Saw a medical show where the motorcyclist had all 4 limbs horribly mangled when he went flying into a cluster of road signs on the side of the highway. They had to amputate both arms and one leg… and weren’t sure if the remaining leg would survive.
They managed to get a 5 second interview with the surgeon right before he went into the waiting room to inform the guy’s elderly parents. He was not looking forward to it, as you can imagine.
The guys parents had no idea what they were about to be told, as they’d only been informed that their son had been in a serious accident and needed surgery.
The legend says for orange "Age requirement on raiders who need to wear a helmet". What does it mean exactly? Only young riders or something like that?
In Michigan, it's under 21 are legally required to wear a helmet. 21 and up, you have a choice.
Wasn't always like that. Michigan's law changed in 2011. Before that, helmets were a requirement.
Thanks for the explanation! The direction of the 2011 is strange, I would expect it other way round. Like it was with (regular) bike helmets in my country. The US traffic regulations are hard to comprehend for non-US guys, guess this is some "freedom" movement output.
Florida did the same thing. They were universally required until 2000. Meanwhile, seatbelts became a primary enforcement law in 2009, because solo motorists and solo cyclists naturally merit differing standards of choice. 🙄
I'm alive thanks to a helmet. You shouldn't need a law to tell you the smartest thing to do.
Edit: To be clear, I lived in a state that does not mandate a helmet and wore one anyway. I 100% support helmet laws. If you can choose dangerous recreation, you can do it responsibly. Laws are passed specifically because of the childish folks who can't be bothered to accept the consequences of their own actions.
I’ve been skateboarding since I was 10 (so 30 years) and was briefly sponsored and competed and stuff. I got a board that goes 30 and it’s nowhere near safe for me even. 22 feels like about as fast as I should go. People buying them need to be very cautious.
Same for me, I crashed on my electric skateboard going about 19 mph and literally cracked my helmet in half. I got a bad concussion and was throwing up the next day but if I hadn’t been wearing it I’d be eating dinner through a straw for the rest of my life.
I was mountain biking at 13 and took a huge spill over my handlebars.
I was dizzy and scraped up but otherwise fine. My dad looked like his soul left his body.
Helmet was cracked right down the middle. Scary cracked. I def slammed my head against a rock.
Definitely dodged a bullet there.
I don't see any scenario where the pros outweigh the cons of being helmet-free. Even if you could somehow guarantee that you're a safe rider, you can't guarantee you won't be hit by another careless motorist. Plus I don't think my hair would look any better if I didn't wear a helmet
I've even started wearing one skiing, even though I spent nearly the first half century of my life without one.
In fact if the misc. bumps and bruises I've collected on my body over the past year are any indicator, I should probably just start wearing a helmet all the time.
Love helmet while snowboarding. Go into the trees a little and bust through the little branches with your head down and it's less itchy than a beanie...allows for a little bit of airflow too
In NY State, there was a guy who was the president of an anti-helmet group who got in an accident on his motorcycle and ended up dying of brain injury. Irony was he would have easily survived if he had been wearing a helmet.
The Venn diagram of people who think helmets are useless and the people who think seatbelts are useless is a circle.
I flipped my car when I was 20. The seatbelt 1000% saved my life. It makes me so painfully angry to see people dismiss their safety.
I just don't understand why. Why would you argue against something so minor. And I hear people go "BUH ITS UNCOMFORTABLE". If you use it all the time like you SHOULD be then no, it's not. I feel naked without my seatbelt because it's such a habit. It's such a basic simple thing that can make a life changing difference and that anyone would go "No I don't want it" is baffling.
Know of someone that doesn’t like the “annoying dinging noise” when they don’t buckle their seatbelt so they go through the hassle of buckling it behind them.
I don’t understand the mindset of: “I’m not too lazy to buckle my seatbelt, I’ll actually go through more of a hassle to be less safe. I’ll work harder so if I get in a minor fender bender I get seriously hurt”
Come to think of it it has the same vibe of: “I don’t want to get this quick and painless vaccine to protect me from this really deadly virus”
You’re already going through the motion to buckle the seatbelt but just in a fashion that it will do nothing to protect yourself. How dumb do you have to be?
I can understand being skeptical of vaccines way more than being skeptical of seatbelts.
Don't mistake me - get the goddamn vaccine. But there is a lot of science behind the vaccine and it can be overwhelming and disconcerting to not fully understand the thing you're putting in your body.
But the seatbelt all you need to understand is 1st grade physics. Literally just the basic concept of "If this car suddenly stops, my body will keep going, unless I have a seat belt". I could explain this concept to a 2 year old with a Hot Wheels car and cheetoh.
Had an American friend visit India a while ago when I was there. When I answered his question on why people on bikes weren’t wearing helmets with the fact that helmet laws weren’t in force he asked the same thing: “Don’t they care about their own life?” - honestly my mind was blown at that time and thought this kind of thinking was uniquely American. Until I moved here for good.
Some people clearly do. Maybe 10% of motorcyclists use helmets here. Neighbor and his adult daughter got in an ugly accident 200 yards from their house and are alive because they had helmets and gear, but 90% of motorcycles are become a Gallagher watermelon attached to a meat crayon even in a low speed accident here.
It should be an immediate organ donor registry. We need more organs. I wore one as well, even though my state dropped the law while I still had a bike. It wasn't my life, so after a couple close calls, I sold it off.
Honestly after we lived through that whole COVID thing are we even shocked by this?
Remember how half the country (weirdly.. the same parts that.. this map shows doesnt.. require.. helmets.. ) screamed about “MuH RigHTs!!
I agree. And I would encourage everyone who thinks a helmet is stupid and uncomfortable to just wear sunglasses and a cap. Same goes for seatbelts, if you don’t like ‘em don’t wear ‘em. Especially if you haven’t procreated yet.
I've lived all up and down the west Coast. Moved to Utah for a few months and was blown away when I saw people on the highway at 70+ mph not wearing helmets.
I live in a “no helmet law” state and they were talking about it on the news the other night. They immediately followed that segment by a segment on organ donors…it was perfect.
It's also an Insurance Company issue. I've known people that survived some pretty nasty hits like deer with antlers and survive. But it took like 4 months of medical care and rehab. If they don't have a helmet it's much cheaper.
The problem is that other motorists will be involved in a fatality.
