to all motorcycle riders

[LoveTown]

Monday night when I was driving to work at 9:30 I came upon what I thought was a dead moose in the middle of the road. I swung out into the other lane at the last second to avoid hitting it when my eye caught something white.....it was a sneaker. As the shock that this was a human being in the road sunk in I quickly parked my car and hopped out to help. 2 people were parked up the road running down to me and yelled out and asked me to call 911 if I had a cell phone...I did. I will never forget walking up in the darkness to the person in the road....I thought for sure he was dead. Then as I got closer I could hear him gurgling on blood and my own blood ran cold. As I was standing over the person and talking to the 911 dispatcher I saw a large dark puddle starting to pour out of the back of the person's head. I knew then just how bad the situation was.

He was riding a motorcycle, one of the fast sporty ninja type bikes....no helmet. His bike was 30 feet up the road from him, totally smashed up. There was glass and pieces of bike everywhere. His keys were thrown out of his pocket, as were his cigarrettes, the baseball hat he'd been wearing was about 10/15 feet south of him. He kept going in and out of consciousness but when he was "awake" he wasn't responsive and I can only describe the look in his eyes as the look of death. I knelt down beside him and tried to stop some of the blood and to keep him still as he was becoming somewhat combative ( the EMTs said that this is common in serious head wounds). It was dark but as I was trying to tend to him I saw that his scalp was open and it was either a large piece of his scalp hanging or it was his brain....part of me doesn't really want to know. When the ambulance finally got there they took him to the local hospital and then finally took him by lifeflight to the nearest city because his wounds were so serious. Now he is in serious condition with bad head injuries.

The police at first thought he had hit a bear but it was later determined that he had hit a moose. Seeing his injuries up close I strongly feel that he still would have been injured if he had been wearing a helmet but he would have been able to get up and walk away. I am positve of it.

So, my point.....if you ride a motorcycle please please PLEASE wear a helmet. I know some people think they are a pain in the butt or that they dont look cool or that they get in the way...or even mess up your hair. But after spending over 20 mins caring for this man...his blood getting all over me...seeing the look in his eyes...learning that he has 3 kids from somebody that knows him... I beg you all to care more about your lives and your loved ones than vanity. Please ALWAYS wear a helmet, no matter what. They really do save lives.

 

[Angela Harlem]

Please dont tell me America also lacks HELMET laws.

Good lord.

 

[Mullen-Girl]

Poor guy.

Angie - I think some states require them but some might not. All of them should. I think it's dumb for someone to ride a motorcycle without a helmet.

I almost lost a friend when I was 15 to a motorcycle crash. He crashed into a tree (he had been drinking that night) and his face was crushed. They had to reconstruct his whole face, his leg and part of his shoulder. He was lucky to be alive

 

[Liesje]

Please dont tell me America also lacks HELMET laws.

Good lord.

Sad, but true in many places. I think bike helmets should also be required for those biking in the street.

 

[Bonochick]

One time, I was driving a moped, and I got hit by a car. I was wearing a helmet, which ended up getting all scratched up from my head slamming onto the road. It kind of freaks me out to think about what could have happened had I not been wearing a helmet.

Sidenote to that story...the helmet I was wearing was my sister's. When I finally made it home, bruised and scraped with a tire mark from the car on my jeans (that's how close I was to getting run over), all my sister could say was, "If anything happened to my helmet, I'll kill you!"

Bitch.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I'm sorry you had to see that LoveTown, but you were also a hero for staying w/ him and trying to help

God why don't people always wear helmets

 

[Liesje]

God why don't people always wear helmets

There's shouldn't NEED to be a law requiring helmets, but some people are just that stupid

 

[martha]

Helmet laws vary from state to state. The federal government has tried to blackmail states into passing helmet laws, but they're fortunately not always successful. Remember that it's easy to tell others what to do and what you think is safe, especially when it's not you doing the riding.

Helmets are illegal in cars because they interfere with hearing and peripheral vision, yet they are required on bikes in many places. Motorcycle riders are therefore required to wear something that makes them less able to hear the cars aiming for them or see hazards in the road.

