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Spread the Disease
Picture of flesheatingvirus
posted
This is not a thread to hate on folks who ride motorcycles; I'm genuinely curious.

Please explain your answers. I've heard things like freedom of choice and medical insurance rates brought up in discussions like this before, but I'd like to get a broader take on it.

I do NOT own a motorcycle; my only experience is an occasional ride on a friends cycle, and I owned a dirt bike.

Question:
If not required by law, do you where a helmet when riding on public roads?

Choices:
Yes
No
I don't own a motorcycle
I hate people on 2 wheels, so I'll pick this and NOT clog up the thread

Question:
Do you think it should be required by law to wear a helmet?

Choices:
Yes
No
I hate people on 2 wheels, so I'll pick this and NOT clog up the thread

 


________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
 
Posts: 17244 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I carry high enough medical coverage on my insurance to be legal to ride in Michigan without a helmet, but choose to wear one anyway, a full face helmet even, generally along with a jacket and usually pants both containing armor.

I do not believe it should be required, as I do not believe seat belts should be required, but there should be some provision in place should someone be injured who has insufficient insurance to recover any costs to the state for treatment should any be incurred directly caused by lack of helmet or seat belt.


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$
 
Posts: 7655 | Location: Mid-Michigan, USA | Registered: February 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Cruising the
Highway to Hell
Picture of 95flhr
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I always wear a helmet, I just feel better doing so.

I've seen where a neck was snapped and the person died due to the extra weight of a helmet, so I think it should be a personal choice.




“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
― Ronald Reagan

Retired old fart
 
Posts: 6474 | Location: Near the Beaverdam in VA | Registered: February 13, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
"The deals you miss don’t hurt you”-B.D. Raney Sr.
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I will ALWAYS wear a helmet. A helmet has saved my life on two separate occasions so.....

Should it be law? I don't think so. I don't think seat belts should be a law. I think they are a really good idea, but I don't like the idea of a nanny state telling me I HAVE to wear one.

And please, let's not start all the "fine, we just won't respond when you have a wreck" or "people like you cost the rest of us money by having to care for your now vegetative self"

I never said I didn't wear a seatbelt (and make my kids wear them). I just said I did t think they should be a law. I guess it's the libertarian in me coming out....
 
Posts: 6288 | Location: East Texas | Registered: February 20, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
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1. Yes, because they do reduce the incidence of head injuries. And, I'd prefer to leave a good looking corpse.

2. No. Same reason I don't believe that seatbelt use should be mandated. The government has no place in telling me how to take care of myself. They can make suggestions, but ultimately the decision should be my own.

YakTrax reduce the number of falls on ice and hence the cost of medical treatment for fractures and head injuries. Should we pass a law requiring people to wear them?


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 19975 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Run Silent
Run Deep

Picture of Patriot
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by the_sandman_454:
I carry high enough medical coverage on my insurance to be legal to ride in Michigan without a helmet, but choose to wear one anyway, a full face helmet even, generally along with a jacket and usually pants both containing armor.

I do not believe it should be required, as I do not believe seat belts should be required, but there should be some provision in place should someone be injured who has insufficient insurance to recover any costs to the state for treatment should any be incurred directly caused by lack of helmet or seat belt.


Bingo...

Ownership for ones actions...

Don't wear a helmet...great, go for it.

End up a vegetable...that's on you, not the tax payers.


_____________________________
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The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
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Posts: 6978 | Location: South East, Pa | Registered: July 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Spread the Disease
Picture of flesheatingvirus
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quote:
Originally posted by the_sandman_454:
I carry high enough medical coverage on my insurance to be legal to ride in Michigan without a helmet,


Interesting. I never knew some states were set up like that.


________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
 
Posts: 17244 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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On long distance rides, full face helmet. Around town and short rides, open face with full clear visor for better peripheral vision.
Helmets save lives. And in some crashes a helmet makes no difference.


End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
 
Posts: 16004 | Location: Marquette MI | Registered: July 08, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Cobra21
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Well, I am a motorcycle rider and I generally DO NOT wear a helmet on public roads. I do have a helmet and I do have it on the bike, but probably only wear it 25%-33% of the time...though I always make my passenger wear one if they are riding with me.



Risk the consequences of honesty...
 
