USA Motorcycle deaths on the rise

[mxgolf]

Warm weather helps drive surge in motorcycle deaths - Open Channel

Interesting what the no helmet laws have done for motorcycle fatalities! UP and UP. ATGATT!

 

[ArmyOfDarkness]

Warm weather helps drive surge in motorcycle deaths - Open Channel

Interesting what the no helmet laws have done for motorcycle fatalities! UP and UP. ATGATT!

Exhibit A for why I told the salesperson at the dealership, "I don't care how much it costs, I want the safest helmet you have."

 

[outasight20]

Every year these same articles pop up as the weather warms up. Of course more people are going to crash and die as more people are out riding. The majority of these people are squids wearing no gear, on a far too powerful bike, with no training, and/or alcohol in their system. The other day I saw two guys on an R1 and R6 wearing flip flops, shorts, no shirt, no helmet, and sunglasses. They were literally riding in circles around the most crowded part of college town looking at girls and revving their engines. I overheard one of them yell to the other "We are so ON right now!" at a stoplight. They are so on the hospital or death bed, he should have added.

 

[dpaul007]

There's still snow on the ground here. And there have been at least two deaths in the area that I know about in the past month or so. This weekend is supposed to finally hit 70, first time since last year, so everyone and their mothers will have their bikes out.

 

[PFD023]

Every year these same articles pop up as the weather warms up. Of course more people are going to crash and die as more people are out riding. The majority of these people are squids wearing no gear, on a far too powerful bike, with no training, and/or alcohol in their system. The other day I saw two guys on an R1 and R6 wearing flip flops, shorts, no shirt, no helmet, and sunglasses. They were literally riding in circles around the most crowded part of college town looking at girls and revving their engines. I overheard one of them yell to the other "We are so ON right now!" at a stoplight. They are so on the hospital or death bed, he should have added.

Just came back from 2 weeks in Florida.....my ass was puckered the whole time watching 90% of the riders wearing either no helmet with tank top/shorts/flip flops or the other 9% wearing a helmet with tank top/shorts/flip flops....>ALTHOUGH I did see a couple on a Beemer wearing full leathers and helmets in the 90 plus temps....good for them.

 

[GTPAddict]

Good info there on fatalities by state

http://exchange.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Motorcycle-Fatalities-by-State.pdf

 

[SweaterDude]

Exhibit A for why I told the salesperson at the dealership, "I don't care how much it costs, I want the safest helmet you have."

the safest helmet is the one that fits right. anything else is just comfort/venting/paint scheme. assuming its a halfway decent helmet in the first place. shoei vs. arai vs. shark vs. bell etc. its all about what fits best.

 

[SweaterDude]

Just came back from 2 weeks in Florida.....my ass was puckered the whole time watching 90% of the riders wearing either no helmet with tank top/shorts/flip flops or the other 9% wearing a helmet with tank top/shorts/flip flops....>ALTHOUGH I did see a couple on a Beemer wearing full leathers and helmets in the 90 plus temps....good for them.

probably weren't from FL...

 

[PFD023]

probably weren't from FL...

you mean the couple on the Beemer....in fact you are absolutely correct!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Just came back from 2 weeks in Florida.....my ass was puckered the whole time watching 90% of the riders wearing either no helmet with tank top/shorts/flip flops or the other 9% wearing a helmet with tank top/shorts/flip flops....>ALTHOUGH I did see a couple on a Beemer wearing full leathers and helmets in the 90 plus temps....good for them.

And I bet a majority of them HD riders...(at least in SW Florida)

Its rare to see a helmet anymore down here. I laugh when I see a rider go around a simple corner (approx 15 MPH) with his FEET DOWN! Un-believable.

And yes, most BMer guys do were gear.

 

[Ssky0078]

Good info there on fatalities by state

http://exchange.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Motorcycle-Fatalities-by-State.pdf

You know the most telling thing is that the number of fatalities has remained relatively stable over the last 35 years, when the population has gone from roughly 3,000 fatalities per 215,000,000 in 1975 (0.0014 chance) to 4,500 fatalities in 300,000,000 in 2010 (0.0015 chance).

