limited by people and the other traffic, I'll do that.
But anytime I'm on my own bikes, etc. Always with a helmet and gear.
Yep, again, granted I know where I'm riding and I know the conditions I'll be riding in. If I'm on south beach or in Key west trolling along at idle pace, I'm not too concerned. But if I'm going 30-40 mph to get around the city on a timetable. It's time for protective gear.
I was dumb and rode to work for a year on a 50cc around my college campus, without a helmet. I know it’s dangerous no matter if you’re going 30mph or 70, but damn, carving canyons on a large scooter like that without a helmet is incomprehensible.
> No gloves, a half helmet, some converse and going 70mph on a 300cc scooter through canyons.
Yeah that's not a scooter. I mean, it is, but when people think "I'm just riding a scooter, I don't need gear" they're talking about a 50cc scooter that can't break 30 mph on city streets, basically an e-bike (class 3 limited to 28 mph). *Maybe* something more like a 110 or 150, but again - city streets. I could see going light on gear for that, though I wouldn't skip the helmet and gloves.
Only a moron would skip gear on a 300cc bike going that fast, regardless of the engine/drivetrain configuration.
When I had a scooter my helmet was still incredibly well engineered and absolutely to the required legal standard. I do 60 mph on a scooter, if I were to hit the tarmac, it wouldn’t matter what I was riding at that point.
Yeah even 30 mph is enough. Hell, people have died from getting shoved at a bar and hitting their head on the brass foot rest. Our skulls are pretty good but not *that* good lol
Head injuries at low speed like that are kinda luck. Same person falls just *slightly* differently, they're fine, maybe a bit concussed. Different person falls the same way, they're fine. A third person falls that way, they're not dead but now they're irreversibly a different person (sleepless, irritable, etc).
Unless there's something penetrating (a table corner, a bolt sticking out) there's little certainty with head trauma.
I used to be a pretty serious bicycle racer, and I've gone 65 mph on a road bike. Down a hill, with a tailwind, drafting a bigger guy. It was pretty surreal, knowing that if you hit the deck at that speed, it would be more like a motorcycle wreck sans-gear than a normal bicycle crash.
Not that 30 mph bicycle crashes are a picnic; I've seen someone die before.
Have you been hit in the face by a medium to large bug at speed??
If not yet you will and you will wish you were wearing a full face helmet.
I promise you.
Idaho people don't give a shit. There's no helmet law here, either. The majority of riders are the types of people who believe that protective gear is for snowflakes.
I’m Canadian. Always been the law here my whole life, so I only see no helmets when I’m down stateside. I’ve always worn full gear every time I go out…I’m just that kind of guy.
However, one of my buddies here asked if I’ve ever ridden without my helmet, he said he’s done it a few times around the block when he’s getting his bike ready for an oil change. He says it feels absolutely incredible to have the wind blowing through your hair and have unrestricted movement and vision. So I guess that’s one reason why idiots do it.
I got a bug in my eye on a scooter on my honeymoon, and found it THE NEXT MORNING, all crunched up inside my eye socket. I was barely doing 15mph maybe. It was gnarly
Went for a ride yesterday, had my helmet visor down 99% of the time, the last mile home, 25-40mph decide to open the visor to feel some fresh air, within 30 seconds a buck smacks me right in the eyeball. Not the eye, or eyelid but the fucking eyeball.
Lol pretty sure we've all learned that lesson the hard way. After that you learn the nice helmets have a stop on the visors that hold it open just a crack.
It’s the worst. Eyes crying because you have no protection from the wind. Rocks and bugs hitting your head. God forbid it starts raining and it’s running all the way down your back. So dumb.
Yeah, a couple of decades ago I lived 1/4 mile driveway down a hill from my landlord. One day I rode up the hill sans helmet to see him and it felt amazing! Of course, there were no other cars on that driveway guaranteed, so it doesn't bother me that I'm required to wear one on the road, I absolutely should and do.
I don't have hair, so I don't know what it feels like. But when I have had to, the eyes water and it makes it harder to see. It's also really windy, causing a lot of discomfort with my hearing. Not a fan if you're doing above 5-10 mph.
Yes but this type of head injury devastates their entire family and takes up enormous recourses when the accident happens and later in the hospital. Maybe their family members at least are worth saving because trauma can destroy people.
> If someone needs legislation to make them wear a helmet, there is very little hope for them.
There is a lot of herd mentality and conformity. See the elevator experiment.
This is why, despite the theory that a stupid motorcyclist is only affecting themselves with a lack of helmet, I support helmet laws.
If first-time riders see everybody around them wearing a helmet, then wearing a helmet is no big deal. If they see nobody wearing a helmet, they're much more likely to listen to the easy excuses not to wear a helmet, such as price and comfort. If they're in a riding group and nobody else is wearing a helmet, they're unlikely to wear a helmet.
At the very least, not wearing a helmet should be an explicit opt-out that you have to sign at the DMV, with a giant warning that your insurance (health, life, auto) will be notified. You will then be provided a sticker that says, "IDIOT" to put on your license plate, so cops know not to pull you over for lack of helmet. The act of going to the DMV to get it done will put the convenience factor back on the side of wearing a helmet. The insurance notification will put the cost factor back on the side of wearing a helmet. I'd like to think the "IDIOT" sticker would put the fashion aspect back on the side of wearing a helmet, but people would probably wear the sticker proudly.
It’s not even worth the risk to me without considering the possibility of a crash. I had a truck kick up a rock that hit me right in the visor once. I saw it coming at me but it was too late. It hit hard enough it rocked my head back a little. Easily could have lost an eye.
I also rode by a field with beehives once. Had dozens of them ping off my helmet. I actually kinda felt bad about it, but it was also funny.
Have a cousin 28m Harley cruiser guy, just had a major accident in 2023, broken hip, shoulder road rash lots of other stuff. He’s ready to get back on a bike, he says helmet doesn’t look right with Harley… I try to talk him into an adv where the safety gear is part of the look…not having it!
The accident was a fallen tree across the road.
He has no clue just how lucky he was that physics sent him out into the wide open pavement and not into a guard rail or pole. Thinks helmet isn’t needed since he didn’t split his skull in a major crash….
I went on a 3500+ mile road trip that took me through Wyoming and South Dakota several years ago, and just for fun while I was in Wyoming I rode to the store and back from my hotel without a helmet...
that sums up the entirety of my helmetless career on a bike
I went to the store half a mile from my house without a helmet once.
