[BraveMan]

[Not A Snowbird]

No way I ride without my helmet.

I’m so conditioned to wearing it that I feel naughty moving my bike from the driveway into the garage without it on.

[Hardastarboard]

A growing number of fatalities involve larger bikes with more powerful engines (1,001 to 1,500 cubic centimeters).

Ah, yes. The motorcycle haters ultimate talking point. More CC = more killing power. Despite the fact that most 600 sport bikes today are capable of running well in excess of 120 MPH, and getting there in less than 15 seconds.

[dljordan]

I had a near fatal crash on the 26th of June. Spent a week in a coma and another week in the hospital. I broke six ribs, both wrists, collapsed a lung and have lots of missing skin. The thing that saved my life was that I was wearing my helmet!

I’ve been riding since 1970 and never had an accident and they say I hit another biker from the rear (I don’t remember). If i’d been wearing my leathers the rest of the damage would have been a lot less.

I love to ride but I really don’t think I’m going too after this one.

[martin_fierro]

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[martin_fierro]

What a slanted POS article this is.

[RichardW]

This is really a no-brainer and I didn’t intend that as a pun either. I’ve owned five bikes but I never went without a helmet. It is pure craziness to think a cyclist can compete with an enclosed vehicle like a car or a truck. The problem is compounded by more traffic in congested areas. The other vehicles simply don’t see the bikers. I’ve dumped a bike before but thankfully, there were no other vehicles in the vicinity. I’ve just given it up entirely. Too dangerous. If someone wants the open air, get a convertible. Motorcycles make sense in the wide open road like Wyoming. But in city areas, you had better plan on getting right with God. Your ticket is likely to be punched sooner than you had intended.

[Bernard]

Alcohol consumption and failure to wear a helmet continue to be factors. In Wisconsin last year, 75% of those killed weren't wearing helmets and 47% had been drinking. Nationally in 2005, the latest year available, 35% had been drinking and 43% were not wearing a helmet

I'm surprised that all motorcycle deaths don't happen without a helmet, or at least a higher percentage than what is quoted here.

[kiriath_jearim]

What’s odd here in the Phoenix area is that most of the helmet-wearing bikers that I’ve seen were riding Japanese bikes, while the Harley riders don’t wear helmets. Is that a national trend?

[Sensei Ern]

"Many of them had experience riding bikes. But they're going back to a bike that's a lot different from what they learned on. They're bigger, they're heavier and the maneuvering is a lot different."

I blame wives for this.From the time the guy gets married, his wife refuses to let him get the bike he wanted...a 250 Enduro.

So when he finally dumps her and get the blond bimbo wife, he buys a bike...to big and too heavy for his inexperience.

[hodaka]

I wonder if some of these deaths can be related to inexperience riders riding on a hard tail and whipping out when hitting a pot hole.

[higgmeister]

I suspect that any individuals this is directed to will not take the time to read these statistics

Perhaps their loved ones will though.

[Just another Joe]

A helmet saved my life when I was young, brave, stupid, and invincible.
I wouldn't get on a motorcycle without one, front or back.

[Badeye]

A helmet is a tool, and as such isn’t appropriate for every single ‘ride’ one takes.

I’ve been riding a motorcyle of one kind or another since I was around eight years old. I’m riding today, actually.

No helmt. I’m in a rural area of Southern Ohio. The biggest dangers you face here are deer, followed by large John Deere farm equipment that I still don’t have any clue as to what they do, only that they are bigger than my first four apartments - Combined.

You only have two options when riding. Avoid whatever it is that might hit you/you hit....or don’t.

I prefer unrestricted vision, and the additional hearing I get without the helmet on these rural roads. Expressways, or roads allowing that type of speed, yep a helmet is the best course of action.

Its worth noting the young lady quoted initially in the article makes NO CLAIM a helmet would have kept her parents alive.....

As for the age of victims being ‘over 45’ we can all thank motorcycle manufacturers that keep the price of their bikes inflated by keeping production runs smaller than the immediate demand.....

[longtermmemmory]

This article is pure lies and propaganda.

It does NOT consider there are FAR MORE bikers on the road.

It does NOT mention that 90 percent of all accidents are riders who have had their bikes LESS THAN SIX MONTHS.

It does NOT mention that the VAST MAJORITY of accidents involve people who do NOT HAVE A MC ENDORSEMENT on their licnese. (riding without a license)

It also doe snot mintion that the vast majority of those in accidents have NEVER taken a safety class.

It also does not mention that FMVSS 218 (the ONLY NHTSA safety standard that must be complied as a matter of law. the snell standard is legally irrelevant) ONLY goes up to 14 MPH for impact!

The issue the article obstructs is that this is NOT about to wear or not to wear, this is about to regulate behavior or not regulate behavior.

If you REALLY wanted to reduce motorcycle accidents, require AUTODRIVERS to take a motorcycle safty awareness couse.