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Helmet law

4K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  harveysmedlap 
#1 ·
When we ride the goldwing we wear helmets most of the time.
Yesterday we spent the day here in Eurika and decided to make it helmet free . Its very pleasant .
We understand the danger of it so no lecturing needed.
I checked what Missouri's law is and to my surprise they need a helmet to ride.
In my opinion it should be left up to the adult rider to decide

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/pos...-helmet-law-fails-after-parsons-veto#stream/0

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#4 ·
I agree!! Coming from a State (Illinois) that had no helmet law, to a State that has a helmet law (Tennessee) I feel it should be left up to the rider to make the decision...

That said, I think your a fool not to wear a a helmet ALL THE TIME!!!

Speaking from experience, having a VERY bad accident back in the 70's where I came down on my head and left shoulder at 50MPH, I can assure you I would have been a carrot today (if I survived at all!!) if I had not been wearing my helmet that day!!!

Made a believer out of me... Only time I do not wear a helmet is if I am checking for noises on the bike and even then I am only riding around the block in the neighborhood...

Just my opinion, and we all know what those are worth, eh???:grin3:
 
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#5 ·
If you don't wear a seat belt or a helmet and you don't have proper insurance to cover your medical expense in case of an accident who do you think will pay the bill? Us, the tax payers. So I think if you have enough insurance to cover your injuries in any accident than you should be able to ride like you want,
 
#6 ·
Even if you have adequate insurance it still doesn't protest the rest of us - when insurance companies have to pay out large claims they simply raise everyone's rates to cover their loss. The only way for helmetless riders to insulate other riders is to have a big enough bank account to cover the injuries without having to rely on insurance, or gevernment handouts.
 
#7 ·
Well, you can decide to not wear a helmet here too.




One warm moist August day in 2004, wife and I on the 1200 getting ready to pull out onto Blue Ridge Parkway @ Orchard Gap, look up the road and here come a group of bikes (GLs, HDs, etc) coming over slight crest south bound, and as we watch, see a north bound US Park Ranger pass by us & meeting them, and we saw one guy try to put his helmet on while meeting the ranger, and noticed several others not wearing any. Ranger turned around, stopped the group in front of us, across the BRP (there was a paved area there between the BRP & a local road). We watched as he checked each helmet, saw that he even took a couple and placed them in his trunk (I guessed he siezed them as evidence of failing to wear an approved helmet), and he wrote a few tickets, and then he left them there. They came across the BRP to Orchard Gap Deli afterwards, were grousing or b**ching a lot too. I think maybe two of them had good helmets. I told my wife that the guy trying to put a helmet on while meeting the ranger on two lane BRP was probably their downfall, bad move that was. No one ever checked our helmets as we "left" headed on south. :D


One day while heading north from the office to town for lunch, I met a group of helmetless riders a few miles south of town, and being in uniform in a marked car, I stopped them. They were a group of fellows who had all left their helmets at a motel they were using. Motel was near where I was going to meet the crew for lunch, so I gave them a choice … "A" tickets and I leave them ….. or "B" one goes with me and gets helmets out of their rooms. They chose "B" and so off he and I go, me to lunch and him to motel. I dropped him off at the motel and I went on to lunch. 45 or so minutes later, there he was in front of the motel standing with like 7 or 8 helmets laying on the ground. I stopped, we put helmets in rear seat, and I took him back to his buddies as I headed back to the office to finish my paperwork. I thought that probably did the most good?:wink2:
 

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#8 ·
I asked for no lecturing and here we go.
To you two that mentions others paying for your recovery if you become a vegetable, Id say quit riding a motorcycle. It is inherently dangerous
Because youre wearing a helmet does not mean youre as safe as in a car with the seat belt on. Get a car and dont waste taxpayer dollars in recovering bills.
How you like that?
Are you fat?Do you smoke or drink? Do you eat junk food?
Same applies.Get a life.