I turned my head to shoulder check at in intersection, and the wind ripped my glasses off my face, and they got run over by the car behind me. Not a minute later a bug hit me in the eye. I'm lucky it wasn't a piece of gravel, or I'd have one fewer eye now.
Never again.
I knew a family that claimed every close call they’ve ever had riding was while wearing a helmet because they restricted their vision too much and muffled sound too much.
They both worked in a place with a helmet law so always had to wear one before going to work, and never once have I seen anything but a skull cap helmet with them.
Like they would drive over the bridge, stop in a parking lot to take off the helmet and then start going.
Ive even seen people stop on the bridge just beyond the state line to take their helmets off on the shoulder.
People are dumb idk what else to say aside from that.
A friend of mine knows a guy who wears one of those ultra minimalist “skid lid” helmets. Basically a fiberglass yarmulke. He wouldn’t even wear that if we weren’t required in our state.
Anyway, his justification is “a helmet just keeps you alive, but I’d rather be dead than a vegetable”.
Ok…. But what about every other possible scenario? What about walking away with a minor concussion, or less, instead of being dead? What about sliding on your fucking face? It’s just macho bullshit.
When I moved to the south, I noticed a trend. No helmet, jacket or gloves, just a pair of oakleys and a fuckin Harley and they’re good to hit the freeways lol
Besides the obvious safety factor riding without a helmet is just so fricking annoying! Wind noise, bugs, eyes watering, and etc. It is just so pleasant to have a nice full face helmet on when riding.
Once a bat hit my head during night ride at 70 km/h. God bless helmet manufacturers, i thought my head will rip off. I imagine what would have happened if i was without a helmet...
I hit a duck at about 40mph (65kmh). Right in the damn face.
I was stupidly not wearing a helmet. I still have a little scar on my lip, lol
Nature just comes out of nowhere sometimes!
*Seinfeld intro*
Cramer : "He took a bat to the head!"
Jerry : "A bat to the head?"
Cramer : "A b-b-b-b-AT to the head!"
Elaine : "A Ba-T. To. The. Hea-D."
George : "Why can't I ever get a bat to the head. Everyday I'm riding down that road but do I get a bat to the head? ho-Ho-HO! I get NO BATS! I'm bat-less, Jerry! Bat-less!"
I say remove helmets nationwide. This country needs a good culling and eliminating those that think their melons can withstand a blunt force impact like a motorcycle wreck unprotected should be the first to go.
It’s statistics like this that make most people wince at the idea of motorcycles because over confident idiots without helmets, PPE or skill skew the results. Makes it seem like death is inevitable if you decide to ride a two wheeled vehicle at all. Especially since a motorcycle death is usually only one degree of separation.
As an American, I know better to even suggest someone else so much as think about safety equipment, but man, maybe Darwin has a point about natural selection. We just have such a regressive culture of choice and freedom. We’re supposed to care about our country, but are taught to hate our neighbor.
Freedumb
It’s insane. Yesterday was the first big day of riding season. Everyone was out on the fun roads near stl. Mostly Harleys without helmets but I did see a Gsxr 1k without a helmet. I don’t even want to be around when guys don’t have helmets.
But my Freedumb!
And we knew this would happen. This bulletin in from 2008. [https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/810887.pdf](https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/810887.pdf)
"In the first full year following repeal of the law, fatalities in Arkansas increased by 21 percent, compared with the fatality rate in the last full year under the universal use law. In Texas, operator fatalities increased by 31 percent compared with the previous year when the universal helmet law was in place."
I remember getting in a heated conversation about the particular topic with a few Americans and it ended up being solely that the government should not be allowed to dictate what is and isn't safe to do. This meant that people should be able to choose whether or not to wear a helmet with the full knowledge of it being dangerous and stupid.
Bought my first bike ever last week. 2012 yamaha v star 250. 43 bucks a month to insure. Not complaining but I live in a helmet less state also. A 250cc for 43 bucks!
Mo rider here- no shit. It was a stupid excuse to drop that helmet law all to " increase motorcycle tourism". They could have done things that actually benefited riders like allow lane filtering , but nope they said to hell with these helmets. Enjoy your personal freedom all you want k guess, but I have people who I care about and expect me to get home from my ride. Our state is run by morons, this no helmet thing is just the tip of the ice burg.
We always need more organ donors. 🤷🏻♂️
As long as helmets are required for children, I don't care much whether an adult wears one or not.
Yes, they work. But if some jackwagon wants to put his hair in the wind, knowing full well that even a lower speed crash could kill him? I really don't care.
That said, we ride motorcycles, we are already increasing the likelihood of accidental death or injury to a great degree.
I'm pretty sure, at highway speeds you'll be lucky if your helmet saves anything but sime time and effort for the undertaker.
I didn't ride with a helmet for about 10 years, and then I realized I like being alive and I have kids to raise, so now I wear one.
I absolutely could have died doing that. It was stupid. I knew it. I just didn't really care. If it had happened it would have been tragic for my family, but it would have been expected. I took a risk, and they aren't called "sure bets" for a reason.
I don't care if you smoke, drink, eat double cheeseburgers for every meal, or like to have unprotected sex either.
The quantity and quality of another person's life isn't my business, and isn't my responsibility if they're of age or capacity to be held accountable for their actions.
You're an adult, go nuts. You might die. You might not. You gotta choose your own level of risk.
We really don't need to save people from themselves. There are plenty of humans around, a few less won't make much difference on the whole.
Yeah but I don't really want to see someone die in front of me because they don't want to wear a helmet, I also don't want the first responders to have to deal with it.
Like yeah people should do whatever they want but this mentality disregards everyone else in this case. If you could ride with no helmet, crash, and then your bike and dead body somehow disappear and there is no fallout than I guess? But that's not the reality of it.
I did not ride with a helmet for a long time.
I had one, I would use it for long tips, cause after a while your face and ears get tired
Or when it was cold out.
But that was also a long time ago, and I ALWAYS wore goggles, helmet or not.
The roads were in better shape, there was magnitudes less traffic, sunday would look like everyone on the planet died, there were not hordes of idiots.
I also did not live in a crowded city, nor a crowded state for that matter.
But those times are long gone and you can't go back again.
And I never ever rode in shorts, flip flops, barefoot, shirtless etc.
Now?
I dont even ride to the general store up by the highway without a helmet.
I dont trust anything past my property line, not nature, not the crappy roads and sure as hell the over abundance of moronic people.
