[Anonymous]

I don’t want you coming into my car uninvited through my windshield while I’m talking my kid to school. Additionally, I don’t want my kid to suffer with his parent put in jail for causing the accident resulting in somebody’s death, if that could have been just a fender bender otherwise. And if I (democratic majority) can help it, I’m damn sure going to make a law that supports me. And since I’m on a rant path, don’t get me started on the usage of terms like freedom, rights and civil liberty.

[Matt]

Just so we are clear, the Anon post isn’t mine.

In fact, I made no mention of a law requiring seatbelts. In Canada, I have one, I am happy to have it. I’m not going to preach to you that you need one. My comment was that I consider simply saying “this decision only affects me” to be short sighted. People have to make their decisions with others in mind; “no man is an island” and all that. I find a lot of the “freedom” arguments in cases like seatbelts and helmets to not really consider those other consequences.

Dying is easy, living is hard.

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Munch]

When you boil it down the law is only as good as the people who follow them, disagree?…. I’ll let you debate it with a murderer or drunk with multi convictions. No matter what laws are there you still have the choice, it’s only paper work after all. Though the consequences can and are likely more permanent.

[rt]

I believe in protective gear. That’s my personal decision. That said.
Maybe you could find some information where not wearing a helmet causes motorcycle accidents?
Probably have more articles on how helmets cause accidents. I wouldn’t agree with either personally.
Cell phones? I’d buy that theory quick!

Have a good one.

[megaspaz]

It’s not really unreasonable to think not wearing a helmet can cause accidents. Debris, bugs, etc. fly everywhere. I especially see all the critters that hit my face shield. Mostly small, but some big splats as well. I’ve had my visor cracked by some rock kicked up by a car in front of me. I can see a rider getting startled and yanking onto oncoming traffic or just losing control and binning it. Mostly though I don’t care if a rider wears gear or not. I’ve lived through the seat belt law and helmet law fights and honestly didn’t care one way or the other if they passed or not. I personally do both though. But to say there’s no circumstance where not wearing a helmet can not cause an accident would be short sighted. There’s a vid on youtube were a rider bins his bike. He was going fast, but not stunting. He had a helmet on, but with the visor up. He explained that a bug hit his eye and he lost control. Luckily, he didn’t hit any other cars.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Munch]

Dang man you need to get your but back up this way…lol.

I agree with ya whole heartedly… there are lots of subjects I feel should be handled that way. Educate, educate, educate. All sides are debatable but atleast you go home knowing you did your part of presenting your side of the coin. No matter how staunch they are in what they think is right, you without a doubt will give them cause to pause… maybe even change their mind and save their life ( wether you think for good or bad…..just kidding).

[megaspaz]

I’m sorry. By the time you’re old enough to legally get your moto endorsement and if you’ve taken an MSF BRC course, you should already know what your bare head’s gonna look like hitting a pole, sign, pavement, etc. at speed and how a helmet could keep your egg from getting scrambled. When did common sense need to be educated further?

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Andrew]

Lets be serious here. The majority of the riders I see without helmets are from the generation before mine. I’m 34 and have no problem protecting my brain but to the older riders helmets are just not cool. They were not cool when they started riding and to them they are not cool now. I would bet it’s like a religion to most of them and you never change someones religion in a discussion.

[Rupmisc]

I suppose someone under 40 might take umbrage if I stated that attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, or that few now obtain a liberal arts education necessary to produce well rounded citizens with a grasp of history. That would be a generalization. May I point out that the 60s paid lip service to non-conformity. I’m one fifty year old who could care less what cool is. Hell, I wear full gear and got a Nighthawk 250 as my first bike (extreme nerd). I doubt others are much different.

Perhaps someone could really start a war over whether cruiser riders are more likely to go without gear than sport or standard riders. That should be good for some pithy exchanges.

[Munch]

MSF is not required for your endorsement… atleast not here in NC. and at $200+ a course… it would probly be not a far leap of faith that 60-70% of the riders here do not have that luxury. Not to mention that usually there is more heed given when the warnings and examples comes from friends and accomplished riders rather then trainers who are getting paid to tell you what you need to know. Doesn’t make sense, I know….but thats just way it seems to work out.
And if it were common sense…. there would be no need to have the MSF anyways.
As a comedian once said…..
“If the people around us are setting the bar for “common sense” , WE are freaking geniuses”

[megaspaz]

The MSF isn’t required for an endorsment here either. It’s a way to get basic skills and passing it means you bypass the riding portion of the DMV test. If someone isn’t gonna pay 200 bucks for the BRC due to economic restraints, what makes you think he/she is gonna pay for a helmet?

I’m gonna guess it’s fair to say in any case that you have to take a written motorcycle test no matter what state you’re in. In your case, I’m looking that the NC DMV motorcycle handbook and the front cover of it plastered with images of MC riders… All of them illustrated with helmets. Should be a big ol’ clue. Holy shiznet…. The first section of the handbook, “Wear the right gear” talks about guess what… helmets and choosing the right helmet with a note about increasing your chances of surviving a crash wearing the right gear.

I still postulate education isn’t the issue. People already know how gear is supposed to protect them. They just choose not to gear up. And MSF instructors are accomplished riders.

My personal opinion on the matter of helmet laws stands as woopty doo. If you wanna fight for helmet legislation, go right ahead. If not, just as fine. If it was really about rider protection, it’d be more than a helmet law and be a full rider gear law. Either way, such legislation doesn’t affect me because of my personal choice to gear up.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Andrew]

We don’t need to go there. The rider who wears jeans, boots, gloves and sunnies is taking a risk just like the rider who wears a helmet but no other riding gear. They are both taking risks. Just different ones. Both of them are likely to have opinions that are hard to change and make life difficult for those of us that do care about safety gear.

[Budd]

I hate helmet and seat belt laws. I just feel silly wearing a helmet in my car and I don’t even know where the seatbelt is on my bike.

Spaz-You don’t have to take the written portion in TN if you already have a license.

Rupmisc: That liberal arts degree won’t get you the job it used to either.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[megaspaz]

heh. I had to retake the written drivers test and the motorcycle written test. At least I didn’t get charged $$$ for having to retake the written driver’s test…

#11263

[rt]

Uncle! Uncle! Eureeka, helmets are better than bare heads! Now that’s a revelation!
Actually, there hasn’t been one written word against helmets in this whole thread…..whew, read the content!

What’s the title of this thread?
Oh yeah, “Helmet Laws”.
Not” You are you a dumb arse because you don’t wear a helmet” Lol.

A small few of you have trouble staying “on course” and are missing the actual context of this discussion.
Re-read the entire thread and see how a couple of you guys are more interested in debating than absorbing.

[Author]

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