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#17 ·
I asked for no lecturing and here we go.
To you two that mentions others paying for your recovery if you become a vegetable, Id say quit riding a motorcycle. It is inherently dangerous
Because youre wearing a helmet does not mean youre as safe as in a car with the seat belt on. Get a car and dont waste taxpayer dollars in recovering bills.
How you like that?
Are you fat?Do you smoke or drink? Do you eat junk food?
Same applies.Get a life.

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I agree, it should be a choice & not mandatory. But did you really think that this wouldn't spark a fire storm?
 
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#11 ·
In Australia seat belts and helmets are required in all states. Even helmets for push bikes are compulsory.
I helped Dad fit seat belts to our cars back in the mid sixties well before they were compulsory.
Why would you not wear a seat belt?
When it comes to helmets I agree that in good weather and the right conditions not wearing a helmet adds to the enjoyment of riding a bike but!
In 1970 I tee boned a car hitting it just behind the C pillar. The bike stopped and I did a forward roll over the back of the car landing flat on the the back with my head touching first. As I lay there thinking don't move until you check what is broken a friend who just happened to be passing by was able to ring my mother and say your son is OK but has been in an accident. A reasonable piece of fibreglass was missing from my helmet but other then seeing stars for a little while and a sore knee I was OK.
Without my helmet the phone call to my mother may have been very different.

So if you decide not to wear a helmet consider both the emergency services people who attend your accident and your
relatives and friends who will look after you if you are seriously injured and not killed.

Yes as motorbike riders we all accept that there is a risk but let's work on the ALARP (as low as reasonably practical) principle. I always wear a full face helmet and 99% of the time gloves, hi viz jacket with body armour, kevlar jeans and bike boots. My decision, you make yours.
 
#12 ·
back around 1972, I was riding my Yamaha DT-250 on our gravel driveway.

we had a German Shepard dog that just loved to run beside me.

on this one occasion, he spots a rabbit on the opposite side of me,
and yup, he does a 90 degree turn and my front tire hits him in the chest area.

dog and bike and me, do a big roll over....
I ended up landing on my head with a bunch of gravel crammed into my skull.

the doctor blessed me out royally non-stop until I walked out of his office, for riding a Murder-Cycle
 
#14 ·
Let me state this, I really don't care if you wear protective gear or not, it's no skin off of my butt. I understand that riding a motorcycle has its risks but what I don't understand is why a person would compound that risk by not wearing protective gear. I'm of the ole school to where it is said there are two types of motorcycle riders, those that have had an accident and those who will. If you are in an accident going 20 miles an hour and not wearing a helmet you most likely will experience severe head trauma a little faster than that you are at a 40% higher risk of death. To me this is a no brainer, I wear the gear that will protect me in case of an accident, so hopefully I can ride again afterwards.

This is an excellent publication that came out in 2017: https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/ghsa_motorcyclists18.pdf
 
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#15 ·
I was involved in a bad accident in 2008

I try to always wear ATGATT, the times w/o are preciously few. like just around the inside of my six acres, not on the highway.

I survived this one, w/o much in the way of surface damage,
but my head took 3 concussions even with the helmet on....

unfortunately, the helmet came off, it can be seen in the picture.
when it did come off, the strap scraped my forehead down to the bone,
took a year for that to grow back, and the scar is still there.

 
#18 ·
Yep everyone’s own choice but if my leg goes over the saddle my helmet is already on.Way too many crashes racing and headgear was a savior.???
 
#22 ·
Co-worker of mine was in an accident last week, misjudged his speed and distance with the car in front of him. He is a Harley man true to everything including not wearing a helmet. Broke every bone below the knee on his left left and took off his big and 2nd toe and his head hit the road when he stopped moving. Brain hemorrhages for 2 days and then stopped but he says if he ever decides to ride again he will wear a helmet.

I never ride without one and no one rides with me without one. Jeans and hard soled shoes are also a requirement

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#23 ·
Sorry for your friend.
I was tempted to "just wear jeans" today, but pulled on my Tourmaster padded over-pants.... they have neat little pockets to hold my water bottle, cellphone, extra glasses so I can "see clearly now", or "darn its' bright... change to Script sunglasses with BiFocals....

the helmet is a given, no helmet, no riding.
 
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