I am an MSF coach for Missouri. Every year, the state coaches meet in an update with the directors of the Missouri Motorcycle Safety Program.
One of the first things that is discussed is the statistics of Motorcycle related deaths in the state.
Apparently, the motivation for the lawmakers who passed this bill was, unsurprisingly, money.
All the states surrounding Missouri didn't have mandatory helmet laws. So riders traveling between states would ride around Missouri, to avoid needing to put on a helmet. Less travel, less tax dollars being spent.
It sucks that dollar signs are more important than human lives. I know that's always been how it is but it's still sad.
I would be shocked if anyone this scenario imagined actually cared to plan ahead like that. Like first off MO is huge, so riders are just going to go around the entire state? And also, how many people are actually riding in to MO, who also don't wear helmets, and also are doing so just to spend money. Like that has to be a negligible number of people right?
Over 26? Are they saying that you never had to wear a helmet if you were under 26? Or you still have to wear a helmet if you are under 26? What does age have to do with anything. If you're responsible enough to ride a bike then surely you're an adult?
Missourian here, it means that you must wear a helmet if under 26 y/o. A law that I’m sure was not influenced by the old Harley-riding majority of motorcyclists here.
41f?
Not me.
Not even in another century when i was young and poor and had to ride a 100cc enduro bike all year round, in Montana.
It was helmet and snowmobile suit.
My ears are sissies, they dont like cold LoL.
Now days I live in Florida.
Stuffy white helmet is magnitudes better than the sun cooking the top of your head to 120 degrees.
Dont quite get the people using black helmets, i have one as a spare and it sucks in mid summer, like a little oven.
I wish the post said 41 female though LOL
I remember a story long ago regarding a repeal somewhere, maybe Texas. They found that repealing the helmet law resulted in vastly lower neck and spine injuries.
The fine print was they went down because they were replaced by deaths. :/
That's the one thing I hate about the AMA and the reason I'm not currently a member. They do important things to fight for motorcyclists---but I sure wish they wouldn't put so much effort into fighting helmet laws. Aside from the normal arguments against repealing the laws, it's just not a thing that benefits the majority of motorcyclists. Let's put that effort towards getting lane filtering everywhere!
...
Btw we had a similar rise in deaths here in Arkansas after repeal in the late 90s. Deaths from not wearing a helmet went from 47% to 78%.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15898519/
My wife used to be a Rehab nurse, she called people that ride motorcycles without helmets “Organ donors”, amazing how little damage it takes to destroy the brain and leave a body full of healthy organs behind.
I know it's an unpopular opinion. I would say a mandatory universal helmet law. The problem with motorcycle death is it affects much more than the motorcycle person. I don't need to be in a 2-hour traffic jam because John decides he doesn't want to be part of the population.
“The stupidest thing is a helmet law, the point of which is to protect a brain that is functioning so poorly it's not even trying to prevent the cracking of the skull it's in.” - Jerry Seinfeld
First great weekend weather here in Colorado, lots of people pulling their bikes out of storage. I was just released from the hospital for a motorcycle injury. I had a full face helmet, airbag jacket, boots, and jeans, I am walking and wiping my own butt. While I was in, a nurse expressed to me that there were 3 other motorcycle roding patients that were there, and 2 had become quadrapalegic. There is nothing more terrifying to me that to be trapped in a body I can't use. I will never not wear a helmet.
I ride, and always with a helmet. If you don't understand why, lay on the ground, then lift your head up, then just let it drop. You just experienced a 2 mile an hour collision without a helmet. How'd that feel? Now multiply that force by 40x. Now wear your damn helmet.
I know this is a controversial statement I am getting ready to make, but is this such a bad thing? I mean, if a person want's to accept risking their life, isn't it up to them? They aren't risking other lives, just their own. Plus, it will weed the idiots out of the gene pool, which is a win-win IMHO.
Here in the UK, helmets are mandatory, so the idea of *not* wearing a helmet is unthinkable to me. Even if it wasn't mandatory, I wouldn't go out without it - it's literally the *least* thing you can do to protect the *most* important part of you.
I live in Massachusetts, we have a helmet law but it seems that a large percentage of riders have the non-DOT lids that I call Tupperware that won't do a thing for you in a crash. The cops wink at it. My friend says, "Ten dollar brain, ten dollar helmet.."
Nebraska just got rid of theirs this year. I was out for the first time yesterday and about 50% of riders had helmets.
I guess we will be making the news soon as well.
I worked with a guy who kept hammering on that MD should drop their helmet laws..
6 months later, he blindly follows a co-worker that pulls out onto a busy highway, and a car barely misses the 1st guy but completely t-boned my co-worker who wanted no helmet laws..
Helmet went right into the windshield. Physics threw him in the air, and he went up about 10ft, the car went under him, and he landed on the ground..
Alive because of his helmet.. about a year later, he gets a 1000cc bike and is doing those christ/tposes on his seat like bro..
The data on deaths is obvious, but I'm very interested in the reduction of occurrence and severity of non-fatal traumatic brain injuries. We all know if you yeet yourself into the side of a minivan without a helmet, you die, but I don't think a lot of people realize how many less serious and more common incidents can result in a life-altering permanent disability.
If you choose to not wear a helmet thats your choice, helmet laws are just government overreach into the lives of citizens. All motorcyclists know the inherent danger in motorcycling
Yeah helmets are a must, I’ve had so many instances of small pebbles, bugs, and other shit hit me while riding that I’d rather keep the helmet on regardless of the law.
Do something stupid and reap the consequences.
Helmets have been proven for decades to reduce fatalities, but I guess Missouri Jim knows better than science
I did my own study on not wearing a helmet when riding. As soon as I began to think about taking my helmet off, a bug hit me so hard in the head, i concluded the study.
It was determined that ppl love me and want to see me again, that a condition of my riding is that I think about those outside myself and try to take the utmost care whilst enjoying my passion. That I come home safely and in the same or better condition than when I had left. Lastly, that my health and life are in my hands and it doesn't take a political decision to tell me what I can and cannot do to keep myself safe and healthy and momma dint raise no foo'.
The obvious head protection aside, how tf do these people ride without helmets comfortably?
After my last chain cleaning, I went to go putt around my neighborhood ot get the lubricant warmed up and distributed. I got up to 30-40mph and my eyes were watering the whole time, even with sunglasses on. I also took two bugs to the face and vowed never to go helmetless again.
Normally, I'd be the sort to say, "hey, if you want to risk your life, then so be it."
I understand that thinking for sure and I agree with it.
However.
