When Easy Rider becomes a Major Headache – Agree
When Easy Rider Becomes a Major Headache
Imagine it's a beautiful spring day. You're on your 'hog,' a black and gold Harley, and you're headed down the highway. You're looking good. You're wearing your black leather jacket and your favorite black Harley-Davidson t-shirt. You're either wearing black leather pants, or blue jeans with black leather chaps, and of course, your heavy-duty biker boots with the reinforced soles. Maybe you have a bandanna tied across your forehead to keep your hair out of your eyes. You're flying down the road with the wind in your hair-and that could be the last conscious sensation you will ever experience.
It was for Doug, a co-worker and friend of mine. He was doing eighty when he slid on gravel and laid his bike over, pinning his leg between it and the road. He slid across two lanes of highway, stopping in a parking lot. His right boot was torn away, half of his heel bone had ground off on the pavement during the slide, and his right arm was mangled. His head injuries were so severe that his brain stem swelled and twisted. After two weeks in intensive care, Doug's mother gave his doctors permission to discontinue life support. Would a helmet have saved Doug's life? Maybe, maybe not. There's no way to know, but it would have improved his chances.
The Nations Health: The Official Newspaper of the American Public Health Association quotes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's report for the year 2007 as having the highest number of fatalities in a ten-year span. Even though motorcycles comprise only 2.7 percent of all registered vehicles, motorcycle-related deaths totaled 13% of all vehicular fatalities.
Researchers estimate that a motorcyclist wearing a helmet has a 37% better chance of surviving than a biker without one. In states where helmets are required by law, there is a 74% rate of compliance. In states without helmet laws, roughly 42% will ride without this important safety feature. This totals up to a lot of head injuries that could have been lessened or avoided all together.
At first , having 37% better chance of survival seemed low to me, but when I considered the other factors involved in motorcycle accidents, it did make sense. When you're driving in a car, you have the car itself as a buffer between you and your immediate environment. If you're smart and wearing a seat belt, you're protected even more. A person on a motorcycle doesn't have that protection. The rider is face to face with the oncoming vehicle, the deer in the road, or the pavement. Here's an example of what I mean: I read in the paper about two separate cases of bikers running off the road and through a barbed-wire fence. If you ran through a fence with your car, it could mean only a trip to the body shop to repair dents and scratches. For the bikers it was much more serious. One man bled to death at the scene and the other man was decapitated. There was nothing to protect them from the fences.
True, that story also proves there are times when a helmet would not make a difference, but it does help to stack the odds in the rider's favor.
Twenty states have helmet laws for all motorcyclists. Other states require riders under 18 to wear a helmet. These states have seen a significant drop in motorcycle deaths. States are now requiring motorists to use seat belts and riding any motorized bike on a public road should require a helmet.
"Let those who ride decide," is the battle cry of bikers who do not want to wear helmets. I agree to a point. The question is, who pays to care for bikers after they have slammed their heads on the pavement? The taxpayer. So prove you have long-term care insurance, and let the wind blow in your hair; it's your risk.
In closing, I would like to tell another true story. Shortly after turning 18, my oldest son bought a Kawasaki Ninja 600, otherwise known as a crotch rocket. I was not happy. While riding in town, a small bus backed out in front of him. The driver just didn't see him. To avoid hitting the bus, Ward laid the bike over. He fell clear of the bike and both he and the bike slid across the left lane and hit the curb. The force was so great, his helmet cracked. He was taken to the emergency room. Had he been going faster or been hit by another vehicle, we can't know how badly he would have been injured or if he would have survived. Because he was wearing a helmet and other safety gear, he went home with only a mild concussion and a headache. Helmets do save lives and they do mitigate injuries often enough to prove their worth.