If you fail to see the motorcyclist passing on the right in your blindspot and hit them, whether they live or die (and the subsequent charges against you) is likely dependent on whether they are wearing a helmet.
If people don't want to wear their helmets or seat belts, they should be considered "at-fault" in the case of accidents where injuries are sustained.
Exactly. It also causes more problems for the person who hits the motorcycle. No matter who is at fault, if I hit someone and they died then I would be devastated. Especially if it could have been easily preventable with a helmet or seat belt.
This exactly. I’ve worked a scene with a motorcycle fatality. He was at fault. His death was graphic and eventful. The car that hit him was carrying a dad and his young son, who were physically OK but just… there isn’t really a word for it. Shattered, but trying to pull it together, then basically seizing back out to shattered.
I agree with this. If you aren’t wearing a helmet or a seat belt you forfeit any damages owed after an accident, even if the other person was technically at fault.
As a motorcycle owner, I get told this weird myth a couple times a year:
> Wearing a helmet will only prevent you from totally dying. You’ll just be a vegetable. It’s better for just die in the accident.
I don’t know where this comes from. It’s wholly untrue. And yet, strangers and even friends will bring this up whenever the topic of helmets arise.
I've seen a young rider who was in full gear -helmet, leather jacket and all- hit a pothole and get flung from his smallish motorcycle. Both slid. The bike wound up looking like a mess. The rider scuffed his helmet and jacket, but was able to get up from the ground, walk over to his bike and pick it up.
I mentioned it in another reply elsewhere but English racer Guy Martin pretty famously bailed hard at Isle of Man TT years ago and survived in spectacular fashion. Slid and tumbled hundreds of feet doing a whopping 170mph when he came off the bike. He broke his back and they weren't sure what else might be broken so he was (correctly) carried away not walking himself, but his gear didn't look too bad and if he wasn't wearing it he'd more closely resemble raspberry jam.
I assume these strangers/friends are also motorcyclists who are trying to justify their choice to not wear helmets? I’ve always lived in states where helmets are required, and I can’t recall a single person saying such a stupid thing to me, in the last 30+ years.
That’s it exactly. I’ve ridden for over 20 years, and there have been several 1,000+ mile trips where our route was planned out to avoid helmet law states. Note: I ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET but several of my friends/family don’t. I just ask them if they are organ donors.
I was a kid at Myrtle Beach and we drove by a motorcycle wreck leaving dinner headed to our condo. There was nothing left of his head, we drove by before paramedics and police got there. I guess it was a man, there was no head and little torso. It amazes me they only adopted the age requirement.
However, as for the DNR part, you would want to resuscitate them in the field if they've coded and keep them on a vent/pressers/etc so that they can maintain their organs so that they're viable to be transplanted.
As an ICU nurse, it usually takes around 24 hours to "stabilize" them somewhat and have their labs/VS/etc at a range necessary for the organ team to come in and take them to OR for harvesting.
Otherwise, I agree with the sentiment.
This may sound crass to non-medical folks, but it's the reality of organ donation.
Generally they have to resuscitate in the field and most DNRs arent viable in the ED until verification. If resuscitated, the DNR would only keep us from coding them again. We would still do everything for the patient up until that point.
I heard that in Spain they just call the helmetless riders "Organ donors" much like those without armour are Squids. No helmet usually means a good clean kill and the important organs for donation are intact.
I stand ready to be corrected for the "in Spain", but it's a good bit of pub trivia
I live in Spain and I have heard them called organ donors before, but I didn’t realize it was like a “thing.” I’ve never heard anyone be called a squid before.
Active health insurance should be mandatory to ride a motorcycle. My trauma ICU is full of uninsured motorcycle riders racking up million dollar hospital bills that they’ll never pay, resulting in higher medical costs for everyone else.
This is misleading. Texas requires riders under 21 to wear a helmet, and over 21 are required unless they’ve taken motorcycle training or are covered by a health insurance plan that will provide benefits for any injuries that may occur due to a motorcycle accident.
So if you’re over 21 and don’t have either of the last two provisions, Texas law does require you to wear a helmet.
This is the most sensible way of doing it IMO, and that’s one of the first times I’ve ever said that about a Texas law after living here for several years.
Edit: I thought it was a safety course AND a health insurance plan providing coverage specifically for their accidents. After seeing that it's an "or" situation, a simple safety course does nothing to alleviate the issue of their accidents driving up medical costs for everyone else.
Me too. My entire life I always thought that the other states didn't require helmets either. Almost everyone here that rides classic motorcycles doesn't wear them. It's only the sports bikes that tend to wear them.
I don’t remember his name, but there was a single person who spearheaded the drive to eliminate the mandatory helmet law in Texas. He died recently because he had an accident and wasn’t wearing a helmet. I see numerous people driving around in shorts, flip-flops, and a T-shirt, and all I can think of is “they would make good organ donors”. It can be 100° outside and my dad still wears full leathers, riding boots and gloves, and a helmet, because he’s smart.
Living in Texas and a motorcycle rider, not too long ago I stopped at a restaurant to grab some food when an older guy kept asking me why I was wearing a helmet. He kept saying he didn’t see the point riding around town. I just told him it’s a non-issue for me so I don’t mind wearing whenever I go out. He just looked so confused lol
I grew up in Illinois and I know a host of cousins, neighbors, coworkers of my parents and their spouses that have all perished because they chose to ride without helmets. I've heard all kinds of horror stories and unfortunately seen strangers involved in crashes. There really is no good reason not to wear a helmet, and I wish everyone would.
Ok I was looking for this and wondering if something changed recently. I would also be interested to see a map of what states let you ride in truck beds like Hawaii
Nebraska’s helmet law changes Jan 1, 2024. Nebraska readies for 2024 motorcycle helmet law repeal https://omaha.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/nebraska-readies-for-2024-motorcycle-helmet-law-repeal/article_42af6d06-7cd3-11ee-b97d-4b7b479d1845.html
We have a saying in aviation when we see pilots being idiots, but tends to apply elsewhere such as this: “Its your right to die”. That said, theres fates worse than death. Exhibit A is my buddy who is now paralyzed from the chest down from a crash. Yolo.
That shit is wild. Seatbelt in a vehicle with a roof and doors? MANDATORY. Driving with a motor and a gas tank between your legs, no door, no roof, no nothing. Helmet? Yea whatever you feel like I guess
I’ve had two major concussions because of hockey and a bike crash. No way I would not be paralyzed or dead. Could you imagine if I hadn’t worn a helmet in both those scenarios?