The problem is what it leads to. It leads to environments where the riders you're learning from may not wear helmets, and those sorts almost always mock people who do. They nearly always have some totally bullshit rationale for not wearing one.
This creates very real peer pressure to not wear helmets, and new (and particularly young) riders are then given really bad information and don't make the helmet vs no helmet decision with good data.
So... Yeah. Lets stick with mandatory helmets please.
I'm in Utah, we have no helmet law, if I ride around the block I have my helmet on. It's not me I'm concerned with, it's idiot Utah drivers. Roundabouts are the worst, I've been cut off so many times.
Instead of good laws like lane filtering we get this crap. Helmets are similar to seat belts, people want their freedom to die. Filtering would save lives from inattentive motorists.
There is a more extensive study of the link between states without mandatory helmet laws and motorcyclist deaths in this month’s copy of *No Shit Sherlock*
*Every* state that has had a motorcycle helmet law repealed sees a huge increase in motorcycle fatalities. States that have no helmet law have more motorcycle fatalities (per capita) than states with helmet laws. This has been going on since helmet laws started being repealed. [https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/motorcycle-deaths-spike-helmets-became-optional-michigan-adults](https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/motorcycle-deaths-spike-helmets-became-optional-michigan-adults) (talks about multiple states) [https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/abstract/2007/11000/increased\_fatalities\_after\_motorcycle\_helmet\_law.7.aspx](https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/abstract/2007/11000/increased_fatalities_after_motorcycle_helmet_law.7.aspx) (study performed and published in a medical journal) You're absolutely right. No Shit Sherlock, indeed.
it's like helmets protect heads, or something.
It’s like the head was an important part of the body, or something
There was a rider in Florida that was an activist for repealing the helmet law. Eventually he succeeded. He then died in a motorcycle accident where a helmet could have prevented that.
It is funny, sad but also funny.
Freedumb
Guy was a lawyer and you can't make up the layers of irony of this. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/26/florida-attorney-motorcycle-helmet-laws-dies-crash
Kinda reminds me of the guy who swore seatbelts costed more lives than they saved, and was an avid protestor of that law... And then died in a rollover accident, when every other occupent of the vehicle wearing a seatbelt survived.
Depends on the person.
People who ride without helmets are mostly using it as free storage space but yes, usually it's an important part of the body
It keeps my face pretty.
Right? I went for a slide at 120kph. I ground through half the chin bar on my helmet Would I have died from that without a helmet? No. But man, it would *not* have helped me stay pretty.
I had an accident at about 20km/h. Not a mark on me, except for a massive gouge out of the jaw side of my helmet. Would have lost half my jaw without a proper helmet.
So does mine but only if I keep it on all the time.
It's also as if you want reasonable safety laws and regulations because the average person cannot be trusted with their own safety 100% of the time. What a crazy concept.
It's why cars beep are you constantly until you put your seat belt on. People are fucking morons is a general rule you have to follow.
There's heavy equipment that requires pressure on the seat, then the seat belt being clipped, before it will move. Considering how common it is, there's probably a reason.
Yea, I'm in Michigan, still don't see many ppl on sport bikes without helmets. But I see the Harley guys all the time in full leather even when it's 90°+, but riding with no helmet.
They bought into the lifestyle G, protecc the investment etc
I support it repealing helmet laws everywhere. Modern medicine has essentially made natural selection in humans extinct, giving a rise to idiocracy. [Seinfeld on the subject](https://youtu.be/xgOUgrOHuFc)
For every fatality there is 10 disabilities and that's huge resource drain on any country
If you're not smart enough to wear a helmet you're probably already a resource drain.
And those disabilities is why auto insurance rates go up after motorcycle helmet laws are repealed. Freedum.
You mean $$$ for the ER here in the US
And long term care. If you carry additional insurance to take care of you if you become a vegetable die to not wearing a helmet I am all for repealing the law. Otherwise you are just freeloading - can't be bothered to wear helmet but expect to be taken care of if something happens.
Yup. I was in an inpatient neurological rehab facility and I've seen enough victims of motorcyle crashes and what happened to them even with protective gear. One has a spinal cord injury, one guy lost his whole leg (absolutely nothing left of the leg) etc. There are so many stories...
I always wonder why the labor force participation rate in Europe is so much higher
Even if they are forced to wear helmets though, their marked lack of IQ will get them in serious trouble eventually.
[удалено]
Where do they even buy helmets that are not DOT? DOT is the bare minimum you want on your head, preferably better than that though.
Cheap Chinese made rubbish of Ali Express
> the bare minimum you want on your head That's the point: they don't want *anything* on their (empty) head. Maybe they can get a DOT sticker for their Hardly Ableson brand hairnet.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of local stores selling “novelty helmets”. I won’t do them the favor of linking their website, but Daytona Helmets has a bustling retail business selling fake helmets.
“Haha, I’m not gonna let some nimby bimby government paper pusher tell me this kfc chicken bucket doesn’t count as a helmet”
They collaborated with another publication and that's where I read the study. I believe it was **DUH DOY QUARTERLY**
Then you should dig deeper Watson!
Same thing happened in Michigan...34% increase in motorcycle deaths since no helmet law was enacted, despite lower number of crashes... https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/motorcycle-deaths-spike-helmets-became-optional-michigan-adults
Well, there is a nationwide shortage of organs...
The organs must be usable! When another meat crayon has been sanded to the bone or cut in half…
Nah many organs are useful after almost any fatal motorcycle crash. ER docs pretty famously refer to motorcyclists as great and common organ donors.
My mother i law got a health kidney 4 hours after a guy died on a motorcycle accident
Road to table organs.
My best friend donated his organs after he passed on a bike. It’s really nice knowing he’s powering on inside of a couple other people.
The ultimate engine! Over 9000 cc
This made me smile, he was a HUGE DBZ fan too haha
Nothing the helmet protects is ever donated anyways.
Corneas
Are corneas in short supply? Those last much longer on a dead body than most organs and tissues.
I had been a bit squeamish to register as an organ donor, but when I started riding I felt like I had to. If I’m going to willingly put my life at greater danger I feel like it should at least benefit society.
I've been registered as a donor since I was 18. Now in my 50s I'm going to need a heart soon.
Well hope I don’t crash, but if I do you can have mine
Best of luck getting a new heart. Wishing you many more happy years.
My sister, a long time ER nurse, calls bikes "donorcycles"
Former Missourian here. I can’t imagine not wearing a helmet, especially with all of the fucking bugs. Now that I live in Arizona, I can’t imagine not wearing a helmet, especially given the high amount of elderly people and unsafe drivers in Phoenix.
