Yes Helmet use – Agree

From 3arf

I have been riding motorcycles since about the time I started walking... well, maybe not that long ago, but my first two-wheeler was a three horsepower mini-bike, which consisted of a tubular frame, a Briggs & Stratton engine, and a crude chain drive system. There was no moving suspension to absorb bumps, only a steering stem with handlebars and a twisting grip that controlled the throttle. In other words, I have been riding motorcycles for decades that total within about ten years of my half-century age, so do the math.

Anyone who does not wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle needs his or her head examined, not for injury (although it is likely he or she will eventually suffer a head injury), but for contents that include rational common sense. Over the years I have heard many arguments against wearing a helmet while riding. These arguments vary from those that try to defend freedom of choice at the expense of safety, to those ludicrous follies that equate helmets with increased risk of injury because of weight and helmet design issues. While these follies might have been an argument that could have been "stretched" into some validity a few decades ago, it is not so today. Helmets designed within the last decade or so are lightweight, ventilated, and designed with no visual or aural impediments. It is much easier to see and hear what needs to be seen and heard from a moving motorcycle while wearing a helmet than it is to see and hear without a helmet. Once again, common sense prevails: rushing wind traveling at the speed of the motorcycle over the ears equals loss of hearing acuity. And, unless a rider is wearing a good set of goggles, sunglasses or anything similar will not keep the wind from tearing-up the eyes.

The arguments against helmet use are debunked easily, but the main reason I agree with the rational thought process that leads to strapping on a helmet are based on personal experiences. Over the decades of riding, I have had two very serious accidents. One was my fault because I was young and felt invincible, so I decided to race two other riders on a winding road. The bike was heavily damaged, but I walked away after losing control in a curve and tumbling through a yard, stopping just short of a wooded area. My helmet was cracked and had discolored spots from the impact. I don't think my head would have survived on its own. The other was about six years ago when I met a oncoming car in my lane of travel in the middle of a blind curve. Once again, the bike and I both took a tumble that ended with a destroyed motorcycle and a three-day hospital stay. My injuries included a broken rib, three cracked vertebrae, and a bruised head. Yes, the helmet actually bruised my head along the top of my forehead, but that was the only head injury I suffered. It was a full-face helmet, and the face shield was ripped-away from the helmet. It does not take a rocket scientist to conclude what would have happened to my head if I had not been wearing a helmet.

Another ludicrous argument is when a numb-headed rider declares that he or she will not need a helmet because he or she is not going to go down or be involved in an accident. How incredibly foolish! I have never heard anyone start toward a motorcycle and say, "You know, I need to wear my helmet today because I plan to crash." When it happens, it happens with little or no warning, and please, do not think it will not happen to you! I had been riding for decades when the car forced me to go off-roading on a Honda Goldwing.

The sensible rider is prepared for what can and often does happen. No amount of macho attitude or defiance in the name of freedom is worth your life. In other words, I disagree with arguments against helmet use while riding a motorcycle, but I do not want to see anyone die from lack of rational common sense, so strap-on your helmet!

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