Posts: 4498 | Location: DFW, TX | Registered: December 02, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Official forum
SIG Pro
enthusiast
Picture of stickman428
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I never understood the helmetless thing until I rode a dual sport down my street without a helmet. My mullet flapping in the breeze...it was incredible. For a short blast down my driveway/ street I won't always wear a helmet but otherwise I do. It's just too damn easy to get hurt without a helmet.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
 
Posts: 21075 | Location: San Dimas CA, the Old Dominion or the Tar Heel State…flip a coin  | Registered: April 16, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Well sure, if required by law, I don't need a ticket. If no law, just leathers, earplugs & goggles for me. If I am in an accident, inject me. I don't want to be an expense or burden.

My core belief is, everyone must ride a motorcycle for one year before getting a license to drive a 4 wheeler. I think being on 2 wheels may bring a sense awareness to serious drivers.
 
Posts: 5768 | Location: west 'by god' virginia | Registered: May 30, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
10 November, 1775
Picture of MarinetoRN
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I always wear a helmet and leather jacket. Boots over the ankles too. Anytime you take your bike out on the road you're making a calculated risk whether you'll make it home or not. I try to minimize my risk. I believe though, we have a right to choose.


SiGArm'd

P220ST X2, 1911 Revolution, P245, P229 RTTEQ/ST .40 X2, P226ST, Mosquito
Other weaponry not SIG

Glocks are ugly.
I don't like repeat offenders, I like dead offenders.
 
Posts: 2471 | Location: Eastern NC | Registered: August 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Three Generations
of Service
Picture of PHPaul
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I'm with what appears to be the main stream here: I ALWAYS wear a helmet, but I don't think it should be a law if you're over 21. Nanny State and all that.

I also wear ear plugs, an armored jacket, heavy boots and gloves, and I'm leaning strongly towards getting a good pair of armored riding pants. Really, the only thing holding me back is that good ones are insanely expensive.

I won't go off on a rant here, but my opinion of all the apocryphal anecdotes about seat belts and helmets CAUSING injuries is about on a par with my opinion of the loud pipes debate.




Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
 
Posts: 15181 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes
Picture of sandman76
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I always wear heavy jeans, boots and sleeves. Most of the time I wear a half style helmet. But not always.


_______________________
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Posts: 1956 | Location: Douglas County, Colorado | Registered: July 13, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Full-face in cooler weather. Half-helmet in warmer months. Don't believe it should be mandated though.
 
Posts: 1359 | Registered: October 19, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Cogito Ergo Sum
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All the gear all the time. Can get quite uncomfortable in the summers here in the Southwest but that's my choice.
 
Posts: 5691 | Registered: August 01, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of dsiets
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I don't have a motorcycle w/ a high enough windscreen so a full face helmet is more comfortable.
But like Sandman, I carry enough coverage (MI)to go w/o one.
If my helmet is stolen or I pick up a passenger in need, I can go w/o for a bit.
 
Posts: 7319 | Location: MI | Registered: May 22, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Mensch
Picture of kz1000
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When I rode, I wore one 99% of the time. Couldn't stand the wind getting in my ears & eyes.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yidn, shreibt un fershreibt"

"The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind."
-Bomber Harris
 
Posts: 16119 | Location: Ivorydale | Registered: January 21, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by k5blazer:
All the gear all the time. Can get quite uncomfortable in the summers here in the Southwest but that's my choice.


I'm of the same persuasion. I taught my son to ride and always taught him that if it's too hot to wear your gear it's too hot to ride.
 
Posts: 7523 | Registered: October 31, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Rail-less
and
Tail-less
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I did my doctoral thesis on this very topic but focusing on PA and surrounding areas. I looked at motorcycle accident death rates 5 years before and after PA did away with helmet laws. In the first 3 years while he total number of accidents stayed relatively constant, motorcycle related accident death rates went up over 500%. Demographically the people dying in the largest numbers were men ages 40-60 with bikes that had displacements greater than 1000cc. Younger adults on sport bikes died at a much slower rate. Also something like 90% of unhelmeted deaths had alcohol or drugs involvement when compared to 35% in the helemeted group. People who routinely didn't wear helmets were much more likely to not have insurance.

I also wear a helmet when I ride...all the time every time


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Posts: 13190 | Location: Charlotte, NC | Registered: May 07, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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