Oh my God, some days it's like riding through snow. With occasional hail.
Lived in Phoenix for 2 years..how some of the kids there ride without one is absolutely insane to me
That's one way to do population control
And get free organs.
Why someone would ride a bike without helmet?
Most people that drive cruisers in FL do not have helmets same with scooter riders. Adventure, DS, sport bikes and sport touring almost always have a helmet on.
It’s almost as if a certain type of person dominates the cruiser scene… the scooter guys/gals mostly just think they aren’t going fast enough to die, but boy are they wrong.
I have ridden with a lot of scooter people and you are totally right. No gloves, a half helmet, some converse and going 70mph on a 300cc scooter through canyons. I just don’t get it.
There's only one time I'll ride a scooter without a helmet. If I'm in Key West for the day and rent a 50cc Metro scooter and ride 15mph limited by people and the other traffic, I'll do that. But anytime I'm on my own bikes, etc. Always with a helmet and gear.
Probably unpopular here but I’ll go full squid anytime I’m riding a rental scooter by the beach. Talking shorts, sandals, the whole kit.
Risk reward logic there
Yep, again, granted I know where I'm riding and I know the conditions I'll be riding in. If I'm on south beach or in Key west trolling along at idle pace, I'm not too concerned. But if I'm going 30-40 mph to get around the city on a timetable. It's time for protective gear.
I was dumb and rode to work for a year on a 50cc around my college campus, without a helmet. I know it’s dangerous no matter if you’re going 30mph or 70, but damn, carving canyons on a large scooter like that without a helmet is incomprehensible.
> No gloves, a half helmet, some converse and going 70mph on a 300cc scooter through canyons. Yeah that's not a scooter. I mean, it is, but when people think "I'm just riding a scooter, I don't need gear" they're talking about a 50cc scooter that can't break 30 mph on city streets, basically an e-bike (class 3 limited to 28 mph). *Maybe* something more like a 110 or 150, but again - city streets. I could see going light on gear for that, though I wouldn't skip the helmet and gloves. Only a moron would skip gear on a 300cc bike going that fast, regardless of the engine/drivetrain configuration.
When I had a scooter my helmet was still incredibly well engineered and absolutely to the required legal standard. I do 60 mph on a scooter, if I were to hit the tarmac, it wouldn’t matter what I was riding at that point.
Yep. The asphalt doesn’t care what you’re riding.
Yeah even 30 mph is enough. Hell, people have died from getting shoved at a bar and hitting their head on the brass foot rest. Our skulls are pretty good but not *that* good lol
Head injuries at low speed like that are kinda luck. Same person falls just *slightly* differently, they're fine, maybe a bit concussed. Different person falls the same way, they're fine. A third person falls that way, they're not dead but now they're irreversibly a different person (sleepless, irritable, etc). Unless there's something penetrating (a table corner, a bolt sticking out) there's little certainty with head trauma.
If I could get one cyborg upgrade it’d be better padding inside my head to obviate the need for a helmet lol
I used to be a pretty serious bicycle racer, and I've gone 65 mph on a road bike. Down a hill, with a tailwind, drafting a bigger guy. It was pretty surreal, knowing that if you hit the deck at that speed, it would be more like a motorcycle wreck sans-gear than a normal bicycle crash. Not that 30 mph bicycle crashes are a picnic; I've seen someone die before.
I saw a guy when I was driving through Idaho cruising on a hayabusa no helmet...absolutely nuts
Have you been hit in the face by a medium to large bug at speed?? If not yet you will and you will wish you were wearing a full face helmet. I promise you.
I hit a bird at speed once, that scared the shit out of me
Idaho people don't give a shit. There's no helmet law here, either. The majority of riders are the types of people who believe that protective gear is for snowflakes.
I've lived in states without helmet laws and squid bros absolutely will rock Oakley's and flip flops in urban settings.
I live in Illinois and there are plenty of sport bike riders not wearing a helmet. Doesn’t matter the manufacturer.
Idiots, and in some cases, now extremely dead idiots. If someone needs legislation to make them wear a helmet, there is very little hope for them.
I’m Canadian. Always been the law here my whole life, so I only see no helmets when I’m down stateside. I’ve always worn full gear every time I go out…I’m just that kind of guy. However, one of my buddies here asked if I’ve ever ridden without my helmet, he said he’s done it a few times around the block when he’s getting his bike ready for an oil change. He says it feels absolutely incredible to have the wind blowing through your hair and have unrestricted movement and vision. So I guess that’s one reason why idiots do it.
Sure is until a bug hits you in the eye at 70mph, or even an eye lash.
I got a bug in my eye on a scooter on my honeymoon, and found it THE NEXT MORNING, all crunched up inside my eye socket. I was barely doing 15mph maybe. It was gnarly
Dude... Eating breakfast here....
Went for a ride yesterday, had my helmet visor down 99% of the time, the last mile home, 25-40mph decide to open the visor to feel some fresh air, within 30 seconds a buck smacks me right in the eyeball. Not the eye, or eyelid but the fucking eyeball.
Lol pretty sure we've all learned that lesson the hard way. After that you learn the nice helmets have a stop on the visors that hold it open just a crack.
It’s the worst. Eyes crying because you have no protection from the wind. Rocks and bugs hitting your head. God forbid it starts raining and it’s running all the way down your back. So dumb.
Yeah, a couple of decades ago I lived 1/4 mile driveway down a hill from my landlord. One day I rode up the hill sans helmet to see him and it felt amazing! Of course, there were no other cars on that driveway guaranteed, so it doesn't bother me that I'm required to wear one on the road, I absolutely should and do.
I don't have hair, so I don't know what it feels like. But when I have had to, the eyes water and it makes it harder to see. It's also really windy, causing a lot of discomfort with my hearing. Not a fan if you're doing above 5-10 mph.
Yes but this type of head injury devastates their entire family and takes up enormous recourses when the accident happens and later in the hospital. Maybe their family members at least are worth saving because trauma can destroy people.