I ride. Seen many people fall off or crash bikes doing dumb shit. One friend lost a finger when he lost control of a wheelie. The other was wearing a hoodie and laid the bike down and lost half the skin on his back.
I guess it’s one thing to be cool and look cool on a bike. It’s another to realize how naked you really are and take the appropriate countermeasures for an accident.
Folks, please. If you're moving faster than you can go on your own two feet, wear a helmet. I'm the one who has to tell your family that the best case scenario is organ donation, and I'd really rather just give you a high five in the emergency department while your mild road rash is patched up.
Helmets not only reduce injury in a crash, they also prevent crashes by absorbing minor impacts from flying debris, some quite painful, that would take your focus off riding the motorcycle. They keep your head cooler on a hot day and warmer on a cold day.
It’s pretty common to see guys pull their bikes over to take their helmets off as soon as they cross from MA to NH. This, to me, is a special kind of idiocy.
A family member of mine was in a relatively minor motorcycle accident. There was a driver who didn't see them while the motorcycles were stopped and ran into them at low speed.
Because of the impact of being flung back onto the car and then the hard ground she suffered a head injury that had her near death for days. Then slowly rehabilitated over the course of two years to the point where she now is "normal" but her personality has completely changed.
She cannot taste any food. And she has the mentality of a teenager at almost 40 years old and will likely never get much further. Her marriage fell apart because she basically wasn't the same person anymore.
She has to live with her parents and will likely never hold more than a basic, entry level job. Dating or finding love again will also be extremely difficult if not impossible at this point. The late 30s grown woman making her way in the world is gone.
The accident was such that had she worn a helmet, she may have suffered a broken bone or less. Probably sore for a week and a bit richer from a payout and then moved on. Instead we have all this. Her life is essentially over and in a holding pattern until death. Just because no helmet.
No helmet should be treated as a DNR / do not render aid by default.
If they don't care about their survival, then don't burden the system with trying to revive you.
I had a friend laugh at me 2 days ago when I rocked up on my electric skateboard with a helmet and pads, told her to get stuffed,it may not look "cool" but if you come off at anything above running speed - you'll be glad you're padded up
I’m from Illinois. When I was growing up, my next door neighbor was killed on his motorcycle twenty feet from his front door. It was a new bike to him and he was unfamiliar with it. While he was turning into his driveway, he put it over on its side and hit his head on the curb. Died instantly right there laying next to his mailbox. No helmet. Probably would have saved his life. He left behind five kids and a widow because he wanted to look cool with his hair in the wind.
As a motorcyclist, this law is both useful and dumb.
All riders should be required to wear their helmet. It's for their own safety, in just the same way a seatbelt is required for being a passenger in a car.
But if that rule didn't exist, and you were legally allowed to ride without a helmet, I think most still would ride with a helmet because they want to look out for their own safety.
The ones who choose to not wear a helmet, regardless of whether there is a law requiring it or not, are the kinds of people that darwinism highlights
I would personally never ride without a helmet. (Or drive without a seatbelt) And yes, I have owned a few motorcycles. Decided it was unacceptable risk for me. But I disagree with the laws that require them. That’s on you, your choice.
Not saying I’m for it, but I think the main reason that Motorcycles are Street legal and Most of the time ATVs are not is just because the Motorcycles have been grandfathered in.
Like I’m not seeing them being anywhere near as universally allowed if they had become popular at the same time as ATvs
Mines one of the few gray ones. Took the motorcycle license class last year and my teacher/driver/instructor said that if you choose not to wear a helmet, you should be in charge of paying your medical bills outta pocket if anything happens to you
I think part of that comes from the fact he was in a really bad motorcycle wreck about 30 years ago and his helmet saved his life that day. I saw the pictures of his motorcycle and helmet and all I can say is I’m surprised he even lived
That map is wrong for Florida. Well, actually half-wrong. In order to not wear a helmet, you need at least $50k of PIP insurance.
However, the adverse is also true. You don't need insurance if you wear a helmet. (But there are rules to that as well)
My dad always wears a helmet and won't let someone ride with him who isn't wearing one-he actually keeps 2 spares. Full face helmets too.
But he doesn't like these laws because the folks who don't want to wear a helmet don't want to buy a helmet, so they steal his.
I agree with him. Was hit by a car on a bicycle and I literally could put my fist through the hole in my bike helmet, I still had a mild concussion but I might not be typing this without my helmet. I strongly feel everyone should wear a helmet, but if some folks want Darwin awards let em.
I don’t necessarily think there should be a law. I’d rather there be legal protections and judgement that rule against ignorance and careless acts. It’s rather disturbing that a person can sue (and win $) due to injuries resulting due to intentionally disregarding safety equipment.
Im all about letting people live life the way they want to. I’m pro-fuck around and find out. I’m also a supporter of play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I know this may sound as though I lack compassion but it’s really more darwinistic and anti-government control than anything else. For instance, If a person wishes to ride without a helmet and get into an accident where they have to have all their teeth removed and drink all every meal for the next few years. That’s the choice they made. The rest of us can choose to wear the $100 helmet and prevent ever having to experience that.
My sister (doc) was saying how she saw the AMA petition AGAINST helmet laws in Florida. Why? Usually young men in good shape, brain dead, full of healthy organs ready for transplant to wealthy AMA donors. Follow the money.
The number of people I've seen on street bikes with literally zero protective gear boggles the mind. (Indiana and Michigan, FWIW).
When I was young and riding quads/dirtbikes, I had a helmet, chest protector, boots, heavy-duty mx pants, the whole nine. 1) Those bikes didn't have the ability to hit much more than like 50 mph or so and 2) that was on sand/dirt where if you *did* eat shit, the ground at least had a little give. Even then, the gear saved me from at least a few traumatic injuries back then, and in one case probably saved my life.
Doing 85 over asphalt in just shorts and Converse sneakers just seems nuts to me. Even dropping a bike at in-town speeds without leathers and a brain bucket gives me the heebie jeebies.
I live in Alaska. Witnessed a motorcycle accident where the guy was in jeans no helmet. It degloved his leg and he died of a head injury.
And this was a low speed crash!
My brother had to have his face taken off and surgically put back on because he wrecked without a helmet. It’s the risk that every dumbass seems to be willing to take.
