90249 -- Suburb of Los Angeles.  I am about four miles from the Flash Point of the Rodney King Riot.  15-25 million people in a 100 mile radius.  My uninsured motorist insurance is more expensive than my liability insurance.  Been here since '65.  Have never hit anything with a vehicle.  Have only been hit when stuck stopped in a cage unable to escape.  We have the best drivers and the worst drivers.

stratman wrote on 01/17/10 at 18:09:16:

Oh yeah,.. definite....  as I said,.. with time and practice you can learn to sneeze downward....

One time,.. I was riding with the flu, and had a lozenge in there... It was kinda' strong so I was flippin' it over and over,.. and I somehow flipped it out of my mouth and stuck it to the chinguard...
Then, I spent the next 10 miles, tryin' to stretch my tongue to the guard to get it back...
Nearly crashed...

Not so bad, sneezin in a helmet. Just gotta control it, let it out thru the mouth. I used to sneeze very violently, but have learned how in recent years,, gee, now I think about it, since I started wearing a helmet..I am no longer so completely taken over by the whole "body spasm & scream" sneeze. Being on a creeper, tight, under a car, now theres a bad place for a big sneeze. Smack a forehead on something..DAMHIK

I am Highly Interested -- in the truth.

"the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute is wholly supported by auto insurers" -- http://www.iihs.org/members.html

Most automobile-motorcycle accidents are the fault of the automobile, and it is to the automobile insurance companies benefit to reduce the number of targets.  These companies do not care about *life* -- they care about money.  Motorcycle Helmet LAWS reduce motorcycle ridership by a large percentage.  In California motorcycle ownership dropped 39% after the passage of our mandatory helmet law.

The IIHS is *NOT* an unbiased source.

The Claim:

" NHTSA estimates that motorcycle helmets reduce the likelihood of crash fatality by 37 percent.  Norvell and Cummings found a 39 percent reduction in the risk of death after adjusting for age, gender, and seat position."

*IF* this were true, the States that mandate helmet use would have a *significant* reduction in deaths per motorcycle accident due to "Based on helmets judged to be compliant with federal safety regulations, use was 73 percent in 2002 and 78 percent in 2008 among motorcyclists in states with universal helmet laws and rose from 46 to 50 percent among motorcyclists in states without such laws." (from item 4)    The fact is that States that mandate helmet use would have an insignificantly *higher* rate of deaths per motorcycle accident.

The Claim:

"Are there drawbacks to helmet use?  Claims have been made that helmets increase the risk of neck injury and reduce peripheral vision and hearing, but there is no credible evidence to support these arguments."

Ignore evidence that disproves your position, ignore drawbacks you cannot address.  When I am riding, or driving for that matter, I am constantly moving my head so as to watch all of the traffic all around me.  It is not physically possible to move your head as fast with a helmet on as without.  You cannot break the laws of physics.  They do not address the problem of fatigue associated with the weight of a helmet.

There is obviously *some* drawback to Helmet Use as the States that mandate helmet use have insignifiantly higher rates of accidents per motorcycle ownership and deaths per motorcycle accident.

Yes, accidents and deaths and thefts decrease with the passage of helmet laws -- due mostly to the reduction in motorcycles.  Yes, accedents and injuries increase with the repeal of helmet laws -- due to a marked increase in ridership, with new unskilled riders who are at greater risk of accidents.

============

For me the bottom line is that States that mandate helmet use have  roughly 80% riders with DOT helmets and those that do not have roughly a 50% DOT helmet usage.  If helmets were significantly useful in preventing deaths in motorcycle accidents the Nanny States would have a significantly lower per accident death rate.  They do not.  Repeating the Shinola from the automobile industry does not address this fact.

I guess that I will throw my two cents in.  Over the years I have ridden with all the options-no helmet, half helmet, three-quarter helmet, clamshell, and Full face.  Currently, I have a full-face for the Winter, and a 3/4 for the Summer here in Tucson.  I wear them for comfort, not safety.

I would like to make two points in this debate about what kind of helmet.  First, the Hurt report (The only true large scale study of motorcycle accidents.) found that wearing a helmet reduced the incidence of serious injury and death.  Their data did not show a statistically significant difference based on the type of helmet.  Wearing a helmet was important.  What type of helmet wasn't.

Second, I would point out that all law-enforcement motorcycle officers, not only in the U.S. but in Europe as well, wear 3/4 helmets.  Maybe they know more than they tell us.

I switched over to a full coverage helmet with a flip up chin bar in the late 1990's. I found oune that was comfortable and thought I could learn to like it.
I quickly learned that I wanted to ride with the face shield flipped up and shortly thereafter with the chin bar flipped up/

Two years ago I bought a short - 1/2 half helmet. I liked it immediately It is lighter more comfortable and easier to use.

I think for a long ,ulti day ride at high speed I would put my full cover back on - but for day runs or to run to the store and back ( I ride from our summer home in western Canada) the 1/2 is my helmet of choice

qp wrote on 01/19/10 at 07:48:12:


I could be wrong here, but I believe when I was shopping for a full face and considering a modular with the flip up chin, the salesman asked me if I wanted one with a Snell rating. Apparently only full face helmets with a fixed chin are even eligible to be tested for that rating. The Snell rated helmets that he had were also about 3X the price of the rest of them  

I ended up going with a DOT approved full face that FIT and I am happy as a clam