Elaine

I just read another article dealing with the safety of wearing a helmet. It spoke of the controversy surrounding helmet use since many riders who wear helmets die in a crash. In the past year Ive read several articles that spit out statistics one after the other either supporting the position that helmets keep you safer or refuting it.

Are we serious about this?

Crashing is an event that is almost always the culmination of several factors. We overthink this whole helmet issue because the obvious benefits of wearing a helmet get obfuscated by what caused the crash or fatality. Of course its safer to wear a helmet than not. Does wearing a helmet mean you wont die or get injured in a crash? No. There are many factors that contribute to the severity of a crash; but if you have any doubt that its safer to wear a helmet than not, than I challenge you to conduct the following experiment:

If you dont wear a helmet, borrow one and put it on. Now give a buddy a hammer and have him hit you on the helmet with about the same force hed use to drive a nail into a two by four. Now take the helmet off and have him do it again. Whats that? You stop him before he gets a chance to hit you? How come? I thought your position was that helmets dont really do that much to protect you?

And as for the full face versus open face debate: get out the belt sander and have him take that to your unprotected nose. Sounds gross doesnt it? Im sure sliding 150 feet on your face across the pavement would be too.

You get the point (I hope). Statistics can be argued over and over again. How helmets can be made even safer can be argued. What cant be argued is that it doesnt hurt nearly as much to get hit on the head with a hammer when youre wearing a helmet.

Use your head. Gear Up! Ride Safe!

Gordon Simmons is a motorcycle enthusiast and owner of Gordo's Motorcycle Gear http://www.gordosgear.com Gordon believes in safe riding and responsible motorcycling.