LoveTown, as the wife of someone who only rides a bike, my eternal and undying gratitude to you and those who were with you as you helped that poor soul on the road. Hitting a moose with any kind of vehicle can be a fatal encounter, no matter what safety equipment one is wearing.

While hitting a moose is dangerous ( I wonder what the rider's speed was?); drinking while operating a bike is no excuse for forcing others to adopt what you think are "safe" preventatives.

No one who has posted here with warm enthusiasm for helmet laws has said whether he or she rides regularly. And by regularly, I mean all the time, not whenever the weather's good, or on weekends to the beach, or more likely, the bar. It's so easy to want to regulate the "safety" of others when what you do is not affected. It would be more in the interest of "safety" to ban driving at night where moose are free to roam, or enhance the penalties when people in cars "don't see" motorcyclists and kill or maim them, but those laws wouldn't sit well with car drivers, so instead we want to force them into potentially unsafe situations where they are required to wear helmets so we can drive while talking on the phone, eating, drinking, whatever.

I've been on the bike many times when cars aimed for us on purpose, cut us off on purpose, and changed lanes (or drifted into our lane) without looking. The classic "I didn't even see him!" comes to mind. Or my favorite "He came out of nowhere!"

So, those of you who are excited about wearing helmets, please do so. Feel free. Explain to the officer that you feel safer in your car with a helmet on. A helmet in the car might have saved my father-in-law's life in the car accident that killed him. Or maybe the girl retrieving her parking pass from the floor of her car should have been watching the road instead.

 

[cass]

for everyone who has lost someone, or watched someone suffer from their injuries. I've lost friends who were wearing helmets and some who weren't, from motorbikes and passengers in cars. It only takes a split second to change many lives

lovetown thanks for helping him. It could not have been easy, you were brave and if you find the memory is staying with you, talk to someone, please.
if only we could turn back time eh?

 

[Popmartijn]

Sorry Martha, but I disagree with you here. I also think that helmets should be mandatory for those riding motorcycles. You mention interference with hear and peripheral vision, I want to mention protecting your skull from damage.
Does one outweigh the other? How much can you hear when you're driving with 100 km/h, except from the wind blowing in your hair?

And the examples of those moronic car drivers you mention (those that tried to cut you off, etc.) are to me a good example why you have to wear a helmet. While it is of course their fault if something does happen, they do it because the have the extra safety of the car. Please, try to protect yourself so you won't suffer the severest consequences should you end up in an accident like that.

As for me, I drive every day.
In a car.
That's why I always wear a seatbelt.
Also when I'm a passenger and sitting in the back.

C ya!

Marty

 

[Liesje]

I'm with Marty. There's no good reason not to wear a helmet while biking (on ANY kind of motorcycle or bike with pedals).

I've been tapped by a car riding a regular bike (I mean the pedals kind) and know someone who was hit hard and thrown over the car. In both of these situations, us bikers had the right of way. Cars are just bigger, faster, and more damaging so not matter HOW careful you are, there's always a chance someone else is not looking.

In drivers ed, the FIRST thing they tought us was to always drive defensively. The same should apply for biking - ALWAYS assume the other car might swerve and hit you, or not see you, or cut you off...ALWAYS wear a helmet. Better safe than sorry, period.

Excuse my being cliche, but two wrongs don't make a right. Just because some people do stupid things in their cars doesn't mean the laws should be written accordingly. That's like saying OSHA should no longer require hard hats at work sites b/c it's not fair for workers to have to wear a hard hat just b/c someone might screw up and hit them with a beam.

PS. Eating while driving is actually against the law here and talking on the phone is banned in other places.