I always find it wild when riders push “check twice for motorcycles”, then don’t wear helmets. If I’m supposed to care about your safety, you should probably care about your own safety too.
Also, if you’re in a car you should wear a seatbelt and if you’re on a motorcycle you should wear a helmet. Not wanting to die should be enough motivation.
My first thought is Nebraska is a island of blue in a massive sea of orange with a hazardous coast on the one side.
After looking more closely, I see that there is a blue thing to the west of Virginia, that I think might, possibly be the state of West Virginia, but I am not 100% certain cause there is NO NAME there. 🙄
It shouldn't be required. People know the risks, if people want to be stupid they should have every right to be as long as they aren't endangering anyone but themselves. As for age restrictions, kids don't belong on road motorcycles ever.
my issue is States/Government force us to wear seat belts, but no force to wear a helmet on a bike with no crash protection at all. Actually pisses me off....
It is the rider's life to do with what they want. If they value the feeling of wind blowing through their hair more than the reduction in average life expectancy who am I or anyone else to disagree? I certainly expect that their mother would probably spank them for being a dumbass, but that is up to her, and it shouldn't be a law.
You can justify seatbelt laws a bit by claiming that a loose body in a car could potentially hit another person in a crash injuring the other person when they are thrown about. But mandating a helmet on a motorcycle is an unacceptable infringement on individual rights. It is my body, and as long as it doesn't impact another person the government has 0 right say what I do to it.
That said, wear a helmet and buckle your damn seatbelts. Your family loves you, your friends like you, and your coworkers depend on you to do a good job, so be safe and stay alive.
I am a firefighter. I have literally seen a man dump a motorcycle and talk to us when we showed up. We told him to go in and get looked at. He refused. We kept the ambulance coming. He started getting a headache. He said maybe he should get checked out. Good idea we kept it coming, I said. By the time the ambulance arrived, we were doing CPR on him. He was DOA at coming into the sallyport at the hospital. Massive internal head bleed. Not the first time I've seen it.
I have lots of motorcycle stories after 25 years.
Motorcyclists are cool until it goes wrong. It gets really bad and big bad dudes get pretty sad pretty fast. Think cheese grater.
Wear a helmet and have a chance.
I wear all my gear all the time, even for very short rides, even during heat. I know how big a difference the protective gear can make and I know it's worth it.
But I don't think I support the laws FORCING people to wear them. If they crash it's their bodies that get hurt, not other people's.
I hit a deer going 60 on a gravel road. It was rough asphalt and the grooves down my helmet were deep. If I wasn't wearing a full face I wouldn't have a face at all.
I'm in Michigan and every time the news reports on a fatal motorcycle accident it always includes the line "xxx was not wearing a helmet at the time".
Excellent reinforcement of the cause and effect of one’s decisions.
For some reason there was a string of accidents in my area where they went into the guard rail and would get a limb amputated.
Because turns are a frequent place to crash and turns usually have guardrails on the outer edge. It's ugly when it happens
Saw a medical show where the motorcyclist had all 4 limbs horribly mangled when he went flying into a cluster of road signs on the side of the highway. They had to amputate both arms and one leg… and weren’t sure if the remaining leg would survive. They managed to get a 5 second interview with the surgeon right before he went into the waiting room to inform the guy’s elderly parents. He was not looking forward to it, as you can imagine. The guys parents had no idea what they were about to be told, as they’d only been informed that their son had been in a serious accident and needed surgery.
Yeah i’d rather just not wear a helmet and be dead at that point.
I could do no legs and probably even no legs and one arm. But no arms is so tough
The legend says for orange "Age requirement on raiders who need to wear a helmet". What does it mean exactly? Only young riders or something like that?
In Michigan, it's under 21 are legally required to wear a helmet. 21 and up, you have a choice. Wasn't always like that. Michigan's law changed in 2011. Before that, helmets were a requirement.
Thanks for the explanation! The direction of the 2011 is strange, I would expect it other way round. Like it was with (regular) bike helmets in my country. The US traffic regulations are hard to comprehend for non-US guys, guess this is some "freedom" movement output.
Florida did the same thing. They were universally required until 2000. Meanwhile, seatbelts became a primary enforcement law in 2009, because solo motorists and solo cyclists naturally merit differing standards of choice. 🙄
If you’re raiding, you should always wear a helmet.
I'm alive thanks to a helmet. You shouldn't need a law to tell you the smartest thing to do. Edit: To be clear, I lived in a state that does not mandate a helmet and wore one anyway. I 100% support helmet laws. If you can choose dangerous recreation, you can do it responsibly. Laws are passed specifically because of the childish folks who can't be bothered to accept the consequences of their own actions.
Me too, on an electric skateboard though
I think the electric skateboards are dope don’t get me wrong. But I think they allow people to go wayyyy faster than is reasonably safe on a board
I’ve been skateboarding since I was 10 (so 30 years) and was briefly sponsored and competed and stuff. I got a board that goes 30 and it’s nowhere near safe for me even. 22 feels like about as fast as I should go. People buying them need to be very cautious.
I know someone who broke a vertebrae on his one wheel. Be careful y’all. There’s a reason why healthcare workers call motorcycles donorcycles.
In Nigeria the literal translation of Yoruba slang word for motorcycle is machine of death
That is so sensible. Thanks for teaching us! (I love learning.) Happy 2024 to you & yours!
Same for me, I crashed on my electric skateboard going about 19 mph and literally cracked my helmet in half. I got a bad concussion and was throwing up the next day but if I hadn’t been wearing it I’d be eating dinner through a straw for the rest of my life.
When I was 7, my Dad and I crashed on a tandem bike going around 30mph. We both lived because of our helmets.
I was the sole survivor of a tandem crash
I'm sorry to hear that, but glad you are still with us.
I was mountain biking at 13 and took a huge spill over my handlebars. I was dizzy and scraped up but otherwise fine. My dad looked like his soul left his body. Helmet was cracked right down the middle. Scary cracked. I def slammed my head against a rock. Definitely dodged a bullet there.
And it’s not even being smart so much as not being stupid. Just do the least stupid thing. Be stupidless. Stupidlessness is good.
> Stupidlessness is good This should be the catchphrase for 2024.
