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"Must Bikers wear helmets?"

S

smoothtexasrider

Guest
This one should to get the day off to a roaring start......:rider:

From PARADE magazine, in the DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Sunday, 22 June 2008, in the section titled "INTELLIGENCE REPORT", page 10.

"Safety--Must Bikers wear helmets? In the last 10 years, the number of motorcycle fatalities has increased 125% (and 300% for riders over age 50), with more than 4800 deaths in 2006. Of those killed, 42% were not wearing helmets. 'About 700 lives a year could be saved if people wore helmets,' says Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, an avid biker. Currently, just 20 states require helmets for riders of all ages, and Louisiana is considering a repeal of its helmet law for adults. Proponents of the change say the decision is a matter of personal freedom. Should helmets be required by law? Vote at Parade.com/intel "

I went to this site and the helmet question answers are strangely worded with a cell phone issue. I don't get it.
 
And how many biker lives could be saved if drivers of cages got off their cell phones and actually paid attention to the road?
 
hey gary!

i'm in rockwall as well.

i also have a ninja 250 (black/green)
 
To further hijack...

I'm just east of Rockwall in Fate; I didn't realize you two lived so near. We should get together.
 
hey gary!

i'm in rockwall as well.

i also have a ninja 250 (black/green)

My daughter claims the 250 as hers. She's a good, safe rider but with an great adventurous attitude. She's a student at UT Tyler, and she has the bike out there. But when the bike is in Rockwall I ride it frequently. I live near hwy 205 about 3 miles south of I-30.
 
To further hijack...

I'm just east of Rockwall in Fate; I didn't realize you two lived so near. We should get together.

I'm in the Meadow Creek "Hood" at 205/276 area. To further pintpoint, the neighborhood behind the Galaxy Ranch School off of 276.

We three kings should get together and start a gang.

or at least ride togerther once in a while.
 
To further hijack...

I'm just east of Rockwall in Fate; I didn't realize you two lived so near. We should get together.

To further hijack ...

I drove through Fate Friday on my way home from Antlers, OK - never heard of it before :-) Nice to know there are some high quality bikers in and around Fate. I-30 east-bound was a parking lot around 5PM - is that normal? Bad to sit in a jam - worse when you're on a bridge. Glad I was west-bound at the time.
 
I'm in the Meadow Creek "Hood" at 205/276 area. To further pintpoint, the neighborhood behind the Galaxy Ranch School off of 276.

We three kings should get together and start a gang.

or at least ride togerther once in a while.

Well, just sold my bike... bikeless :giveup:

Still, there are plenty of things to do. Wanna come kayaking? I have extra 'yaks...
 
Well, just sold my bike... bikeless :giveup:

Still, there are plenty of things to do. Wanna come kayaking? I have extra 'yaks...

Maybe...

...i work a lot of weekends, but I'd still welcome the invite.

PM me and I'll give you my cell for next time you think you're going.
 
And how many biker lives could be saved if drivers of cages got off their cell phones and actually paid attention to the road?

I'm with Scott and no, bikers must not if they don't want to. The "Right to Choose" is of the utmost importance.
 
Does that mean that the # of deaths went up or % of deaths went up?
i think that in the last couple years there has been a BIG increase in bikers on the road do to gas prices so not sure what the stat means.
 
Let's get a breakdown of how many bike accidents were self inflicted
compared to accidents where an inattenative cager is at fault...
 
Let's get a breakdown of how many bike accidents were self inflicted
compared to accidents where an inattenative cager is at fault...
To be fair, not every cage+biker accident is the cagers fault. Many, surely... but not all.
 
I have always felt that it should be their choice. The only
thing I would question is if indeed someone hit them and
they died from head injuries...whose fault would that be?
In other words, wearing a helmet could have saved that
drivers life....so as you can see, I have mixed emotions.
See, it is a tough one...but I still lean to it should be their
choice.
 
If it were simply a matter of freedom of personal choice, we would still be legally able to drive without a seatbelt. Perhaps helmets should be mandatory too.
 
I have always felt that it should be their choice. The only
thing I would question is if indeed someone hit them and
they died from head injuries...whose fault would that be?
In other words, wearing a helmet could have saved that
drivers life....so as you can see, I have mixed emotions.
See, it is a tough one...but I still lean to it should be their
choice.

The key part there is the now bolded portion "could have". Sure, being hit by a car (or forced off the road, or any number of other scenarios) could be a survivable incident had the rider been wearing a helmet. It could also just be another piece of litter that the crew has to pick up afterward.

If the car was at fault for the accident, whether the rider is wearing a helmet, full armored gear and neon yellow safety vest or if the rider was wearing a pink tutu and a thong doesn't matter one iota. The car was at fault, the results of the accident were the cars fault (well, the driver actually, but who's being specific). What a person chooses to wear on a ride should have no bearing whatsoever on how the accident should be looked at in the end. If the biker was at fault, so be it. If the cager was at fault, so be it.
 
I am a firm believer in choice...though I wear my helmet 98% of the time, I have been guilty of going to the store just to grab some things and back, especially with gas prices....Working as a volunteer fireman on road that is notorius as a "ride" road...I have worked several bike wrecks. Only one fatality and it was a sportbike that left the road and went through a barbed wire fence, guy was wearing a helmet but was decapitated so a mute point... most of the other wrecks were drunk Harley riders...or noobs that bought more bike than they can handle...:cool2:
 
where an inattenative cager is at fault

I did not say every car/bike accident...
Ah... you were using it as a qualifier, not as a descriptor. Since I assume every cager is inattentive, I thought you were as well. My apologies. :)
 
If it were simply a matter of freedom of personal choice, we would still be legally able to drive without a seatbelt. Perhaps helmets should be mandatory too.

That makes no sense.....because we allow the gov. to take away the seatbelt freedom we should allow them to take away our helmet freedom...huh?

Gov. is playing Mama with the seatbelt law.
 
That makes no sense.....because we allow the gov. to take away the seatbelt freedom we should allow them to take away our helmet freedom...huh?

Gov. is playing Mama with the seatbelt law.
I know that. Just saying since bikes don't have seatbelts and airbags (except the Wing), helmets would be the equivalent. Fair is fair in other words. I wear mine 100% of the time so I'm not affected....not that that is a good reason either.
 
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