 

[LoveTown]

Thanks everybody for your thoughts. Yeah the memory is staying with me. It's going to take a very long time to get over it. Last night when I was driving home I was literally having flashbacks of seeing him on the road. It will pass with time though Im sure.

martha I respect what you are saying and yes helmets do hinder vision and hearing, hence why we should be trying to design better helmets. Even if he would have just had on one of those half helmets that only cover the top and back of the head like some bikers wear it would have prevented many of his injuries. There was no apparent damage to his face or forehead, it was all on the back of his head. So, I do have to argue in favor of helmet laws that say you have to wear SOME kind of head protection. As far as the cops know he wasn't drinking and speed was not a factor. It was night time, a dark moose ran out and he never saw it coming...the only skidmark was from the impact. He just slammed into it as far as they can tell.


Anyway, all debates aside. Please just take care of yourselves and all those around you.

 

[martha]

When you guys ride, your opinion will carry weight. Until then, please do not try to pass laws that affect me. I reserve the right to make my own choices about my body and my safety without well-meaning interference from those with no experience.

 

[martha]

Those of you with little to no motorcycle riding experience will be interested to read this. Maybe. The facts might interfere with some cherished opinions.

http://www.abate-of-maryland.org/xcaexprc.htm

 

[LoveTown]

martha...I dont ever have to even so much as sit on a bike to know what that man looked like. I dont want to interfere with your rights...Im just asking people to do what they can to protect themselves. I don't pretend to have all the answers. Just be safe k?

 

[martha]

Just be safe k?

With people like you stopping to help out, we're all safer.

The mc wife says thanks.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

my husband rides a motorbike to and from work; it's all we can afford. he works about a mile away from where we live so it's not bad at all. and yes, he does wear a helmet all the time, even if it's just a run up to the dumpster here or something. to each his own with the helmet thing i guess. but when he rides it (or if i pretend to, hehe), we wear the helmets.

lisa, glad to hear you stopped to help the guy and call 911. also glad to hear he's at least alive in the hospital. to me, helmets are kinda like the airbags in cars. sometimes they save lives, other times they can cause death or serious injury. unfortunately though it seems this time the helmet would've prevented a serous injury.

 

[beli]

Lovetown, thank you for being a responsible citizen and coming to the aid of an injured person. A lot of people would have driven by or just stopped and stared. Im glad you had the get up and go to act in a helpful manner

We have compulsory helmet wearing laws for motorbikes, bicycles and I think horses as well. (not 100% on the horses bit) in Australia. Its odd to hear of somewhere that doesnt. The things I take for granted.

Drive/ride safe, everyone.

 

[Sicy]

My heart just dropped when I read this post. My brother almost died in a motorcycle accident. Thank God at least he was wearing a helmet.

http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64172


I hate motorcycles.

 

[Angela Harlem]

Martha with all due respect, that view costs lives. As with any vehicle on the roads, incompetance, dangerous practices and hazardous conditions making all forms of travel dangerous at some point. Riders, by virtue of their vehicle of choice, are at more risk to injury than anyone else. There is a level of rationality in your argument that helmets can hinder vision and hearing and also there is the more worrying issue of car drivers acting as you described by purposely aiming for, and alarming bike riders. They're all valid points. But you dont seem to acknowledge that riding without a helmet is increasing the rider's risk exponentially. How you can use car drivers' dangerous practices as justification for allowing freedom of choice which results in more deaths for the vehicle type than any other is beyond me.
If we are to talk about negligence and bad practive, tell me. Do you know of ANY motorbike rider who has not at some point pulled up abreast at a set of lights or stop sign? A rider who has NOT merged in and out of steady traffic with reckless abandon? One who has NOT weaved their way illegally through slow moving heavy traffic? One who indicates EVERY time they merge or change lanes but instead uses the comparitive size of their vehicle to push in and out? One who has NEVER ridden in a dangerous manner to themselves by utilising the subsequent agility and weight of the bike to do what a car driver wouldn't dream of? Have any of your friends never once ridden 2 abreast in a lane? We can compare the dangers of both. We can all come up with examples of when one type of driver or rider is more dangerous than another. But nothing changes the fact that there is more frequency in foolish and outright stupidity in motor bike riders which cause more accidents and fatalities than any other. You can say your right to wear a helmet is yours. It's your life. One which the law futilely tries to protect.

