True story. 2nd wife got tapped on her Harley. Grain truck coming out of a field at a low rate of speed, drunk behind the wheel did not look before reaching the road. Knocked the bike into the ditch, where it flopped over on its side. Not a mark on Trish... unless you count the broken neck that killed her, coroner laid the blame on the full face helmet she was wearing.

Helmets kill.

True story. Kid I grew up with was into vintage dirt bike racing, at sanctioned events. His last race he got tapped by another competitor, bike got sideways and went down. His neck snapped as soon as his head hit the ground.

Helmets kill.

True story. My high school friend Mike bought my great grandmother's 64 Nova SS. Took it drag racing, on a legit NHRA sanctioned track. Had all the required, current spec, passed tech inspection safety crap. Blew a rear tire at 65 mph, car hit the wall, head whipped forward, his neck broke.

Helmets kill.

Several times I have started to post a reply here....then stopped.  After 3 pages of replies I am not sure what I can say to add anything helpful.  However I just saw that a rider was killed in Cincinnati last week.  Not sure what led up to the crash which I assume was not high speed as it was downton.  The sport bike hit the right side of an SUV turning into a parking lot.....not sure if the SUV driver didn't signal, the bike rider was going too fast to stop or attempted to lane split or pass on the right.  The bike looked fully intact and just looked like it tipped over - the SUV had a small scuff on the side.....the driver did not have a helmet on and was killed in what appeared to be a pretty minor bump.

Yesterday I went for a nice long ride on the Cafe' bike out in the country.  The road winds along a creek valley for a while, then climbs up to the ridge.....lots of nice curves.  I had on a full face helmet, armored mesh jacket, boots, and gloves with knuckle armor.  I had my collar slightly open....at first.  I am allergic to bees,  and when I hit some stingy bug it fell to the place where my leg touches the tank.....and I got a short sting before I could pull my leg away from the tank and let it go.  Later on a couple of bugs hit me really hard on the neck....and I stopped and buttoned my collar.  On several occasions the bugs were so big I could see them coming and duck out of their way in time!

Maybe it is all my hours of wearing protective gear when I raced dirt bikes in my youth, or the fact that my leisurely rides somehow end up being somewhat spirited.....but I just am not confortable without gear while riding.  The full face helmet feels great to me and I would not ride without it........as I don't want B29 bugs smashing into my face at speed.  I doubt that I will ever ride in full leathers - but I might get some of that Underarmor for protecting my legs!

Since I don't have a car wrapped around me.....the safety gear just makes me feel that I have a bit better chance of surviving a slide or impact.  It is a lottery of sorts......I am taking my chances that the helmet will protect me more than hurt me.  Just like the oil you choose to use in your bike......gear is a personal choice.

Thanks for the input. Full helmets can kill, of that I am convinced. But how many more lives have been saved because of them? I truly believe they save more people than they have killed. Also driving a bike in your 50's is a lot different than when you are in your teen years or early 20's.

gizzo wrote on 04/27/14 at 14:42:29:


I laid down my Dyna at low speed (less than 15 MPH, more in the 5 - 10 MPH range) and landed on my left side.  The jacket came out looking like this:


The helmet came out looking like this:



I broke my humerus (arm bone) in the ball at the top.  No padding there, no real armor there.  The pads on the elbow weren't aligned properly for me because the jacket was over-sized to cover my gut.  Had they been in the right place, I might have bounced up off the pavement ready to ride rather than feeling like someone had just cut my arm off at the shoulder.

The picture of the helmet doesn't do justice to the scrapes that the shield (open face, 3/4 style) took.  If the shield wasn't there I'd likely have earned the nickname "one-eye" or something close to that, and I'd certainly be sporting an uglier mug than I do now (not that it could get much worse, but hey...)


As you've noted, and as I read through when I was catching up on this thread, some will insist - as my grandmother did about wearing seatbelts - that the safety equipment is more dangerous than going without.  I support, within reason, their right to make their own choices but I stand by the idea that generally speaking having the safety equipment on is better than going without.

I see people wearing half helm's (helmet required state) and riding in shorts and T-shirts.  I may sometimes go without the riding jacket, but I ain't likely going in shorts.  I may have been riding with rugged tennis shoes and not riding boots, but that is about as far as I go in not taking some precautions when riding.

I wish I lived where I could ride on less traveled paths with fewer idiots to worry about, but I don't and given the lack of shielding that my body came with, I do what I can to add more where possible.

Good point Vers.  I've been meaning to ask, is there a way to make the board scale the pic to viewable size or is it something that has to be done before uploading it?

As far as the gear, helmet especially, last time I saw a decent factual review of acccidents in which helmets were worn, probably 15 or so years now, it was a statistical dead heat for protected or caused more injury (I believe protected was maybe .2% more. Within the margin of error anyway)


That being said, I wear my helmet whenever I go out. If nothing else, it keeps our huge southern bugs out of my eyes and face. And, my eyes tear up over about 30. The shield helps with that.

I generally don't wear much else in protective clothing. I know I should. Price is a factor. Hassle getting it on and off is a factor. Comfort is a factor.

I believe everyone should wear what they feel comfortable with.

Steve H wrote on 06/24/14 at 16:32:42:

The problem with looking at the stats on the seriousness of injuries with and without helmets on is that there is really no way of knowing what would have happened with the other choice in effect.  It is possible that someone that was wearing a helmet would be injured less without the helmet on, just as it is possible that someone that wasn't wearing a helmet may have been better protected with the helmet on.  Same with other gear, though some is pretty obvious.  (Like I said above, people wearing shorts and T-shirts for example, if they hit the asphalt they are gonna get some serious road rash.)

I agree completely though that for the most part I'm comfortable with letting people decide for themselves.  Up to a point.  If it is costing me or society money, then not so much.  As long as it costs me nothing, sure, do what you want.  The tough thing is that someone that is riding that gets seriously injured can wind up in a hospital costing their insurance providers a ton of money, and then later costing society money when they have used up their coverage.  Either one passes costs on to me and others to bear.  If that same individual would have been much better protected and far less injured by wearing mandated gear then the libertarian in me gets pushed aside by the pragmatic conservative that wants no part of paying more out in health care then we have to.

If someone comes up with a way of guaranteeing that only the individual involved will pay then have fun.  I suspect that option would never be taken though because it would be something like saying that if I wreck you'll leave me there to die, or just move me out of the roadway so that others are no longer impacted (except for the lookie loos that stare over at the seriously injured rider).

Yea,.. I wear a helmet...  ...

helmets don't kill people, people kill people...