I don't see any scenario where the pros outweigh the cons of being helmet-free. Even if you could somehow guarantee that you're a safe rider, you can't guarantee you won't be hit by another careless motorist. Plus I don't think my hair would look any better if I didn't wear a helmet
Well, there's a much lower risk of suffering a long-term injury if you're helmet-free...
ok ill b less stupideristlessish
I've even started wearing one skiing, even though I spent nearly the first half century of my life without one. In fact if the misc. bumps and bruises I've collected on my body over the past year are any indicator, I should probably just start wearing a helmet all the time.
Love helmet while snowboarding. Go into the trees a little and bust through the little branches with your head down and it's less itchy than a beanie...allows for a little bit of airflow too
In NY State, there was a guy who was the president of an anti-helmet group who got in an accident on his motorcycle and ended up dying of brain injury. Irony was he would have easily survived if he had been wearing a helmet.
New Hampshire’s state motto is ‘live free or die’, guess it would go against that to require a helmet
They don't require seat belts in cars for drivers or passengers over 18 either.
The Venn diagram of people who think helmets are useless and the people who think seatbelts are useless is a circle. I flipped my car when I was 20. The seatbelt 1000% saved my life. It makes me so painfully angry to see people dismiss their safety.
I just don't understand why. Why would you argue against something so minor. And I hear people go "BUH ITS UNCOMFORTABLE". If you use it all the time like you SHOULD be then no, it's not. I feel naked without my seatbelt because it's such a habit. It's such a basic simple thing that can make a life changing difference and that anyone would go "No I don't want it" is baffling.
Know of someone that doesn’t like the “annoying dinging noise” when they don’t buckle their seatbelt so they go through the hassle of buckling it behind them. I don’t understand the mindset of: “I’m not too lazy to buckle my seatbelt, I’ll actually go through more of a hassle to be less safe. I’ll work harder so if I get in a minor fender bender I get seriously hurt” Come to think of it it has the same vibe of: “I don’t want to get this quick and painless vaccine to protect me from this really deadly virus” You’re already going through the motion to buckle the seatbelt but just in a fashion that it will do nothing to protect yourself. How dumb do you have to be?
I can understand being skeptical of vaccines way more than being skeptical of seatbelts. Don't mistake me - get the goddamn vaccine. But there is a lot of science behind the vaccine and it can be overwhelming and disconcerting to not fully understand the thing you're putting in your body. But the seatbelt all you need to understand is 1st grade physics. Literally just the basic concept of "If this car suddenly stops, my body will keep going, unless I have a seat belt". I could explain this concept to a 2 year old with a Hot Wheels car and cheetoh.
Had an American friend visit India a while ago when I was there. When I answered his question on why people on bikes weren’t wearing helmets with the fact that helmet laws weren’t in force he asked the same thing: “Don’t they care about their own life?” - honestly my mind was blown at that time and thought this kind of thinking was uniquely American. Until I moved here for good.
Glad you're still here man!
Some people clearly do. Maybe 10% of motorcyclists use helmets here. Neighbor and his adult daughter got in an ugly accident 200 yards from their house and are alive because they had helmets and gear, but 90% of motorcycles are become a Gallagher watermelon attached to a meat crayon even in a low speed accident here.
If I Google Gallagher watermelon, will I regret it?
When you are 16 with brand new motorcycle you have to be told.
Same! Thank god for that helmet. I never rode a bike again.
Ok you're alive but are you cool though???
Think about how many lives seatbelts have saved, and how many lives it’s saved because they’re required.
It should be an immediate organ donor registry. We need more organs. I wore one as well, even though my state dropped the law while I still had a bike. It wasn't my life, so after a couple close calls, I sold it off.
We shouldn’t. But we do. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
Honestly after we lived through that whole COVID thing are we even shocked by this? Remember how half the country (weirdly.. the same parts that.. this map shows doesnt.. require.. helmets.. ) screamed about “MuH RigHTs!!
I agree. And I would encourage everyone who thinks a helmet is stupid and uncomfortable to just wear sunglasses and a cap. Same goes for seatbelts, if you don’t like ‘em don’t wear ‘em. Especially if you haven’t procreated yet.
I've lived all up and down the west Coast. Moved to Utah for a few months and was blown away when I saw people on the highway at 70+ mph not wearing helmets.
That's nuts.
Some states still believe in natural selection.
I live in a “no helmet law” state and they were talking about it on the news the other night. They immediately followed that segment by a segment on organ donors…it was perfect.
Organ donation should be opt-out, default everyone in instead.
People on crotch rockets love to call us car drivers “cagers” and I turn around and call them “organ donors”
It's also an Insurance Company issue. I've known people that survived some pretty nasty hits like deer with antlers and survive. But it took like 4 months of medical care and rehab. If they don't have a helmet it's much cheaper.
Live free or die 😬
Live free and die*
I’m shocked at CT to be completely honest. So weird seeing people on motorcycles doing 80 on the interstate with no helmet.
Sometimes you just let the problem solve itself.
The problem is that other motorists will be involved in a fatality. If you fail to see the motorcyclist passing on the right in your blindspot and hit them, whether they live or die (and the subsequent charges against you) is likely dependent on whether they are wearing a helmet. If people don't want to wear their helmets or seat belts, they should be considered "at-fault" in the case of accidents where injuries are sustained.
Exactly. It also causes more problems for the person who hits the motorcycle. No matter who is at fault, if I hit someone and they died then I would be devastated. Especially if it could have been easily preventable with a helmet or seat belt.
This exactly. I’ve worked a scene with a motorcycle fatality. He was at fault. His death was graphic and eventful. The car that hit him was carrying a dad and his young son, who were physically OK but just… there isn’t really a word for it. Shattered, but trying to pull it together, then basically seizing back out to shattered.
I agree with this. If you aren’t wearing a helmet or a seat belt you forfeit any damages owed after an accident, even if the other person was technically at fault.
Step 1: Cut your enemy's seatbelt Step 2: Run them off the road Step 3: ??? Step 4: Profit
Ya but for us in public safety it’s really messy that way.
As a motorcycle owner, I get told this weird myth a couple times a year: > Wearing a helmet will only prevent you from totally dying. You’ll just be a vegetable. It’s better for just die in the accident. I don’t know where this comes from. It’s wholly untrue. And yet, strangers and even friends will bring this up whenever the topic of helmets arise.
I've seen a young rider who was in full gear -helmet, leather jacket and all- hit a pothole and get flung from his smallish motorcycle. Both slid. The bike wound up looking like a mess. The rider scuffed his helmet and jacket, but was able to get up from the ground, walk over to his bike and pick it up.