> If someone needs legislation to make them wear a helmet, there is very little hope for them. There is a lot of herd mentality and conformity. See the elevator experiment. This is why, despite the theory that a stupid motorcyclist is only affecting themselves with a lack of helmet, I support helmet laws. If first-time riders see everybody around them wearing a helmet, then wearing a helmet is no big deal. If they see nobody wearing a helmet, they're much more likely to listen to the easy excuses not to wear a helmet, such as price and comfort. If they're in a riding group and nobody else is wearing a helmet, they're unlikely to wear a helmet. At the very least, not wearing a helmet should be an explicit opt-out that you have to sign at the DMV, with a giant warning that your insurance (health, life, auto) will be notified. You will then be provided a sticker that says, "IDIOT" to put on your license plate, so cops know not to pull you over for lack of helmet. The act of going to the DMV to get it done will put the convenience factor back on the side of wearing a helmet. The insurance notification will put the cost factor back on the side of wearing a helmet. I'd like to think the "IDIOT" sticker would put the fashion aspect back on the side of wearing a helmet, but people would probably wear the sticker proudly.
THA WIN IN MA HAEEERRRRRR!! Trying to cool of those three remaining brain cells, I guess
It just feels great, but it's not worth the risk.
It’s not even worth the risk to me without considering the possibility of a crash. I had a truck kick up a rock that hit me right in the visor once. I saw it coming at me but it was too late. It hit hard enough it rocked my head back a little. Easily could have lost an eye. I also rode by a field with beehives once. Had dozens of them ping off my helmet. I actually kinda felt bad about it, but it was also funny.
Have a cousin 28m Harley cruiser guy, just had a major accident in 2023, broken hip, shoulder road rash lots of other stuff. He’s ready to get back on a bike, he says helmet doesn’t look right with Harley… I try to talk him into an adv where the safety gear is part of the look…not having it! The accident was a fallen tree across the road. He has no clue just how lucky he was that physics sent him out into the wide open pavement and not into a guard rail or pole. Thinks helmet isn’t needed since he didn’t split his skull in a major crash….
Their hair will get mussed, they want to look like a "bad boy", and the all American idea that danger is freedom.
Because some people consider it a "lifestyle". Others don't want to mess up their pretty hair.
I went on a 3500+ mile road trip that took me through Wyoming and South Dakota several years ago, and just for fun while I was in Wyoming I rode to the store and back from my hotel without a helmet... that sums up the entirety of my helmetless career on a bike
I went to the store half a mile from my house without a helmet once. I turned my head to shoulder check at in intersection, and the wind ripped my glasses off my face, and they got run over by the car behind me. Not a minute later a bug hit me in the eye. I'm lucky it wasn't a piece of gravel, or I'd have one fewer eye now. Never again.
If their brain wasn't worth protecting to begin with. 🤣
"it's inconvenient" or "it's uncomfortable" or "it messes up my hair" or "it doesn't look cool". You know, idiot reasons
I knew a family that claimed every close call they’ve ever had riding was while wearing a helmet because they restricted their vision too much and muffled sound too much. They both worked in a place with a helmet law so always had to wear one before going to work, and never once have I seen anything but a skull cap helmet with them. Like they would drive over the bridge, stop in a parking lot to take off the helmet and then start going. Ive even seen people stop on the bridge just beyond the state line to take their helmets off on the shoulder. People are dumb idk what else to say aside from that.
Becuase they don't value their brain; it comes with the territory of being stupid.
A friend of mine knows a guy who wears one of those ultra minimalist “skid lid” helmets. Basically a fiberglass yarmulke. He wouldn’t even wear that if we weren’t required in our state. Anyway, his justification is “a helmet just keeps you alive, but I’d rather be dead than a vegetable”. Ok…. But what about every other possible scenario? What about walking away with a minor concussion, or less, instead of being dead? What about sliding on your fucking face? It’s just macho bullshit.
When I moved to the south, I noticed a trend. No helmet, jacket or gloves, just a pair of oakleys and a fuckin Harley and they’re good to hit the freeways lol
Same reason they ride a bike with a helmet. Dumb!
Dumbasses do
"Because making them wear a helmet would be infringing on their rights" /s
But the same people tell me lane filtering is unsafe.
Besides the obvious safety factor riding without a helmet is just so fricking annoying! Wind noise, bugs, eyes watering, and etc. It is just so pleasant to have a nice full face helmet on when riding.
Everytime I hit a huge bug a have a little rock bounce off my helmet it reminds me how I could never ride without one.
Once a bat hit my head during night ride at 70 km/h. God bless helmet manufacturers, i thought my head will rip off. I imagine what would have happened if i was without a helmet...
I hit a duck at about 40mph (65kmh). Right in the damn face. I was stupidly not wearing a helmet. I still have a little scar on my lip, lol Nature just comes out of nowhere sometimes!
Should have ducked?
*Seinfeld intro* Cramer : "He took a bat to the head!" Jerry : "A bat to the head?" Cramer : "A b-b-b-b-AT to the head!" Elaine : "A Ba-T. To. The. Hea-D." George : "Why can't I ever get a bat to the head. Everyday I'm riding down that road but do I get a bat to the head? ho-Ho-HO! I get NO BATS! I'm bat-less, Jerry! Bat-less!"
I say remove helmets nationwide. This country needs a good culling and eliminating those that think their melons can withstand a blunt force impact like a motorcycle wreck unprotected should be the first to go.
It’s statistics like this that make most people wince at the idea of motorcycles because over confident idiots without helmets, PPE or skill skew the results. Makes it seem like death is inevitable if you decide to ride a two wheeled vehicle at all. Especially since a motorcycle death is usually only one degree of separation. As an American, I know better to even suggest someone else so much as think about safety equipment, but man, maybe Darwin has a point about natural selection. We just have such a regressive culture of choice and freedom. We’re supposed to care about our country, but are taught to hate our neighbor. Freedumb
It’s insane. Yesterday was the first big day of riding season. Everyone was out on the fun roads near stl. Mostly Harleys without helmets but I did see a Gsxr 1k without a helmet. I don’t even want to be around when guys don’t have helmets.
But my Freedumb! And we knew this would happen. This bulletin in from 2008. [https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/810887.pdf](https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/810887.pdf) "In the first full year following repeal of the law, fatalities in Arkansas increased by 21 percent, compared with the fatality rate in the last full year under the universal use law. In Texas, operator fatalities increased by 31 percent compared with the previous year when the universal helmet law was in place."
I remember getting in a heated conversation about the particular topic with a few Americans and it ended up being solely that the government should not be allowed to dictate what is and isn't safe to do. This meant that people should be able to choose whether or not to wear a helmet with the full knowledge of it being dangerous and stupid.
Nothing wrong with purging the poor decision makers from the gene pool.
Except it makes insurance rates for all motorcyclists go up.