I've never ridden on a motorbike and never will. I am a good and careful driver and know from years of driving the risks motorbikes cause to themselves and others. I'm sure you see a risk in cars and will take it for granted you and your husband are good and safe bike riders, but it's not good enough when the lack of a helmet outweighs the good they do. I dont have to ride one to see the harm car drivers can do to motorbikes. Paying attention to everyone on the roads shows that there is danger for all. That includes recklessness in motorbike riding as well. Why you would not want to protect yourself from being so vulnerable is not about being a rider and understanding.

 

[Popmartijn]

Those of you with little to no motorcycle riding experience will be interested to read this. Maybe. The facts might interfere with some cherished opinions.

http://www.abate-of-maryland.org/xcaexprc.htm

Hello Martha,

I don't want to sound too FYM-ish, but I do have some interesting counterpoints to the site of the (A) Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments. It's also of note that ABATE's most recent info is from 1993.

In contrast, while the Trauma Foundation does have reports about the same time period they also have reports as recent as 2002 which show the dramatic decrease in fatalities and hospital costs for motorcycle accidents (and related to head injury).
Ironically, the site also has a link to a study that investigated the effects of the Helmet Law in Maryland that ABATE of Maryland does not mention. Here is a quote of its results and conclusion:

Results. The motorcyclist fatality rate dropped from 10.3 per 10 000 registered motorcycles prelaw to 4.5 postlaw despite almost identical numbers of registered motorcycles. Motorcyclists wearing helmets had a lower risk of traumatic brain injury than those not wearing helmets (odds ratio = 0.31, 95% confidence interval = 0.14, 0.68).

Conclusions. Maryland?s controversial motorcycle helmet law appears to be an effective public health policy and may be responsible for saving many lives.

And as for reduced vision and hearing while wearing a helmet, the Trauma Foundation also has a link to a PDF document from the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (which is I think part of the U.S. Department of Transportation) that shows that most riders automatically compensate for the slight loss in vision (by turning their heads more and that there was no significant difference in hearing sounds/signals. Granted, this research was done on a limited test group (50 persons), but the results might give a good indication.

In this respect I think the Helmet Laws are a lot like seatbelt laws. At first many oppose it by saying that it's dangerous so they don't have to go through the discomfort of using/wearing it. In the end it will turn out that it saves lives and that one get used to it quickly.

C ya!

Marty

 

[bammo2]

My best friend's brother in law was killed on his motorcycle. It scares the crap out of me that anyone would ride without a helmet, increasing their risk of putting their friends and family through what my friend and her family went through.

 

[wolfeden]

eh..
1 -- LT, good on you for staying with the guy and doing what you did, that took a lot of strength some people don't have...

2 -- being an EMT who rides....
I dunno really. My state, MA, has a helmet law, while the neighboring state, NH, does not. Personally I hateHateHATE head-encompassing helmets, my own is a 1/4, leaves my ears out so I can still hear what's happening around me. Not quite a "turtleshell" or "brainbucket" but close.

On the ambulance I've been to a few bike crashes and in general if there wasn't a helmet, the head injuries get 'em and if there was a helmet they have a broken neck or something. Six of one, half dozen of t'other. 90% of the time if there's a fatality involving a motorcycle there was also a DUI, either the bike or another involved vehicle, and no helmet was gonna change anything.

Our freaking EMS office still can't make up its mind on whether to take the damned helmets off or not half the time, and most other folks I know who ride have stickers on that say 'do not remove helmet' in varying degrees of politeness, or lack thereof..

My own preference... I guess this should be past tense nowadays since my car crash in Dec 2000, have not been able to ride, but anyway..

this is gonna sound like the biggest wankfest ever... I like the helmet because I.hate.bugs.in.my.hair. anyone from New England who rides should be able to sympathize to a degree esp. at night... %$#@! moths, %@$#*$! JUNEBUGS, fricking grasshoppers, whatever those huge things are, cicadas... yellowjackets!!

there's times on short runs that yea I'd rather not wear the thing (it's HOT... just going a few miles... not going on the highway.. whatever.)

