Post up info from your state police traffic data

47 people died on Kentucky roadways during 2002 in accidents while on motorcycles while not wearing helmets.

42 people were riders.

5 people were passengers.

75% of motorcycle operators and passengers killed were not wearing helmets.



There were 1,450 collisions involving motorcycles in Kentucky during 2004.

Operators/Passengers Wearing Helmets

Operators Killed 23
Passengers Killed 2


Operators/Passengers NOT Wearing Helmets

Operators Killed 42
Passengers Killed 4


There were 1,300 collisions involving motorcycles in Kentucky during 2003.

Operators/Passengers Wearing Helmets

Operators Killed 21
Passengers Killed 2
Operators/Passengers NOT Wearing Helmets

Operators Killed 47
Passengers Killed 5


Seems like its a good idea to wear a helmet. Seeing as the little head beanies qualify the same as a full face, imagine what the data would shoe if the helmet use was broken down to show full, 3/4, half, novelty.

Just a thought i had while reading this post....I just typed what came to mind, it might not make sense.

Everyone knows that riding a motorcycle is dangerous. So is smoking, driving a car, and flying in an airplane. Like you said those numbers dont take into consideration, what type of helmet they were wearing, if they were acting stupid or not (stunting or racing), or just plain not paying attention. It also doesn't say it was the fault of the driver of the car or not. Which in that case you probly couldn't have done much avoid it anyway. I have seen people riding with me that have t-boned a car because the car ran the red light. The only chance we have to get our numbers down is to wear gear and act as if everyone on the road is out to hit us. It sounds bad when you think about it. Some people might even quit riding for a few days after reading this. But, the numbers don't lie and there isn't too much we can do to help the squids. So I just get through the day one ride at a time and i don't worry about all the people that killed each day on motorcycles. I just, to the best of my abilities, try to make sure I dont get hurt or worse. All we can do is hold on and ride. Life is way too short for me to worry about me getting killed on the bike. I figured if i live to see grandkids I can tell tham about the time I got highsided off a bike at 60MPH on the on-ramp to highway 45. That was a bad night.




Have fun and be safe!

Oh heck man, I didnt mean it like that.
I know the risk is there. I am just all for ways to reduce it.
What I get out of it is, if 75% of the killed riders were not wearing a helmet, and I do were a helmet I have reduced my risk of death by 75%. I am just really looking for ways to be relitively safe and have fun on my bike.

I know there is sometimes nothing we can do. It is very very very rare though.
I cover my brake at all times.
Coming up on intersections I do as Mr. Hough reccomends. Light pressure on the front brake, barely transfering wieght to the front tire, barely heating the rotors and pads, removing the reaction time to grab the brake for the guy that runs that red light.
I dont expect to be able to stop. I expect to be able to have the maximum available amount of time decelerating. Reducing my impact force at the square of velocity. THAT is HUGE!!! Mass x velocity squared.
I am completely disgusted with the guys I meet, riding with no gear, no training, and that say well if its my time to go, its my time to go. Its freaking bull crap.
Rant off. LOL

In Canada we do not have the choice, you have to wear a helmet it's the law. I would not get on a bike with out one, it's just stupid not to wear one.
Remember it's not about if you crash it's about when you crash.

LOL......I tend to rant everywhere i go. I guess its just part of my charming personality. It would be nice to make everyone 75% safer, but I guess all we can do is post numbers and hope they listen. I'm sorry if it sounded mean or anything like that. I just get angry thinking about all the people that could have been saved if they would have put on a helmet. And i am really glad to see someone putting forth the effort to gather info on the subject.

Before this turns into another rant..lol..I will say that eveyone should read the post and take it into consideration the next time they swing their leg over their bike.


Thank you for the info. It is appreciated.






P.S. Anybody living in the Houston area should contact me. There is a HUGE motorcycle drag race competition in Angleton this SATURDAY.

re-pete said:

In Canada we do not have the choice, you have to wear a helmet it's the law. I would not get on a bike with out one, it's just stupid not to wear one.
Remember it's not about if you crash it's about when you crash.

Click to expand...

Forget about the crashing - Some of the bugs that hit my face shield are enough to keep a full face helmet on anybody.

I can't imagine taking one of those suckers in the face at 70+ mph!

And I've been to Alabama, some of the insects in the South are like pre-historic creatures!

