Lords of Death Forums Lords of Death Forums LoD General Discussion Big Ben Crashes his bike.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5687558?GT1=8297

i didnt wear one cuz it was anti pussy. but with all the money he gets he can get pussy in a bath tub full of bills

if his life is worth more than yours because he has money, why don't you just become his fucking man-servant?
wearing a helmet on a motorcycle is common sense no matter how much loot you bring in.

I have been a long time motorcycle advocate and also a long time advocate against mandated helmet laws. It is my contention that, unlike seatbelts, there is no statistically sound data that validates the belief that helmets save lives and/or serious injury and thus save taxpayer money. To the best of my knowledge, the following is true:

• In comparisons to states with motorcycle helmet laws vs. states without, there was not a statistically significant difference in fatality rates per 1000 motorcycle accidents.
• In a similar comparison, states with helmet laws show a signifcantly higher % of serious neck injuries to motorcyclists involved in accidents as compared to states without helmet laws; this difference is presumably because most people do not have necks like Brick and the extra 5 lb helmet contributes to the "whiplash" effect in an accident.
• The best motorcycle helmets in the world are rated for maximum direct-impact of up to 15 MPH; at speeds greater than 15 MPH the helmet simply makes clean-up easier because the mess stays in the bucket;
• The single largest cause of fatality motorcycle accidents is that automobile drivers in the US are incompetent and do not thoroughly check their blind spots for motorcyclists.
• The second largest cause of fatality motorcycle accidents is that the standard required for obtaining a motorcycle licsense is too low and many riders, especially younger riders, lack sufficient experience on the vehicle.
• Sadly, it is exactly this type of rider (younger, less exeperienced) that gains a false sense of invulnerability when donning a motorcycle helmet. This false sense of invulnerability leads directly to execution of stupid fucking shit (eg - the asshole I saw doing a wheelie at 80 MPH yesterday and running into a center divider).
• Also, many riders discount the effects of a motorcycle helmet with regards peripheral vision impairment, hearing impairment, and tacticle sense of speed (wind upon face) which contributes towards accidents.

So Murd... I respect your opinions normally, but obviously we are not on the same page here. Care to make an argument?
Moose

sure. i don't know why people need be advocates for no helmet laws. maybe you believe in herd-thinning? rothlisberger broke his nose and his jaw (those are the injuries listed in the article on cnn.com) -- im pretty damn sure a helmet would have protected him better than his caveman-like skull. i almost feel silly arguing this shit...
- statistics my ass. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that a helmet will at LEAST save some serious road rash on the dome. ya know, sometimes dying isn't the worst thing that can happen to a person.
- i could see that. maybe they should be wearing neck braces too?
- ok, what about wrecks at <15mph? theres an assload of 'em.
- exactly, i have no doubt that you/rothlisberger/evil knevil are good drivers...its the other nimrods. thats why it becomes "common sense".
- makes sense, but whats that have to do w/helmets being a part of driving a motorcycle w/common sense?
- im sure the idiocy of motorcycle dickwads knows no bounds (helmet or otherwise)
- its called training w/your gear. shooting an m-16 w/a gas mask is hard...unless you train.
maybe these people need the freedom, and the wind blowing through their fabio hair...but i think everyone should be made to wear a helmet. its no secret that driving a motorcyle is a risk -- why increase that risk?

Just curious, what do you ride Moose?

NT

I couldnt disagree with you more about the importance of helmets. here is a little long, but nice article about helmets, the dot, ece, and snell standards... maybe you are familiar with them, maybe youre not, but here it is anyway:
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/
I'll spare you the reading, but here is a excerpt that I found very interesting that I would like to call your attention to:

Furthermore, I can state from personal experience that when I went riding with my friend, he had one of those stupid half shell novelty helmets on (he rides a harley). I insisted that if he was going to go riding with me, that he wear a full face DOT/SNell helmet, and since I wouldnt stop bitching about him not wearing a full face, he finally conceded ( although he complained about impairing his vision, etc etc, the same stuff you are saying) and decided to wear my spare helmet ( it fit him quit well, actually).
Long story short, he crashed that day on ortega because of some rock that was in the middle of the road, and here is what happend to my helmet that I loaned him...

He wasnt speeding, he was actually going around a curve around 30 mph and didnt see the rock that clipped his front tire. You may try to make the argument that the helmet impaired his vision, etc., but he did say flat out to me " i had no fucking clue what hit me, and didnt see the rock until after I crashed".
Snell /DOT helmet $160.00
Costs of Crashing your Harley: $6000
Still having your face at the end of the day: Priceless.

Personally I culd care less if someone is stupid enough to ride with out a helmet and the law should not force them to. But the law should require a helmet if you are to recieve any type of medical attention or payment for medical attention by the government for an injury sustained while riding without a helmet.
If you have motorcycle insurance and health issurance that will cover your medical bills (issurance companies requiring helmets for medical bills to be paid would be a good idea as well), then more power to you.

I believe, and I think the founding fathers of this country would probably agree, that life doesn't need to be legislated in every particular detail.
You are right - sometimes dying isn't the worst thing that can happen to a person. I met a guy once at a bike rally in So.Cal. in the late 80's. Paralyzed from the neck down. It happened because he crashed with a full-faced lid on. He had some very minor injuries (broken hand, road rash, etc.) but was knocked unconscious (sp?); he was not breathing because his tongue was logged in his throat. The "good samaritan" on the scene tried to help him by removing his full-face helmet in order to provide cpr. What the "good samaritan" did not know was this - his neck was traumatized from the accident. In attempting to remove the helmet, the "good samaritan" ended up literally breaking the man's neck. I talked with that man - he would have preferred to die.
Myself, I wear a DOT-approved half-lid with a quick-release latch. Medical personnel can, if needed, easily remove my lid without causing additional unneeded trama to my person in doing so.
Living life is a risk bro. You step outside your front door, you increase your risk as compared to staying on your sofa. I believe in a minimalistic government and that government should legislate only when the evidence is overwhelmingly convincing that doing so is in the public good. In this particular case, I see no evidence of that.
Moose