Wearing ANYTHING on your head is better than nothing. Look at the level of protection a pair of jeans offers over shorts. The so-called novelty helmets do protect your head better than nothing but do not measure up to DOT helmets....and neither does your head.
If you want a good DOT approved helmet that is not huge, go with one of the Carbon Fiber helmets. They look good and work great.

These work great, look great and come in many colors.
http://www.carbonfiberhelmets.com/dothelmets.htm

Good luck, Dave

 

Your right. But this is why they made SRS air bags mandatory and this is why they are going to make side curtain air bags mandatory in the future.

I am against mandatory helmet laws, but there is a lot of myth associated with helmets. The whole it will only work up to 15mph is one, and they cause neck injuries is another.

If you look at an accident where a neck injury was incurred, I will almost be positive, that person would have received that same injury without the helmet and also incurred sever brain and skull trauma as well.

 

Originally Posted by OldFenderGuy

I find it interesting that the majority of deaths from automobile accidents (an annual rate that is much higher than those riding motorcycles) is caused by 'traumatic head injury'....................................

I don't see this comparison being valid at all. The total vehicle miles being driven as opposed to those being put on motorcycles is vastly different. The death rate in cages per 100 million vehicle miles is roughly 1.5 where the same for motorcycles is roughly 38. The one commonality is the ejection from the vehicle which is very likely to happen with a motorcycle and much less likely to happen with a cage but it happens quite often when seat belts aren't worn. In 2007 there were 28,933 deaths associated with automobiles of some type where there were 5,154 deaths associated with motorcycles. Comparing the data on the two would be like comparing a moped to a Harley, there is no reasonable comparison.

 

Right Chris, I wanna see what your head looks like with your DOT helmet on it after your head impacts a solid object, like a tree, at 15 mph......it might look better than without the helmet, but you will be just as dead.
Don't get me wrong, I wear a helmet, I just don't believe I am going to be saved from any high speed impacts to my head becasue of it. It will most definitely protect you from many lower speed impacts and glancing blows but a hard hit is gonna kill ya. The helmet can take far more than your brain. Helmet stops, brain splats inside your scull, scull is still intact, brain is jello.
Watch your *** out there, most drivers are not.

 

You are such a hard core biker! You must not even own a "cage", huh?
How do you lump all riders into the category of weekenders? A lot of us ride to work every day and ride on the weekends as well. I put over 35000 miles on my 05 in 2 years. That's more than my wife and I put on both of my cars combined. You can't make blanket statements any more than the idiots with the stats.
And you don't see the hypocrisy of not being legally allowed to wear a helmet in a car and being forced to wear one on a bike?
As far as all this excess safety crap in cars goes, why not let the driver decide just like we do for helmets here in Florida? I really don't want air bags all over my car. I would be much happier with a real factory roll cage and a harness in a structurally sound comfy seat that still reclines.

 

When you read things into something you generally come to your own conclusions which are often quite wrong as they are in this case. I could care less how far you ride your bike or how far your wife drives here cage as it is literally meaningless withing the scope of the conversation. Fact, there are millions upon millions upon millions of miles miles driven by cages each year and motorcycle riders regardless of how hard core they may be can not hold a candle to the miles covered by those cages. The death rate in those cages per vehicle mile is almost insignificant when compared to the death rate associated with riders regardless of their having used a helmet.

No, I don't see any hypocrisy at all and I also understand the dangers of wearing a helmet in a cage. Yes, helmets in a cage work great when everyone is traveling in the same direction as they are on a race track however, when things are coming at you from every direction and you now have to look all over the place that helmet tends to become a problem for a variety of reasons now doesn't it.

As far as Florida goes it's not hard to figure out that as soon as they repealed the helmet law injury rates due to head trauma increased dramatically as has been the case in other states that have followed this path.

 

I think most accidents are at low speeds at intersections, etc in town, on short trips. Seems like most helmet use is just the opposite.

 

Get a good helmet, we've got enough SOA wannabees out there!

 

I had the same problem, with neck fatigue and fighting the wind with my HD Ultra 3/4 helmet. I just started wearing the face shield on my after eating it face-first from highsiding the Softail on New Years Day (without the face shield). The first thing I noticed was the ride was way quieter. Then I noticed that the wind wasn't pushing back my head the entire time, even at 75 mph on the freeway. The thick edges of the helmet combined with your mug, makes a great pocket for the wind to push into.

I've still got scabs coming off my face, but from now on, it's the face shield...

 

When I read into things? We write, we read...duh....
Wear whatever you like, I don't care.
Your vision is impeded by a helmet in a car but not on a bike, right! Gotcha...carry on age guy!