Helmet laws - for or against

Are you in favor of helmet laws?

Yes
78
44%
Rabidly YES - everyone should be required to wear a full face helmet
26
15%
No
37
21%
Limited - Only for younger or inexperienced riders
37
21%
 
Total votes: 178

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sunshine229
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#41 Unread post by sunshine229 »

My Dad is an ambulance paramedic....so needless to say I am a fan of full face helmets after hearing all the dreadful stories all my life...

Andrea :)
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t_bonee
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#42 Unread post by t_bonee »

NightNurse wrote:p.s. I feel the exact same way about seatbelt laws. It should be a personal choice...
Indeed. Helmet laws, seatbelt laws, smoking ban laws. They are the nanny laws. There is always someone out there who knows what is better for you than you do. So lets pass a law to force our beliefs on folks

I got nothing against helmets, seatbelts or not smoking. I choose to do the first 2 and not the 3rd because I KNOW what my responsibilities are to protect myself.
A dog had his chain reduced one link at a time, every few days, until his chain was so short he could barely move. He never resisted because he was conditioned to the loss of his freedom slowly, over time. Are we in this country becoming like the dog?

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ofblong
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#43 Unread post by ofblong »

not sure if I have replied to this thread but I have replied to others that were started (doing a search before posting is always helpful you know. keeps the thread count down).

Anyways my feeling is let em not wear one. when they get into an accident and die thats just gods way of weeding out the morons in the world.

And no no one is going to change my stance on that.
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Carbonfiberjunky
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Natural selection

#44 Unread post by Carbonfiberjunky »

I personaly won't ride without a helmet.But I do advocate natural selection.
Luck often favors the one who doesn't count it in their plans

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#45 Unread post by Wrider »

Personally I am always ATGATT, but don't really care who doesn't. IMO they're just opening themselves up to more of a possibility of wrecking and/or getting hurt. I say more of a possibility of wrecking because I've been in several situations where my helmet blocked stuff (June Bug, rocks, road debris) from hitting me in the face. I KNOW how bad the stuff hurts through jeans, but on a bare face I might have moved around too much and dropped the bike. I've been tempted not to, but I think I always will because of my previous experiences...
Wrider
BTW, I voted limited, because if people start off wearing a helmet then they're more likely to see the benefits versus the cons.
And I wear a Scorpion Exo 400 personally, little bit less jaw room than in my previous HJC CL-14, but still plenty for my big head. Full face is fine with me, especially after seeing the graphs of where most impacts are, almost 50% of all impacts are where the 3/4 helmets don't protect...
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t_bonee
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#46 Unread post by t_bonee »

It is a very personal choice. The riding of motorcycles in general can be considered a form of natural selection by most. There are grisly old bikers who've ridden their whole life and never wore anything more than their leather vest for protection. Then there are the folks who've dropped 3 grand on racing leathers, helmets, boots, armor, etc and get hit head on two days later and don't survive.

Somewhere in between those extremes the individual has to assess that the general practice of riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous and to what level that they wish to protect themselves from said dangers. For some, they are willing to take maximum risk, others want every part of their body covered by leather and foam padding. It makes no one rider better than another, just shows some people have a higher tolerance for risk while some have more aversion to risk.
A dog had his chain reduced one link at a time, every few days, until his chain was so short he could barely move. He never resisted because he was conditioned to the loss of his freedom slowly, over time. Are we in this country becoming like the dog?

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#47 Unread post by Bored »

I feel like you should have the choice if you are at least 21 years old. I personally would not ride without a helmet, I wear full face helmets no matter what I am riding. For one thing it provides the best protection and for 2, I suffer from Dry eye syndrome, my eyes dry out instantly in the slightest breeze which leads to horrible tearing! It looks like I am crying and limits my vision! so I can't wear a shorty even if I wanted to.
The helmet only benifits the wearer, so in my opinion if you want to risk your life, that is your choice.
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#48 Unread post by Cmack »

While I think helmets are a good idea and I have always worn one on the street, I don't want to mommy government telling me whats best for me. Not their job...Cmack
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MrGompers
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#49 Unread post by MrGompers »

I advocate helmets for riders 18 yrs old and under. And for riders that only have a learners permit. That is currently the law in Conn.

If helmets and seat belts are so much safer. Why hasn't insurance rates come down? Thats what they said would happen 20 yrs ago when they passed the seat belts laws and I'm still waiting. Better yet if helmets are so much safer why don't car drivers wear them too? Here's a choice quote from an article I read a few weeks ago.

"Since Tennessee head injury rates in automobiles are more than 12 times higher than that for motorcycles, will we all be wearing helmets in automobiles soon? If the folks who proclaim "if we can just save one life" have their way, it's possible."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/opi ... 37,00.html


Colorado and Delaware want to make helmet use mandatory again. I don't know if those bills have passed. If they do I'd like to see what happens to their insurance rates.

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#50 Unread post by Jas0n »

I chose the 18 and under law. No particular reason, it just seems the most practical.

I dont even know why people wouldnt wear a full face helmet. I saw some dudes face shield after about 2 hours of riding, and I could barely see through all the bugs that splatterd on it.

I guess if you need some protien, not wearing a helmet would be pretty convenient on the country side.

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