A friend of mine who is admittedly accident prone decided to ride Mercer one day sans helmet, hit his head on low hanging branch, got knocked out for a while and woke up confused, bruised, and without his bike.
HOld the phone.
So your friend got knocked out cold. Laying in the middle of the woods and someone comes along and steals his bike??????????????
Dont think Mercer sounds like a very friendly place if you ask me
So what's all this then about statistics showing people who don't wear helmets have fewer injuries? I'm all for helmets but I can't reconcile that little detail.
A friend of mine who is admittedly accident prone decided to ride Mercer one day sans helmet, hit his head on low hanging branch, got knocked out for a while and woke up confused, bruised, and without his bike. He was out long enough for his bike to get stolen. Imagine if he had been riding somewhere with rocks and hills.
I have personally be saved from that guy's fate at least twice -- two low hanging branches got me -- one of those was just before a technical section in Mahlon. I was concentrating on the technical section coming up and WHAM! -- it was a rude stop on my bike, but I have no doubt I would have been seriously injured in at least one of those incidents.
Also, a buddy of mine would have been dead because he slide head first into a tree in Mahlon. He cracked his helmet, but he was okay.
I'm convinced they work!
I also agree that it shouldn't be mandated by the state -- motorcycle helmets nor seatbelts either -- however, your insurance company should have the right to be able to refuse any payment to you if you don't wear these devices unless you pay for a "non helmet" or "non seatbelt" option on your policy. The choice is still yours and so are the consequences.
So lemme get this straight... Somebody at Mercer came across your friend laying unconscious on the trail, and instead of calling for help, they stole his bike and left him for dead? :hmmm: It's not like Mercer County Park is in a bad neighborhood or anything. Bizarre.
One of my best riding buddies did an endo at Sourlands last week, came down hard and cracked his helmet on a rock. The styrofoam split and cracked just like its designed to. I would hate to see what that would have looked like unprotected.
One of my best riding buddies did an endo at Sourlands last week, came down hard and cracked his helmet on a rock. The styrofoam split and cracked just like its designed to. I would hate to see what that would have looked like unprotected.
Too funny, you can't make this stuff up...A friend of mine who is admittedly accident prone decided to ride Mercer one day sans helmet, hit his head on low hanging branch, got knocked out for a while and woke up confused, bruised, and without his bike. He was out long enough for his bike to get stolen. Imagine if he had been riding somewhere with rocks and hills.
I agree, as consumers, we shouldn't pay the price for people who can't prtect themselves from themselves..I also agree that it shouldn't be mandated by the state -- motorcycle helmets nor seatbelts either -- however, your insurance company should have the right to be able to refuse any payment to you if you don't wear these devices unless you pay for a "non helmet" or "non seatbelt" option on your policy. The choice is still yours and so are the consequences.
Reminds me of tone of the cases in, The Armchair Economist, where a case is made to put a large spike on everyone's steering wheel, as motivation to drive safer.Some would probably argue that if we didn't have a helmet we might pay more attention and not hit those branches and twigs in the first place.
Reminds me of tone of the cases in, The Armchair Economist, where a case is made to put a large spike on everyone's steering wheel, as motivation to drive safer.
Well it looks like I'm wearing the Devil's Advocate Hat today.
DA says: Would he have ridden as aggressively without the helmet?
I almost always wear a helmet. One of the rare times I didn't it probably saved my life. I was JRA when a stick jammed my front wheel and the timing was just so that I didn't get to react and landed on my face. My head bent back sharply and I heard/felt a sickening crunch in my neck. Next thing I knew I was on the ground thinking I might have a broken neck. I remember moving my legs and arms to see if they worked. After a minute or so I was able to sit up and knew I came very close to serious injury. I was OK, but the doc also thought I was amazingly lucky I hadn't broken my neck. I was even riding again in a week. IF I had been wearing a helmet I'm convinced I would have bent my head back further and snapped my neck. In this situation a helmet is a really bad thing to have on your head. It's funny, but that was the only time in months I rode without a helmet. I was just doing an easy loop at the Tourne for 30 minutes so I didn't bother. Lucky me.
It's also true that I ride more carefully when helmetless. While helmet use might not reduce injuries if some studies can be believed, I still wear one almost all the time.
I've also read that helmets increase neck injuries, and I believe it. There's my situation and the fact they can catch on something in a crash and increase the twisting forces on the neck.
I do get sick of people making it sound like it's a 100% win when wearing a helmet. Nothing is ever that simple.
bruce boysen
My brother says that about football. As the protection gets better & better, the guys hit harder & harder.
I do get sick of people making it sound like it's a 100% win when wearing a helmet. Nothing is ever that simple.