Helmets Motorcycle Helmets Choosing to Wear a Helmet – Disagree
There is no doubt that your brain and the head that protects it is very important to your continual existence on this planet. Motorcycles are a very dangerous form of transportation. While it may be a very good idea to wear a "brain bucket" to add to your safety, that doesn't mean that you should be required to.
Many riders automatically strap a helmet on just like they use a key to turn on the ignition. Others absolutely refuse to wear one. The choice should be up to the rider. Many states have already taken that choice away from the individual. They require any motorcycle rider (and passenger) to have a DOT approved helmet any time they are operating their motorcycle.
In my home state of Illinois, it is still up to the individual rider. As a veteran of a couple decades of riding, I have seen many accidents. Some, the helmet would have helped, others it would not have done any good. All it really did was help identify the body. I was in an accident with a deer. I happened to be wearing a helmet at the time. When I stopped my 60mph slide after about 100 feet, my helmet had never touched the pavement. In this case, wearing one didn't make any difference. Of course, things could have gone differently.
The point is, it is a personal choice. Each person should be able to decide if they want to wear a helmet or not. You are already in a dangerous environment, in theory a helmet may make it safer, but it may not.
Many riders want to feel the world around them. That is the point of riding a motorcycle. They want to feel every bump in the pavement, the wind blowing in their hair, and all the sights and sounds that you won't get riding in a car or truck. Wearing a helmet will take away from that experience.
Freedom of choice is always a hot point topic. This is yet another one of those choices. If you or I think it is more dangerous, or less, that doesn't mean that the next rider feels the same. It is their body, their chance of injury. Therefore it should always be their personal choice as to whether or not they wear a helmet when they ride.
One exception to this choice to not wear a helmet is a matter of age. Statistics don't lie. Younger people tend to have more accidents on motorcycles. This may be do to a lack of experience or to just plain recklessness, whatever the reason injuries of younger riders are too high. It may not be a bad idea to have riders under the age of 18 or 21 wear helmets. Once they have a few years riding under their belts, then they too can make the choice. To wear a helmet or not. For those with years of experience, the choice should be ours. To many of us, that choice is to wear one when we want, but if we don't want to, we don't.