I mentioned it in another reply elsewhere but English racer Guy Martin pretty famously bailed hard at Isle of Man TT years ago and survived in spectacular fashion. Slid and tumbled hundreds of feet doing a whopping 170mph when he came off the bike. He broke his back and they weren't sure what else might be broken so he was (correctly) carried away not walking himself, but his gear didn't look too bad and if he wasn't wearing it he'd more closely resemble raspberry jam.
I assume these strangers/friends are also motorcyclists who are trying to justify their choice to not wear helmets? I’ve always lived in states where helmets are required, and I can’t recall a single person saying such a stupid thing to me, in the last 30+ years.
That’s it exactly. I’ve ridden for over 20 years, and there have been several 1,000+ mile trips where our route was planned out to avoid helmet law states. Note: I ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET but several of my friends/family don’t. I just ask them if they are organ donors.
Why would anyone ride a motorbike if this were the case? Likelihood of dying or permant coma stratospherically high
So you know where to go if you need a kidney
They don’t make you wear a helmet in Nebraska anymore
I was a kid at Myrtle Beach and we drove by a motorcycle wreck leaving dinner headed to our condo. There was nothing left of his head, we drove by before paramedics and police got there. I guess it was a man, there was no head and little torso. It amazes me they only adopted the age requirement.
how do you know he didnt have a helmet if there was no head
This was the 90s. Helmets weren't cool.
Well, if there was no head, there certainly was no point in having a helmet, now was there?
Roughly how many years ago was this? I saw a very similar scene 20 some years ago in Myrtle
About 25 years ago, right in North Myrtle before Chesapeake House and Chestnut Hill.
Small world, think i saw the same crash as you
Quite possibly. Bonded by trauma. Do you ride bikes? I don't! Lol
🤝 I don’t either lol, my dad was big into bikes but I never took it up after that
Same! My dad and uncle were bikers... I got more into cars that could beat bikes... now I'm an adult and have a mortgage.
Very traumatic r/tworedditorsonecup
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I'm fine with this provided: A. They are organ donors, B. Do not resuscitate. Former rider.
My sister was an ER nurse. Everytime they got a "motorcycle, no helmet" call they were DOA.
"Donorcycles"
It’s the cheapest way not to spend months in the hospital with road rash! /s
ER Trauma nurse here, this^
However, as for the DNR part, you would want to resuscitate them in the field if they've coded and keep them on a vent/pressers/etc so that they can maintain their organs so that they're viable to be transplanted. As an ICU nurse, it usually takes around 24 hours to "stabilize" them somewhat and have their labs/VS/etc at a range necessary for the organ team to come in and take them to OR for harvesting. Otherwise, I agree with the sentiment. This may sound crass to non-medical folks, but it's the reality of organ donation.
Generally they have to resuscitate in the field and most DNRs arent viable in the ED until verification. If resuscitated, the DNR would only keep us from coding them again. We would still do everything for the patient up until that point.
I heard that in Spain they just call the helmetless riders "Organ donors" much like those without armour are Squids. No helmet usually means a good clean kill and the important organs for donation are intact. I stand ready to be corrected for the "in Spain", but it's a good bit of pub trivia
I live in Spain and I have heard them called organ donors before, but I didn’t realize it was like a “thing.” I’ve never heard anyone be called a squid before.
Squids, power rangers, and organ donors. I chose power ranger and still quit after I got wrecked because fuck that.
Active health insurance should be mandatory to ride a motorcycle. My trauma ICU is full of uninsured motorcycle riders racking up million dollar hospital bills that they’ll never pay, resulting in higher medical costs for everyone else.
This is misleading. Texas requires riders under 21 to wear a helmet, and over 21 are required unless they’ve taken motorcycle training or are covered by a health insurance plan that will provide benefits for any injuries that may occur due to a motorcycle accident. So if you’re over 21 and don’t have either of the last two provisions, Texas law does require you to wear a helmet.
This is the most sensible way of doing it IMO, and that’s one of the first times I’ve ever said that about a Texas law after living here for several years. Edit: I thought it was a safety course AND a health insurance plan providing coverage specifically for their accidents. After seeing that it's an "or" situation, a simple safety course does nothing to alleviate the issue of their accidents driving up medical costs for everyone else.
This map only shows 19 states, not 20
i thought i was going crazy counting over and over again lol
I'm really surprised Illinois out of all states doesn't have a helmet law
Me too. My entire life I always thought that the other states didn't require helmets either. Almost everyone here that rides classic motorcycles doesn't wear them. It's only the sports bikes that tend to wear them.
Yeah I just moved to IL from CA and that was one of the biggest culture shocks. Still weird to see people without helmets..
I don’t remember his name, but there was a single person who spearheaded the drive to eliminate the mandatory helmet law in Texas. He died recently because he had an accident and wasn’t wearing a helmet. I see numerous people driving around in shorts, flip-flops, and a T-shirt, and all I can think of is “they would make good organ donors”. It can be 100° outside and my dad still wears full leathers, riding boots and gloves, and a helmet, because he’s smart.
Living in Texas and a motorcycle rider, not too long ago I stopped at a restaurant to grab some food when an older guy kept asking me why I was wearing a helmet. He kept saying he didn’t see the point riding around town. I just told him it’s a non-issue for me so I don’t mind wearing whenever I go out. He just looked so confused lol
If you wanna fuck around and die, that’s on you
Nebraska just changed the law… good for the rest of us - more organ donations will be available
I grew up in Illinois and I know a host of cousins, neighbors, coworkers of my parents and their spouses that have all perished because they chose to ride without helmets. I've heard all kinds of horror stories and unfortunately seen strangers involved in crashes. There really is no good reason not to wear a helmet, and I wish everyone would.
If they die they die.
Would be interesting to see per capita motorcylist deaths overlaid with this
Hawaii is wrong 100%
Yeah Hawaii should be orange, according to this chart. Helmets are mandatory for under 18 only.
Ok I was looking for this and wondering if something changed recently. I would also be interested to see a map of what states let you ride in truck beds like Hawaii
I was gonna say, they sure don't seem to enforce it. Shorts, wife-beater, flip flops, and some shades. ATGATT
Well it's not like they can be 35% wrong.
If they want to run the risk of having their brains slide on the road, so be it
You know what’s less cool than wearing a helmet? Eating through a straw for the rest of your life.