On top of that it says 1/3 motorcycle fatalities would have likely survived if the person was wearing a helmet.

and one of my favorites

"When motorcycles crash with other vehicles, the other vehicle driver usually violates the motorcyclist’s right-of-way (nHtSa, 2011b). "

Every year these same articles pop up as the weather warms up. Of course more people are going to crash and die as more people are out riding. The majority of these people are squids wearing no gear, on a far too powerful bike, with no training, and/or alcohol in their system. The other day I saw two guys on an R1 and R6 wearing flip flops, shorts, no shirt, no helmet, and sunglasses. They were literally riding in circles around the most crowded part of college town looking at girls and revving their engines. I overheard one of them yell to the other "We are so ON right now!" at a stoplight. They are so on the hospital or death bed, he should have added.

Were you down at ASU? I see those type of morons often around here.

 

[SweaterDude]

And I bet a majority of them HD riders...(at least in SW Florida)

Its rare to see a helmet anymore down here. I laugh when I see a rider go around a simple corner (approx 15 MPH) with his FEET DOWN! Un-believable.

And yes, most BMer guys do were gear.

there's not much of an adventure to be had in FL, so no too many ADV guys down there (compared to mountainous regions). but ADV guys in general, not just BMW, seem to "suit up."

here at school in PA there is no helmet law but generally people wear them here. 99% of guys without helmets are cruiser guys. dont think ive ever seen somebody without a helmet on anything else in this area... but even the cruiser guys (65%) seem to wear helmets.

to me the helmet laws are the equivalent of seat belt laws. seat belts are required in all states but helmets aren't... WHAT! the only reason i can think of is that seatbelts are standard equipment in all modern cars, but helmets are an added/outside purchase.

 

[ArmyOfDarkness]

the safest helmet is the one that fits right. anything else is just comfort/venting/paint scheme. assuming its a halfway decent helmet in the first place. shoei vs. arai vs. shark vs. bell etc. its all about what fits best.

Really? That helps me a bunch. Seriously, I am a complete newbie. I haven't got my helmet yet because I wanted to research all the brands. I have gotten nowhere in my research because everyone seems to have a different opinion on which one is "best." I don't care about "best," I care about SAFEST. Thank you for letting me know :thumbup:

 

[FinalImpact]

Really? That helps me a bunch. Seriously, I am a complete newbie. I haven't got my helmet yet because I wanted to research all the brands. I have gotten nowhere in my research because everyone seems to have a different opinion on which one is "best." I don't care about "best," I care about SAFEST. Thank you for letting me know :thumbup:

Any one piece shell that fits your skull like a glove with DOT/Snell approval is better than something cool that doesn't fit proper. Your cheeks will be deflated and forced up and P L E A S E get a full face helmet!!! No need to loose face on the road!


** For those of you with FACEPLANT (facebook) accounts - post a blurb about looking out for riders.... Maybe it will help one of us!!! **

 

[ArmyOfDarkness]

Any one piece shell that fits your skull like a glove with DOT/Snell approval is better than something cool that doesn't fit proper. Your cheeks will be deflated and forced up and P L E A S E get a full face helmet!!! No need to loose face on the road!


** For those of you with FACEPLANT (facebook) accounts - post a blurb about looking out for riders.... Maybe it will help one of us!!! **

Oh, I want the safest damn helmet. So it will be a full face helmet for sure. I don't understand why people wear those bowl helmets with the one chin strap. I wish Nebraska would make that illegal. That thing won't do $h** in a 40mph+ collision.

My life is pretty valuable to me, I gave myself a $3500 spending limit on my first bike purchase. $2300 for the bike, and I am willing to spend up to $1200 on the gear that will protect me if I ever meet the pavement. I am also buying a new backpack that is carbon fiber and supposedly protects the back/spine if I fall backwards. I always have a backpack on me with my almonds, gatorade, water, reading material, etc. So I want to have a safer backpack now.

