That's so the dumbass cagers can see themselves as they run you over.

 

I have done thousands of miles with and without a helmet due to traveling through helmet states and non helmet states. I am certainly more comfortable without 3 to 5 lbs of extra weight on my head and neck,and I can definately hear and see better. I also find that the heat does not bother me as much without a helmet on. My wife always wears a helmet, but she will be the first to tell you that it is more comfortable to ride without.

If helmets are more comfortable than without, why not wear them in your car too. 90% of all fatal car crashes are the result of head injuries, so helmets in the car would be a good safety issue also. I realize that you are more exposed on a motorcycle than in a car, but what's going to kill you in a crash is still the same, so if safety is your main goal you should be safe in the car as well as on the bike.

Regards,

Bill

 

Let's look at this a little. Who do you propose poses the more serious financial burden, the ininsured helmeted biker who survives a crash as a consequence of wearing the helmet, and presents to the ER with multitple orthopedic and general surgical trauma, with a survivable or potentially survivable closed head injury.....or the non-helmeted biker with all the orthopedic and general surgical trauma, but who sustains severe head trauma from not wearing a helmet, and arrives in the ER unrevivable?

 

Good arguments as usual. But, if it were stipulated, as you hypothetically postulated above, that riding a motorcycle was more comfortable with a helmet than without, how does it then follow that wearing one while driving a car was also good from a comfort perspective? I am not seeing the analogy too clearly. It is very conceivable to me that it can be more comfortable, for some people, to ride a motorcycle, especially under certain conditions, with a helmet than without one, but without necessarily eqating to increased comfort driving a car with one as compared to without.

Also, where you state, "...realize that you are more exposed on a motorcycle than in a car, but what's going to kill you in a crash is still the same, so if safety is your main goal you should be safe in the car as well as on the bike", this would be more compelling if safety was his main goal, but it appears that comfort was the main goal with safety considerations being secondary, based on the the comment, "I do it more for comfort than safety".

BTW, I personally find it more comfortable to ride under most of my normal riding circumstances with a helmet vs without one, and I am also more comfortable in a car or truck without a helmet as compared to with one. Of course, this would be an individual thing.

BTW, your suggestion to wear a helmet in a car for safety's sake is an interesting one. I've thought about this in the past, as I have heard on more than one occasion that it is illegal to operate a car on public roads/hwys, etc, wearing a helmet, but no one that made this claim that I have encountered had any references to support this. So, do you or anyone else reading know if it is illegal? Even if it were not specifically prohibited in a vehicle code or traffic safety laws, I imagine it could fall under a number of laws in which the citing LEO has discretion to interpret an act as violating such a law. For example, anti-stunting laws, or laws that prohibit exhibitions of speed, or maybe ones that cause excessive distraction of other motorists (if there is such a law). Plus, if one were pulled over for some infraction or another, and was wearing a helmet while driving a car, it could be a little trickier than usual to attempt to talk one's way out of that speeding ticket! [sm=oopssign.gif]

 

Careful now, you can open carry a firearm without a permit. Which means a portion of the holstered weapon has to be plainly visible. If you conceal the weapon on or about your person then you must have a permit and no, a fanny pack does not constitute a holster even though some are designed to be just that. In AZ you need to have apermit to carry if you carry concealed. Just don't want to see you dragged off to the verticle bar hotel.

Check out the AZ law here: http://www.packing.org/state/arizona/

 

Just a little side note, something that struck me as interesting and possibly relevant: there is a recent study that is reportedly to be published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, showing that drivers "apparently view helmetless [bicycle] riders as less reliable and more at risk, so drivers are more cautious when passing them." In this study, drivers passed a helmeted bicyclist on average 3.5" closer than they did a non-helmeted cyclist. Based on this data, it appears that cyclists are in more danger of being hit by a driver when they wear helmets.

 

Bill...as with most things what works for one may not work for the other. I will admit that you may be able to see better (but not by much...just means I have to turn my head more often) but at least for me I don't get the hearing thing. The times I've ridden mine for any amount of time without a helmet I had a terrible roar in my ears when I stopped. Again, as adults I think we should have a choice. I may not understand the guy going down the road in shorts, tank top and no helmet but I defend his right to do so.

Gary

 

To each his own. I can see better to the sides, I can hear things around me better. and I am more comfortable not having 5 lbs of weight and stress on my neck and head. Unless it is a full face, which really restricts hearing and sight, you also have the force of the wind pulling on the helmet all the time. In the heat, the helmet also holds in body heat, which is normally lost through the head.

I am glad you find the helmet more comfortable than without. I just haven't got there yet.

Regards,

Bill

 

Well.here we go again! Personally,although i may someday regret it, i do not wear a helmet. I tried a 3/4 w faceshield and absolutely hated it.....couldn.t see or hear...like being inside a fishbowl. it also steamed up when i stopped. I am considering trying a 1/2 helmet this season....despite hearing from some that they are worthless in a crash. Also...i can't imagine how the wind noise would be worse with the 1/2 than with none at all...and really the wind noise without seldom bothers me....i play a guitar through a Marshall so whats a little wind?

 

I was forced to wear a helmet when I got my first bike (was under age and mom insisted if I wanted to ride ) so I would put in on and go around the corner and take it off. Then a friend I knew was at lake berryessa (napa county, ca) and a deer jumped out on top of him, by the time the bike stopped skiding and him too he got up minus half the helmet and minus 1/2 an ear too. Last time I knew he still had the helmet 25 + years later. So I do wear a helmet since that happened to him back then.
But thats just me, In the cities I dont like to wear them but on the open road I do.