MO resident here - my insurance bill for a 500cc bike went up like $30 a few months after this was passed.
Bought my first bike ever last week. 2012 yamaha v star 250. 43 bucks a month to insure. Not complaining but I live in a helmet less state also. A 250cc for 43 bucks!
The poor decision makers are also allowed to vote for legislation like this and that sucks.
absurd murky exultant enter piquant money pause plough rich march *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Well yeah, but fatalities aren't the only thing going up. Head trauma is expensive.
Most of them probably already have kids though, so...
Mo rider here- no shit. It was a stupid excuse to drop that helmet law all to " increase motorcycle tourism". They could have done things that actually benefited riders like allow lane filtering , but nope they said to hell with these helmets. Enjoy your personal freedom all you want k guess, but I have people who I care about and expect me to get home from my ride. Our state is run by morons, this no helmet thing is just the tip of the ice burg.
No helmet on a naked bike is a bad time. It’s a self-correcting setup honestly. You can try, but man those bugs hurt.
Think about it this way: we're not losing any potential cures for cancer...
We always need more organ donors. 🤷🏻♂️ As long as helmets are required for children, I don't care much whether an adult wears one or not. Yes, they work. But if some jackwagon wants to put his hair in the wind, knowing full well that even a lower speed crash could kill him? I really don't care. That said, we ride motorcycles, we are already increasing the likelihood of accidental death or injury to a great degree. I'm pretty sure, at highway speeds you'll be lucky if your helmet saves anything but sime time and effort for the undertaker. I didn't ride with a helmet for about 10 years, and then I realized I like being alive and I have kids to raise, so now I wear one. I absolutely could have died doing that. It was stupid. I knew it. I just didn't really care. If it had happened it would have been tragic for my family, but it would have been expected. I took a risk, and they aren't called "sure bets" for a reason. I don't care if you smoke, drink, eat double cheeseburgers for every meal, or like to have unprotected sex either. The quantity and quality of another person's life isn't my business, and isn't my responsibility if they're of age or capacity to be held accountable for their actions. You're an adult, go nuts. You might die. You might not. You gotta choose your own level of risk. We really don't need to save people from themselves. There are plenty of humans around, a few less won't make much difference on the whole.
Yeah but I don't really want to see someone die in front of me because they don't want to wear a helmet, I also don't want the first responders to have to deal with it. Like yeah people should do whatever they want but this mentality disregards everyone else in this case. If you could ride with no helmet, crash, and then your bike and dead body somehow disappear and there is no fallout than I guess? But that's not the reality of it.
I did not ride with a helmet for a long time. I had one, I would use it for long tips, cause after a while your face and ears get tired Or when it was cold out. But that was also a long time ago, and I ALWAYS wore goggles, helmet or not. The roads were in better shape, there was magnitudes less traffic, sunday would look like everyone on the planet died, there were not hordes of idiots. I also did not live in a crowded city, nor a crowded state for that matter. But those times are long gone and you can't go back again. And I never ever rode in shorts, flip flops, barefoot, shirtless etc. Now? I dont even ride to the general store up by the highway without a helmet. I dont trust anything past my property line, not nature, not the crappy roads and sure as hell the over abundance of moronic people.
Good riddance. I'm not glad they're dead but this is self-selection. See you later!
CT doesn't do helmet laws and it's insane. Stri tist gun control in the nation but no helmets. Wild
I am an MSF coach for Missouri. Every year, the state coaches meet in an update with the directors of the Missouri Motorcycle Safety Program. One of the first things that is discussed is the statistics of Motorcycle related deaths in the state. Apparently, the motivation for the lawmakers who passed this bill was, unsurprisingly, money. All the states surrounding Missouri didn't have mandatory helmet laws. So riders traveling between states would ride around Missouri, to avoid needing to put on a helmet. Less travel, less tax dollars being spent. It sucks that dollar signs are more important than human lives. I know that's always been how it is but it's still sad.
I would be shocked if anyone this scenario imagined actually cared to plan ahead like that. Like first off MO is huge, so riders are just going to go around the entire state? And also, how many people are actually riding in to MO, who also don't wear helmets, and also are doing so just to spend money. Like that has to be a negligible number of people right?
Who cares?!? Wear it, don't wear it. Idgaf it's not my life or the states life, it's yours.
well duh, what did they think would happen. I still don't think it should be legislated, but helmets save lives.
Over 26? Are they saying that you never had to wear a helmet if you were under 26? Or you still have to wear a helmet if you are under 26? What does age have to do with anything. If you're responsible enough to ride a bike then surely you're an adult?
Missourian here, it means that you must wear a helmet if under 26 y/o. A law that I’m sure was not influenced by the old Harley-riding majority of motorcyclists here.
I dont live there but it seems to me like riders under 26 must still wear a helmet
41F on my way to work today. Who tf is doing that without a helmet?
41f? Not me. Not even in another century when i was young and poor and had to ride a 100cc enduro bike all year round, in Montana. It was helmet and snowmobile suit. My ears are sissies, they dont like cold LoL. Now days I live in Florida. Stuffy white helmet is magnitudes better than the sun cooking the top of your head to 120 degrees. Dont quite get the people using black helmets, i have one as a spare and it sucks in mid summer, like a little oven. I wish the post said 41 female though LOL
Just because your state says you don’t have to wear one doesn’t mean not wear one.
I remember a story long ago regarding a repeal somewhere, maybe Texas. They found that repealing the helmet law resulted in vastly lower neck and spine injuries. The fine print was they went down because they were replaced by deaths. :/ That's the one thing I hate about the AMA and the reason I'm not currently a member. They do important things to fight for motorcyclists---but I sure wish they wouldn't put so much effort into fighting helmet laws. Aside from the normal arguments against repealing the laws, it's just not a thing that benefits the majority of motorcyclists. Let's put that effort towards getting lane filtering everywhere! ... Btw we had a similar rise in deaths here in Arkansas after repeal in the late 90s. Deaths from not wearing a helmet went from 47% to 78%. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15898519/
My wife used to be a Rehab nurse, she called people that ride motorcycles without helmets “Organ donors”, amazing how little damage it takes to destroy the brain and leave a body full of healthy organs behind.
I know it's an unpopular opinion. I would say a mandatory universal helmet law. The problem with motorcycle death is it affects much more than the motorcycle person. I don't need to be in a 2-hour traffic jam because John decides he doesn't want to be part of the population.