But seriously, I would either be dead or a vegetable right now if I had not been wearing a full face helmet during my crash. :Sport:

wrightme43 said:

Oh heck man, I didnt mean it like that.
I know the risk is there. I am just all for ways to reduce it.
What I get out of it is, if 75% of the killed riders were not wearing a helmet, and I do were a helmet I have reduced my risk of death by 75%. I am just really looking for ways to be relitively safe and have fun on my bike.

I know there is sometimes nothing we can do. It is very very very rare though.
I cover my brake at all times.
Coming up on intersections I do as Mr. Hough reccomends. Light pressure on the front brake, barely transfering wieght to the front tire, barely heating the rotors and pads, removing the reaction time to grab the brake for the guy that runs that red light.
I dont expect to be able to stop. I expect to be able to have the maximum available amount of time decelerating. Reducing my impact force at the square of velocity. THAT is HUGE!!! Mass x velocity squared.
I am completely disgusted with the guys I meet, riding with no gear, no training, and that say well if its my time to go, its my time to go. Its freaking bull crap.
Rant off. LOL

Click to expand...

Man I love the idea of having made us all 75% safer its a nice way to look at it. Helmets are mandatory in UK. I have five years experience working in ER. Firstly I have seen many more dead car drivers than bike riders (I know there is less of us, but I like that thought, and I use it to remind colleagues when they start going on about how dangerous bikes are). I have only seen a few terminal head injuries from motorcycle crashes and it doesn’t matter whose fault it was. Dead is dead. Unfortunately the majority of fatalities in my experience die from the de-acceleration and have massive internal injuries. No helmet in the world is going to stop that. It’s not the falling off that kills it’s the stopping. You see the Moto gp guys flying off all the time and walking away. I saw a very young man come off a trial bike no helmet or protective gear doing 20 mph. DOA lacerated liver. As you say defensive riding is the key. The one thing I can conclusively state though is this. The motorcyclists wear protective gear, often fair far better than those who don’t. However, we live in a democracy which means we have the right to make good decisions and the right to make plain arse stupid ones. It’s of no consolation to a grieving relative to say I told you so. We all make bad decisions let’s just arm ourselves with the evidence and facts to make the right choices. I'm not normally a ranter, I do agree whole heartedly with all that’s been said in this thread. Excellent debate

Here in the states, decisions regarding to wear helmets are left to each state. Here in Nevada, you must wear a helmet, it's the law, there is no option. But again, it can just be about anykind of helmet as long it's a certified helmet. Funny thing that I have noticed more and more, being a tourist oriented city, I see many tourist renting and riding these street legal scooters around town wearing no helmets and no riding gear. Most of the time they are in shorts and sneakers, with passengers! I don't know how they get away with it. Harley rentals is a huge business here in LV too, but they equip the riders with a helmet if they don't have one.

VEGASRIDER

:rant: in CA. the helmet law is in effect also. (I don't have a good rant right now.... oh wait a minute... no its gone) LOL

Texas has a helmet law. I dont know how it is in other states or countries, but here all you have to do is get $10,000 worth of health insurance on yourself and you qualify for the no-helmet sticker that goes on your plate. If you do not have the sticker you will get a ticket ($50) for no helmet. I just wonder what is going through the mind of a person who goes out and buys $200 dollars a month in health insurance just to ride with no helmet. If you saved $200 dollars a month you could have a track ready race suit in 6 or 7 months.

Thats the thing here. I see one full face helmeted rider with no other gear for every 10-20 with no gear at all. I see one full face helmet, and full geared rider for every 100 or so other riders I see.

Our law is under 21 must wear a helmet but its only a ticket if you dont, and they dont enforce it.
I constantly look for geared and helmeted riders. It is so rare to see one here, and if you do most of them are not from here only driving thru or visiting.

I see the Goldwing folk here, they have on 3/4 helmets with the boom mikes. I see the hardly dawdleson folk, with do rags and vests.

Most impacts are in the left and right chin area of your face.
I know I am wierd. If I were jumping out of planes I would make sure I had the best parachute and practice available.
Same with this.
I hope I havent offended anyone with this. It is not meant to be mean or rude. I really just want to share why I think gear and helmets are wise.

My friend with FOUR beautiful children rides no gear, no helmet, and tells me, I swear this a exact quote. "I dont plan on wrecking."
WTF? OVER.

wrightme43 said:

My friend with FOUR beautiful children rides no gear, no helmet, and tells me, I swear this a exact quote. "I dont plan on wrecking."
WTF? OVER.