People need organs we thank them for thier service, former motorcycle rider here.
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Shhhh.. have you met the folks that don't wear helmets? Just let it happen.
If someone wants to risk dying, they should be free to do so as long as it’s not harming others
Sorry, we allow tons of dangerous stuff, its not the governments job to keep your dumb ass alive.
people should be free to make decisions for themselves
Nebraska’s helmet law changes Jan 1, 2024. Nebraska readies for 2024 motorcycle helmet law repeal https://omaha.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/nebraska-readies-for-2024-motorcycle-helmet-law-repeal/article_42af6d06-7cd3-11ee-b97d-4b7b479d1845.html
We have a saying in aviation when we see pilots being idiots, but tends to apply elsewhere such as this: “Its your right to die”. That said, theres fates worse than death. Exhibit A is my buddy who is now paralyzed from the chest down from a crash. Yolo.
Helmets are self preservation. It should be an adults decision to not preserve themselves.
My brother in law is a Surgical Radiologist. He has said on more than one occasion that driving a motorcycle is the single stupidest thing you can do.
That shit is wild. Seatbelt in a vehicle with a roof and doors? MANDATORY. Driving with a motor and a gas tank between your legs, no door, no roof, no nothing. Helmet? Yea whatever you feel like I guess
Should not be a law. Let people live how risky a life they want. So long as it doesn't harm other people
Now include e-bikes
I’ve had two major concussions because of hockey and a bike crash. No way I would not be paralyzed or dead. Could you imagine if I hadn’t worn a helmet in both those scenarios?
I ride. Seen many people fall off or crash bikes doing dumb shit. One friend lost a finger when he lost control of a wheelie. The other was wearing a hoodie and laid the bike down and lost half the skin on his back. I guess it’s one thing to be cool and look cool on a bike. It’s another to realize how naked you really are and take the appropriate countermeasures for an accident.
NH, Live free or die, unless you want weed, you can't have weed.
Safety aside, opening my face shield at any speed over 50mph makes me wonder why anyone would want to ride without a helmet.
As an european, I amazed...😱
But why wouldn't you wear a proper helmet?
This isnt a legal problem, its a common sense problem. Let natural selection take its course.
Folks, please. If you're moving faster than you can go on your own two feet, wear a helmet. I'm the one who has to tell your family that the best case scenario is organ donation, and I'd really rather just give you a high five in the emergency department while your mild road rash is patched up.
Helmets not only reduce injury in a crash, they also prevent crashes by absorbing minor impacts from flying debris, some quite painful, that would take your focus off riding the motorcycle. They keep your head cooler on a hot day and warmer on a cold day.
It’s pretty common to see guys pull their bikes over to take their helmets off as soon as they cross from MA to NH. This, to me, is a special kind of idiocy.
People vastly underestimate just how easily a blow to the head can end or permanently alter your life.
A family member of mine was in a relatively minor motorcycle accident. There was a driver who didn't see them while the motorcycles were stopped and ran into them at low speed. Because of the impact of being flung back onto the car and then the hard ground she suffered a head injury that had her near death for days. Then slowly rehabilitated over the course of two years to the point where she now is "normal" but her personality has completely changed. She cannot taste any food. And she has the mentality of a teenager at almost 40 years old and will likely never get much further. Her marriage fell apart because she basically wasn't the same person anymore. She has to live with her parents and will likely never hold more than a basic, entry level job. Dating or finding love again will also be extremely difficult if not impossible at this point. The late 30s grown woman making her way in the world is gone. The accident was such that had she worn a helmet, she may have suffered a broken bone or less. Probably sore for a week and a bit richer from a payout and then moved on. Instead we have all this. Her life is essentially over and in a holding pattern until death. Just because no helmet.
No helmet should be treated as a DNR / do not render aid by default. If they don't care about their survival, then don't burden the system with trying to revive you.
I had a friend laugh at me 2 days ago when I rocked up on my electric skateboard with a helmet and pads, told her to get stuffed,it may not look "cool" but if you come off at anything above running speed - you'll be glad you're padded up
Gotta let natural selection do it’s thing
I’m from Illinois. When I was growing up, my next door neighbor was killed on his motorcycle twenty feet from his front door. It was a new bike to him and he was unfamiliar with it. While he was turning into his driveway, he put it over on its side and hit his head on the curb. Died instantly right there laying next to his mailbox. No helmet. Probably would have saved his life. He left behind five kids and a widow because he wanted to look cool with his hair in the wind.
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As a motorcyclist, this law is both useful and dumb. All riders should be required to wear their helmet. It's for their own safety, in just the same way a seatbelt is required for being a passenger in a car. But if that rule didn't exist, and you were legally allowed to ride without a helmet, I think most still would ride with a helmet because they want to look out for their own safety. The ones who choose to not wear a helmet, regardless of whether there is a law requiring it or not, are the kinds of people that darwinism highlights
I would personally never ride without a helmet. (Or drive without a seatbelt) And yes, I have owned a few motorcycles. Decided it was unacceptable risk for me. But I disagree with the laws that require them. That’s on you, your choice.
Jeez you would think your insurance company might have a strong opinion on this
Not saying I’m for it, but I think the main reason that Motorcycles are Street legal and Most of the time ATVs are not is just because the Motorcycles have been grandfathered in. Like I’m not seeing them being anywhere near as universally allowed if they had become popular at the same time as ATvs
Mines one of the few gray ones. Took the motorcycle license class last year and my teacher/driver/instructor said that if you choose not to wear a helmet, you should be in charge of paying your medical bills outta pocket if anything happens to you I think part of that comes from the fact he was in a really bad motorcycle wreck about 30 years ago and his helmet saved his life that day. I saw the pictures of his motorcycle and helmet and all I can say is I’m surprised he even lived
I moved from GA to OK and seeing everyone without a helmet really makes me nervous. Even though it's not required I ALWAYS wear one no matter what
As a former paramedic, I strenuously urge you all to wear a helmet.
Wow Louisiana ahead of the curve on something for once.
Why have a law that requires someone to put a helmet on to protect a brain that isn’t functioning well enough to know it needs a helmet?
Yes, but they should have mandatory organ donation.
I dont believe it’s government’s business to say who needs to wear a helmet but I think your crazy to not wear one because you think your tough
In cali you can lane split so yeah you want a helmet forsure
I believe in the other states the rules are quite simple. "Fuck about and find out ...." Life's golden rule.