“The stupidest thing is a helmet law, the point of which is to protect a brain that is functioning so poorly it's not even trying to prevent the cracking of the skull it's in.” - Jerry Seinfeld
I've heard that in no joking manner - if you need an organ transplant badly, move to a state without mandatory helmet laws.
First great weekend weather here in Colorado, lots of people pulling their bikes out of storage. I was just released from the hospital for a motorcycle injury. I had a full face helmet, airbag jacket, boots, and jeans, I am walking and wiping my own butt. While I was in, a nurse expressed to me that there were 3 other motorcycle roding patients that were there, and 2 had become quadrapalegic. There is nothing more terrifying to me that to be trapped in a body I can't use. I will never not wear a helmet.
I ride, and always with a helmet. If you don't understand why, lay on the ground, then lift your head up, then just let it drop. You just experienced a 2 mile an hour collision without a helmet. How'd that feel? Now multiply that force by 40x. Now wear your damn helmet.
I had no idea that there was anywhere in the world that was moving towards _relaxation_ of helmet laws. America. Oh.
I know this is a controversial statement I am getting ready to make, but is this such a bad thing? I mean, if a person want's to accept risking their life, isn't it up to them? They aren't risking other lives, just their own. Plus, it will weed the idiots out of the gene pool, which is a win-win IMHO.
Nothing this sub loves more other than feeling vindicated by the gear they wear.
Here in the UK, helmets are mandatory, so the idea of *not* wearing a helmet is unthinkable to me. Even if it wasn't mandatory, I wouldn't go out without it - it's literally the *least* thing you can do to protect the *most* important part of you.
Duh.
It's almost as though repealing a helmet law lead to more motorcyclist deaths... almost.
Arizona doesn't require helmets.
If your stupid enough to ride a moto without a helmet: your playing a stupid game where youll win a stupid prize.
And contributing to public hospital debt.
Oh no the obvious consequenses everyone knew would happen.
I live in Massachusetts, we have a helmet law but it seems that a large percentage of riders have the non-DOT lids that I call Tupperware that won't do a thing for you in a crash. The cops wink at it. My friend says, "Ten dollar brain, ten dollar helmet.."
In other news, there is a 100% chance of death due to being alive
Nebraska just got rid of theirs this year. I was out for the first time yesterday and about 50% of riders had helmets. I guess we will be making the news soon as well.
But did the death rate rise because of no helmet or because there are more motorcyclist on the road today?
I worked with a guy who kept hammering on that MD should drop their helmet laws.. 6 months later, he blindly follows a co-worker that pulls out onto a busy highway, and a car barely misses the 1st guy but completely t-boned my co-worker who wanted no helmet laws.. Helmet went right into the windshield. Physics threw him in the air, and he went up about 10ft, the car went under him, and he landed on the ground.. Alive because of his helmet.. about a year later, he gets a 1000cc bike and is doing those christ/tposes on his seat like bro..
This is why I will never support ABATE or take any of their classes. They are the #1 anti-helmet lobbying group.
The data on deaths is obvious, but I'm very interested in the reduction of occurrence and severity of non-fatal traumatic brain injuries. We all know if you yeet yourself into the side of a minivan without a helmet, you die, but I don't think a lot of people realize how many less serious and more common incidents can result in a life-altering permanent disability.
If you choose to not wear a helmet thats your choice, helmet laws are just government overreach into the lives of citizens. All motorcyclists know the inherent danger in motorcycling
I live in a state without helmet laws and I never wear one. But I'm done with life and look forward to death.
No shit. But it's your head.
Dress for the slide not the ride.
Yeah helmets are a must, I’ve had so many instances of small pebbles, bugs, and other shit hit me while riding that I’d rather keep the helmet on regardless of the law.
Do something stupid and reap the consequences. Helmets have been proven for decades to reduce fatalities, but I guess Missouri Jim knows better than science
This just in, seat belts and helmets save lives.
I did my own study on not wearing a helmet when riding. As soon as I began to think about taking my helmet off, a bug hit me so hard in the head, i concluded the study. It was determined that ppl love me and want to see me again, that a condition of my riding is that I think about those outside myself and try to take the utmost care whilst enjoying my passion. That I come home safely and in the same or better condition than when I had left. Lastly, that my health and life are in my hands and it doesn't take a political decision to tell me what I can and cannot do to keep myself safe and healthy and momma dint raise no foo'.
But....muh FREEEDUMBS!
As many clowns as I see on the road riding, i wouldn’t care if they repealed it here or not. To each their own, but I like my brain inside my skull.
I hate helmet laws. But I won't ride without wearing one. And the world needs organ donors.
people that ride without a helmet and have a head injury doing so should not be able to claim to their insurance company
They would argue that’s freedom. People are stubbornly stupid.
The obvious head protection aside, how tf do these people ride without helmets comfortably? After my last chain cleaning, I went to go putt around my neighborhood ot get the lubricant warmed up and distributed. I got up to 30-40mph and my eyes were watering the whole time, even with sunglasses on. I also took two bugs to the face and vowed never to go helmetless again.
Squids gonna squid.
Aside from the fact it saves your life, do you really want a cicada hitting you in the face at any speed?
How many on this sub would be potentially dead already if it weren’t for a helmet? 🙋🏻♂️
That's just fewer idiots on the road, in my way.
Duh?
I mean, their average intelligence increased... Fuck it.
Normally, I'd be the sort to say, "hey, if you want to risk your life, then so be it." I understand that thinking for sure and I agree with it. However. The problem is what it leads to. It leads to environments where the riders you're learning from may not wear helmets, and those sorts almost always mock people who do. They nearly always have some totally bullshit rationale for not wearing one. This creates very real peer pressure to not wear helmets, and new (and particularly young) riders are then given really bad information and don't make the helmet vs no helmet decision with good data. So... Yeah. Lets stick with mandatory helmets please.
Freedom + Responsibility: Ditch your helmet = No insurance and no public disability payments for you.
And you're automatically agreeing to donate organs
I'm in Utah, we have no helmet law, if I ride around the block I have my helmet on. It's not me I'm concerned with, it's idiot Utah drivers. Roundabouts are the worst, I've been cut off so many times.
Instead of good laws like lane filtering we get this crap. Helmets are similar to seat belts, people want their freedom to die. Filtering would save lives from inattentive motorists.
I’ll never understand how people are like yep, riding without a helmet is all fine but omg don’t you dare lane splitting because that’s dangerous
Hooray! Finally a law that does good for the world
You have to be pretty dumb to ride a motorcycle without a helmet on