Guess what I'm getting at is, in my limited experience I haven't seen helmets make much of a difference in MC crashes. Bicycles? Huge, huge difference, I screech at people who don't wear helmets for bicycling esp. daily to work etc.
But for MC.. eh... the rest of you is going 50 mph or more, so what if your head is "protected", you're still going to get fubar if you drop it or crash.

 

[Liesje]

Guess what I'm getting at is, in my limited experience I haven't seen helmets make much of a difference in MC crashes. Bicycles? Huge, huge difference, I screech at people who don't wear helmets for bicycling esp. daily to work etc.

There's no reason NOT to wear a helmet biking. I've never known a bike helmet to interfere w/ hearing (personally, I can't hear anything going 20 mph anyway and have to turn my head) and as for vision, that's what rear view mirrors are for (yes, you can easily get them for your bike). In East Grand Rapids, which is a small city surrounded by my city (Grand Rapids) bike helmets are law and if you don't wear one you/your parents get ticketed. If you do, the police give you gift certificates to the ice cream shop.

 

[nbcrusader]

There are laws everywhere "restricting" our personal freedoms for our own safety. Motorcycle riders shouldn't be exempt.


To the point of this thread, watching a person die after a road accident is gut wrenching. I came up on a freeway accident a couple months back where the young man was thrown from his SUV (not wearing a seat belt).

Wear your seatbelt! Wear your helmet!

 

[Sicy]

Wear your seatbelt! Wear your helmet!

Amen.

There is no doubt in my mind my brother probably would have died had he not been wearing a helmet.

 

[indra]

I'm not going to get into whether or not there should be motorcycle helmet laws. Sadly, when there are "public safety" laws they tend to be stupid, even when the intent is good. Nevertheless...

My brother is a long time motorcycle rider, and, yes, he rides in all conditions all year long. He has also raced them successfully (road racing -- as in not motocross), competing several times at the national level. He ALWAYS wears a helmet (and a leather jacket, leather gloves, long pants, and motorcycle boots -- helps limit road rash among other things), no matter how hot it is or how short the trip.

He's crashed several times while racing, had several broken bones, and had to replace many helmets, but no major head injuries. And a couple of years ago he was at a stop light just a few blocks from his house when he was slammed into from behind by an SUV. He and his bike were catapulted through the intersection and the person who hit him didn't even check to see if he was alive as he drove off (my brother was pretty sure it was a guy). The bike was totaled, my brother had a lot of road rash, was incredibly sore all over (so sprains and strains), and I'm pretty sure he had a concussion. And he had to replace yet another mangled helmet. But he did not then, nor has he ever had, a serious head injury.

I don't ride motorcycles, but I have ridden horses for many years (not currently as my horses are retired, and have no room for new ones as I keep them until they die), and I also always used a helmet whenever I rode, even though I was a very good rider and rarely ever fell. You know, I just figured it was wise to have some kind of protection should my head slam into the ground going 20 or so mph (of course, there was the ever popular broken neck to worry about, but there wasn't much I could do about that).

You know, in most cases, in a wreck involving a motorcycle in which the vehicles are going at highway speeds, wearing a helmet or not isn't going to make much difference. But I sure as hell want anyone I know who rides (anything, really) to give himself or herself the best possible chance for the best possible outcome. And I strongly believe a helmet helps accomplish that, even more than having an unobstructed view and hearing.


* by long time motocycle rider I mean 25 years or so.

 

[BAW]

I see both sides of the argument and I guess if someone wants to ride without a helmet, it should be their choice. BUT...I would hope that if the rider has someone waiting at home who loves him/her, they would never consider riding without one.

 

[beli]

I think this is a bit like the euthanasia debate. If people want to kill themselves then they should do it with medical practitioners and/or people psyched into cleaning up the mess.

The average pedestrian/driver/rider shouldnt have to put up with seeing and/or attending to any more splattered bodies than there already are from the people who do wear helmets, seat belts etc.

Just my $0.02 worth but then Im hormonal and protective at the moment.