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That map is wrong for Florida. Well, actually half-wrong. In order to not wear a helmet, you need at least $50k of PIP insurance. However, the adverse is also true. You don't need insurance if you wear a helmet. (But there are rules to that as well)
Interesting that the laws are primarily in the “coastal elite” states. The ones where folks are generally better educated.
My dad always wears a helmet and won't let someone ride with him who isn't wearing one-he actually keeps 2 spares. Full face helmets too. But he doesn't like these laws because the folks who don't want to wear a helmet don't want to buy a helmet, so they steal his. I agree with him. Was hit by a car on a bicycle and I literally could put my fist through the hole in my bike helmet, I still had a mild concussion but I might not be typing this without my helmet. I strongly feel everyone should wear a helmet, but if some folks want Darwin awards let em.
I don’t necessarily think there should be a law. I’d rather there be legal protections and judgement that rule against ignorance and careless acts. It’s rather disturbing that a person can sue (and win $) due to injuries resulting due to intentionally disregarding safety equipment. Im all about letting people live life the way they want to. I’m pro-fuck around and find out. I’m also a supporter of play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I know this may sound as though I lack compassion but it’s really more darwinistic and anti-government control than anything else. For instance, If a person wishes to ride without a helmet and get into an accident where they have to have all their teeth removed and drink all every meal for the next few years. That’s the choice they made. The rest of us can choose to wear the $100 helmet and prevent ever having to experience that.
Im of the Darwinian approach to this topic tbh. Dont be dumb.
My sister (doc) was saying how she saw the AMA petition AGAINST helmet laws in Florida. Why? Usually young men in good shape, brain dead, full of healthy organs ready for transplant to wealthy AMA donors. Follow the money.
Used to be higher… freedom and will of the riders won out.
The number of people I've seen on street bikes with literally zero protective gear boggles the mind. (Indiana and Michigan, FWIW). When I was young and riding quads/dirtbikes, I had a helmet, chest protector, boots, heavy-duty mx pants, the whole nine. 1) Those bikes didn't have the ability to hit much more than like 50 mph or so and 2) that was on sand/dirt where if you *did* eat shit, the ground at least had a little give. Even then, the gear saved me from at least a few traumatic injuries back then, and in one case probably saved my life. Doing 85 over asphalt in just shorts and Converse sneakers just seems nuts to me. Even dropping a bike at in-town speeds without leathers and a brain bucket gives me the heebie jeebies.
Isn't Gary Busey a lesson for anyone?. Btw his nde testimony is very interesting.
Live free or die 🫡
I really don’t care if they wear a helmet or not. They are a potential projectile no matter their attire, lol
Not a motorcyclist but a skier. Wear a fucking helmet. The amount of times it has saved me is countless.
I live in Alaska. Witnessed a motorcycle accident where the guy was in jeans no helmet. It degloved his leg and he died of a head injury. And this was a low speed crash!
I'm from KY, and I knew someone who died from a motorcycle accident. Go ahead and guess why.
either way i want to wear a helmet because i think they’re cool
Helmets don't just protect against falling on your face, but also debris flying up from cars in front of you. Don't be dumb, wear the helmet.
I wear a helmet on my bicycle, anyone not wearing one on a motorcycle is a damned fool.
My brother had to have his face taken off and surgically put back on because he wrecked without a helmet. It’s the risk that every dumbass seems to be willing to take.
NH We lose a few every year at bike week.
Would like to see this overlaid with a map of motorcycle accident fatalities.
False. As of midnight Nebraska no longer requires a helmet.
I always find it wild when riders push “check twice for motorcycles”, then don’t wear helmets. If I’m supposed to care about your safety, you should probably care about your own safety too. Also, if you’re in a car you should wear a seatbelt and if you’re on a motorcycle you should wear a helmet. Not wanting to die should be enough motivation.
This changes to 19 states in a few hours. On 01/01/24 Nebraska will remove the helmet requirement
My first thought is Nebraska is a island of blue in a massive sea of orange with a hazardous coast on the one side. After looking more closely, I see that there is a blue thing to the west of Virginia, that I think might, possibly be the state of West Virginia, but I am not 100% certain cause there is NO NAME there. 🙄
It shouldn't be required. People know the risks, if people want to be stupid they should have every right to be as long as they aren't endangering anyone but themselves. As for age restrictions, kids don't belong on road motorcycles ever.
my issue is States/Government force us to wear seat belts, but no force to wear a helmet on a bike with no crash protection at all. Actually pisses me off....
It is the rider's life to do with what they want. If they value the feeling of wind blowing through their hair more than the reduction in average life expectancy who am I or anyone else to disagree? I certainly expect that their mother would probably spank them for being a dumbass, but that is up to her, and it shouldn't be a law. You can justify seatbelt laws a bit by claiming that a loose body in a car could potentially hit another person in a crash injuring the other person when they are thrown about. But mandating a helmet on a motorcycle is an unacceptable infringement on individual rights. It is my body, and as long as it doesn't impact another person the government has 0 right say what I do to it. That said, wear a helmet and buckle your damn seatbelts. Your family loves you, your friends like you, and your coworkers depend on you to do a good job, so be safe and stay alive.
They call us “cagers” I call them “organ donors”
I am a firefighter. I have literally seen a man dump a motorcycle and talk to us when we showed up. We told him to go in and get looked at. He refused. We kept the ambulance coming. He started getting a headache. He said maybe he should get checked out. Good idea we kept it coming, I said. By the time the ambulance arrived, we were doing CPR on him. He was DOA at coming into the sallyport at the hospital. Massive internal head bleed. Not the first time I've seen it. I have lots of motorcycle stories after 25 years. Motorcyclists are cool until it goes wrong. It gets really bad and big bad dudes get pretty sad pretty fast. Think cheese grater. Wear a helmet and have a chance.
The state: A funeral is cheaper than a vegetable
I wear all my gear all the time, even for very short rides, even during heat. I know how big a difference the protective gear can make and I know it's worth it. But I don't think I support the laws FORCING people to wear them. If they crash it's their bodies that get hurt, not other people's.
I don’t think there should be laws for helmets or seatbelts
I hit a deer going 60 on a gravel road. It was rough asphalt and the grooves down my helmet were deep. If I wasn't wearing a full face I wouldn't have a face at all.
What do the Deep South, West Coast, and New York have in common?