 

[Yasko]

And yes, most BMer guys do were gear.

BMW makes(puts their name on ) some of the best gear you can buy.:rockon: I love my BMW City pants, and I wish I could afford the Bolder Jacket.:cheer:

 

[Botch]

Really? That helps me a bunch. Seriously, I am a complete newbie. I haven't got my helmet yet because I wanted to research all the brands. I have gotten nowhere in my research because everyone seems to have a different opinion on which one is "best." I don't care about "best," I care about SAFEST. Thank you for letting me know :thumbup:

Seriously, I don't think anyone, nor any organization, can determine a "best" helmet; there are just too many variables in any accident. Velocity of impact, angle of impact, point of impact, angle of neck, position of arms/body, rider tension, properties of impact point (dirt, concrete, asphalt, sheetmetal, glass, cow, etc). You could put a test dummy in the same helmet through the exact same crash parameters and you're going to have a statistical spread of "damage", even in controlled conditions.
There are a few facts you can accept: yes, an ECE or Snell rating is probably better than none; a helmet that's so uncomfortable doesn't help if you don't wear it (from your previous posts, AOD, I don't think that'll be an issue with you :thumbup:, just please grind off that point on your speedometer!).
I read an interesting article in one of the MC magazines last week about a new helmet technology wherein the outer shell "floated" on a gel substance in between it and the inner shell, so if you had a "glancing" blow to the head the outer shell rotated while the inner shell stayed relatively stable, cool!

 

[darius]

Really? That helps me a bunch. Seriously, I am a complete newbie. I haven't got my helmet yet because I wanted to research all the brands. I have gotten nowhere in my research because everyone seems to have a different opinion on which one is "best." I don't care about "best," I care about SAFEST. Thank you for letting me know :thumbup:

The extra money gets you features, quality and comfort. You will value these on the road as you get the miles in.

My experience (I bought one of each, moving up each time obviously):

Spend <$100 and you get a basic helmet, cheaply made with poor vents, flimsy parts that may break, will likely fog like crazy, be noisy at speed.

Spend ~$200 for a "midrange" helmet. Decent quality, better visor, vents, features like sun visor, likely moderately noisy.

Spend $300+ for a premium helmet. High quality, great vents, features like pinlock for fog free riding, quieter and maybe wind tunnel tested.

 

[Gelvatron]

I'd say find a brand that stands behind their product pay a bit more you get what you pay for, try on helmets find the brand that fits your head shape and most of all get one you will wear i had a scorpion exo 1100 nice helm and felt good but took a spill and bumped up to the shoei qwest it's 10 fold better just my experience

 

[Ssky0078]

First Snell approved Modular helmet

LS2 Introduces World’s First Snell-2010 Approved Modular Helmet

I think the important thing is that the helmet fit. I've crashed twice and only got a concussion from the poorer fitting helmet. The first crash was in a HJC CL-Max III helmet that after 1000 miles began to get loose as the padding broke in more than expected. I felt my head smack inside the helmet thus resulting in the concussion. My second crash was in an Arai Vector and the helmet fit much better, had better padding. No head injury symptoms because the helmet stayed put the whole time and absorbed the impact like it's supposed to.

The key for choosing a helmet is finding somewhere you can try them on. Try on all of them, even ones you don't like the look or color of because it will give you a better understanding of different fitment available. There are terms like Round Oval, Round, oval, intermediate oval, long oval, etc that are used to describe the way the inside of the helmet fits. Once you figure out your head shape compared to what people call round or oval, then you can better research helmets that may fit you to try on.
Motorcycle Helmet FAQ - webBikeWorld
When you get it down to 1 or 2 helmets that are in your budget and you can get a color/paint scheme you may like then go back to where you can try it on and ask to wear the helmet for 10 minutes. If you can keep the helmet on your head and take it off without any "hot spots" or points where the helmet created an uneven pressure on your head, then it is a good fit.

Good Luck AoD because I can tell you the helmet is one of the most important pieces of gear if not the most important piece of gear if it is the main thing stopping either death or becoming a vegetable.