Click to expand...

There is a word for this line of thinking - DENIAL!!!

There is also a saying for this line of thinking - "You can't help those that won't help themselves."

Let's hope your friend doesn't have to attend the school of hard knocks and learn any lessons! :banghead:

Ohio only requires eye protection. I have never riden without a helmet. I've riden once without my jacket and gloves. It didn't appear to be any cooler without the jacket and I felt like I was going to lose my grip with out the gloves. Back to the original post, were there any statistics regarding the accidents and BAC of the individuals riding? When I took the MSF class there was a rediculous percentage of accidents that involved alcohol.

I read it somewhere else, but yeah its like 45-50% of the fatality statisics are over the legal .08 limit, and another chunk have some drug or alcohol in the system.
I dont drink or drug, so there goes another big chunk of the risk of this sport as well.

I sure do wish I knew how to compile the statistics for always full gear, always sober riders that practice avoidance manuevers, and pay attention. LOL

wrightme43 said:

I sure do wish I knew how to compile the statistics for always full gear, always sober riders that practice avoidance manuevers, and pay attention. LOL

Click to expand...

Your numbers wouldnt be that high...:thumbup:
They (people making statistics) dont want to show you that motorcycling in the proper gear and obeying the laws has a profound affect on the riders. They just want to show that it is deadly. I would like to see the statistics of all the Hardley Davidson riders that leave a bar intoxicated. Those are some numbers to look at.


Be Safe Everyone!!!!!!

wrightme43 said:

Thats the thing here. I see one full face helmeted rider with no other gear for every 10-20 with no gear at all. I see one full face helmet, and full geared rider for every 100 or so other riders I see.

Our law is under 21 must wear a helmet but its only a ticket if you dont, and they dont enforce it.
I constantly look for geared and helmeted riders. It is so rare to see one here, and if you do most of them are not from here only driving thru or visiting.

I see the Goldwing folk here, they have on 3/4 helmets with the boom mikes. I see the hardly dawdleson folk, with do rags and vests.

Most impacts are in the left and right chin area of your face.
I know I am wierd. If I were jumping out of planes I would make sure I had the best parachute and practice available.
Same with this.
I hope I havent offended anyone with this. It is not meant to be mean or rude. I really just want to share why I think gear and helmets are wise.

My friend with FOUR beautiful children rides no gear, no helmet, and tells me, I swear this a exact quote. "I dont plan on wrecking."
WTF? OVER.

Click to expand...

Mate parachute helmets arn't full face you could start a trend. I think that there is a big assumption hear that its head injuries that are doing the killing. Thats not the case at all. if some one wants to wear an open face helmet at least thay are wearing something. The guys who ride whilst intoxicated are plain stupid and genrally end up dead protected or not.

Hi Mate,
I have done some digging, I can only access the road traffic stats for 2002 and earlier for the uk. There is between a 6-8% increase year on year. These stats are 2002. Unfortunatley they are not broken down into helmets worn or not. However they are all from the public highway so we can figure that they are wearing helmets.
609 Motorcyclist killed
7,500 severly injured
28,353 total accidents

gmickey2001 said:

There is a word for this line of thinking - DENIAL!!!

There is also a saying for this line of thinking - "You can't help those that won't help themselves."

Let's hope your friend doesn't have to attend the school of hard knocks and learn any lessons! :banghead:

Click to expand...

Let's hope his widow & children don't have to attend Daddies funeral!

sobering posts!

I wear a snell, dot approved helmet. Gloves, steel toe'd leather boots, with slip resistant soles ankle high. Joe Rocket kevlar/padded jacket, and levi's. Although i'm thinking of getting riding pants or at least rump and knee pads. I hope I am geared well enough. Riding really fast and jack rabbit starts are what will get you. If you go at the speed of traffic, try to use the cars to the left and right of you, and that means trying to ride in the center lane, if available, shield yourself. Look at folks in the eye. honk your damn horn, thats why its there. Flash those headlights. Own the road. Man, if your being careful and safe, you still cant stop fate, or destiny or whatever. Your time is your time, but you can mitigate it by being safe, not foolish. If your doing 40 around a 25 mph twistie, and your going around that, can you honestly say you can see the gravel in the road, or the drunk driver in your lane? SLOW THE F$%K DOWN. Thats the secret to many long years of riding.