Protect us from ourselves

Feds urge states to require helmet

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday urged all states to enact laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets in an effort to stem a steady rise in rider deaths.

Although the move was praised by the top traffic safety official in Kansas -- where only riders under 18 are required to wear helmets -- it was not expected to be popular among the state's adult motorcyclists.

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We, the hard headed fools that choose not to wear helmets while riding, need people that have never sat on a bike to control how we live. Please, please throw useless statistics at me to convince me of my stupidity. Federal Government, SAVE ME FROM MYSELF!

Now that I have the sarcasm out of my system, let us do some story telling.

My husband and I with two of our children, were driving down the highway. I was pregnant with our 3rd son. We came to an on ramp and had to slow because of a sand truck that was determined to cut us off. Next to us a man was riding a dresser. His helmet boasted of DOT. The sand truck switch lanes, and pushed the rider off into the sand on the shoulder. The rider had two choices, go under the truck for certain death or try his luck on the median. He hit an orange construction barrel and was thrown. The first time he struck the pavement, the strap on his DOT certified helmet broke and flew off. {DOT only tests with impact of 13 MPH} He rolled and slide into the grass. We pulled off, and I ran across the highway, while my husband took off in the car to catch the driver. I stayed with the biker, keeping him talking, while we waited for the ambulance. Nice guy, insurance rep. He cussed a bit. He said he only wore a helmet because of his wife. He didn't believe they saved lives. He laughed a bit when I told him the strap was broke. The truck driver asked my husband "did I hit him" before my husband had a chance to tell him why he was being chased down.

My husband and I were sitting at home when the phone rang, a close friend had been killed. He was at an intersection, his light changed and he rode through, he had the right of way. Yet a woman on a cell phone didn't see him, nor saw the light, she struck him as he crossed, and ran over his chest. He was not wearing a helmet.

An acquaintance of ours was riding down a highway, when he was pushed off the road and hit a concrete barrier. He died instantly, he was wearing a helmet.

We lose friends, but not by the choice of helmet. We lose them because of other drivers. None that we know, that have been hurt, have been found at fault.

You may throw statistics at me, you may tell me that deaths have risen, but do not leave out the fact that there are more motorcyclists on the road then every before. Do not leave out the statics that claim who was at fault. These statics are vital if you wish to be honest.

The choice of not wearing a helmet is definitely a personal one. Some helmets restrict vision, most helmets are poorly constructed. And some people have seen death too many times to justify wearing something that doesn't work.

Our choice to not wear one comes with a medical background. One saved lives, while the other found how they died. Riders who do impact their head while wearing a helmet are more likely to suffer closed head trauma. With no place for the pressure to escape like with a skull fracture, death follows. Wearing a helmet also puts you at risk for a neck break, as when a rider slides, the helmet can catch on the pavement/sidewalk. Of course there is the other side of it, bouncing your head against the pavement can result in the same thing. And that is the point. It is the same.

One can not say that people without helmets are uneducated. We know the risks, we have seen the aftermath of both the helmeted rider and helmet-less. The out come of being hit by someone that doesn't care, or doesn't look for you, is the same. Motorcycle education should be required for everyone. There are idiot drivers on both sides. Those that ride fast in and out of traffic placing themselves and others at risk should have their motorcycle license stripped. Cages that kill should get more than a $70 fine.

There is a happy medium in here, somewhere. It is up to us all to find it and not name call and rush to judgment about ones choices.