You can't tell me that a biker with his eyes behind a visor and his ears tucked in a helmet has as much road awareness as a bareheaded one, and the smaller and quicker the vehicle the easier it becomes to avoid accidents than survive them.
wrong and wrong. helmets are specifically designed *NOT* to restrict vision. even when i wear my full-face helmet with the visor down i still have my full peripheral as if i was wearing sunglasses. since it's perfectly acceptable that my vision is just fine when i'm wearing sunglasses behind the wheel of my car, why would my helmet cause me to be somehow incapable of seeing the road properly?
also, the limited hearing is a specious argument because of the fact that helmet or not, your hearing is not going to be any better or worse once you get up to speed. it's either the wind in your ears at 60mph or it's the wind in your ears at 60mph with a helmet on. i'd argue that roughly 70% of bikers who wear helmets wear open ones which do not cover your ears at all.
the questions of vision and hearing are the types of things the protesters of the original article like to spread to justify their lack of helmet use. i have no problem if someone wants to not wear a helmet, but to pretend that wearing a helmet is somehow *less* safe than not is incredibly disingenuous.
one more thing: the smaller and quicker your vehicle, the more likely you're going to lose traction when trying to make evasive moves to avoid accidents. there is no way around this fact because only having two wheels on the road makes you have terrible stability when you are not moving forward or sitting still.
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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman
"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman
This message last edited by moondog on 06/07/2011 at 02:50:51 AM
You can't make this stuff up: Helmet law protester dies in crash
05/07/2011 08:47:14 PM
- 1001 Views
Kinda undermines his protest
*NM*
05/07/2011 09:01:50 PM
- 299 Views

How so? He wasn't demanding the right to survive crashes when only a helmet makes that possible.
05/07/2011 11:06:44 PM
- 658 Views
New York feels that people should have to wear helmets for their own safety
05/07/2011 11:20:36 PM
- 624 Views
He felt his own safety was his own concern.
06/07/2011 12:07:05 AM
- 553 Views
Who do you think would have ended up paying for his care for the rest of his life if the accident
06/07/2011 01:08:49 AM
- 713 Views
The same people who pay for everyone else whose actions render them vegetables.
06/07/2011 01:50:20 AM
- 833 Views
Maybe a more effective argument you could use against me would be pointing out
06/07/2011 02:33:21 AM
- 622 Views
what a fricking idiot
05/07/2011 10:02:17 PM
- 791 Views
That's your opinion to which you're entitled.
05/07/2011 11:19:36 PM
- 1049 Views
Anarchy, baby! *NM*
06/07/2011 12:58:23 AM
- 516 Views
Sorry, as an advocate of civil rights (which especially includes minorities) I oppose anarchy.
06/07/2011 01:18:19 AM
- 714 Views
The public's nose is on the line here too.
06/07/2011 01:47:08 AM
- 754 Views
So my increased ease of hearing/seeing vehicles and other hazards isn't worth $1200.
06/07/2011 02:25:53 AM
- 768 Views
I understand the pov, I had a BF who felt that same way. It's still much like childish defiance.
06/07/2011 01:26:15 AM
- 949 Views
In part it's a matter of principle, but if we really want to analyze it there's some deeper validity
06/07/2011 02:13:05 AM
- 727 Views
you keep spreading falsehoods, stop it please
06/07/2011 02:49:01 AM
- 897 Views
Sounds like your real argument is with the other bikers; I'm just reiterating their arguments.
06/07/2011 03:38:39 AM
- 821 Views
Uh Joel...
06/07/2011 03:38:24 AM
- 659 Views
Agreed, having others in the car does make a difference.
06/07/2011 03:47:53 AM
- 731 Views
Hence why your "I wouldn't wear a seatbelt in the back seat" comment didn't make a lot of sense
06/07/2011 07:38:50 PM
- 699 Views

Depends on whether the driver, rather than the law, is the one insisting.
06/07/2011 08:06:24 PM
- 568 Views
You'd place your own comfort over other people's safety?
06/07/2011 11:37:00 PM
- 599 Views
It's more a comfort issue than anything else; it's not solely one.
06/07/2011 11:56:28 PM
- 1083 Views
Hold the phone here...
06/07/2011 07:49:10 PM
- 1029 Views
+1 *NM*
06/07/2011 08:42:14 PM
- 361 Views
You agree with him that the abortion debate is about a mothers convenience versus the babys life?
06/07/2011 10:48:52 PM
- 733 Views
im not bringing abortion into this, its a separate issue *NM*
06/07/2011 10:56:17 PM
- 355 Views
It's really not.
07/07/2011 12:20:10 AM
- 759 Views
i'm really not
07/07/2011 03:34:23 PM
- 833 Views
Fine as far as it goes, but public/private only matters to the extent others are affected.
09/07/2011 11:15:33 AM
- 802 Views
Holding the phone here might be good, yes....
06/07/2011 10:33:46 PM
- 818 Views

See...that's the difference between you and me
06/07/2011 10:56:53 PM
- 909 Views
Apparently so; "completely anarchy as long as its regulated to one's body" sounds nonsensical to me.
06/07/2011 11:44:50 PM
- 893 Views
I'm with Joel. I always buckle up/helmet up, but I think such laws are asinine
06/07/2011 02:30:04 AM
- 576 Views
why not just ban motorcycles all together, they are much more dangerous than cars
06/07/2011 05:39:51 PM
- 597 Views
Helmets help save lives. 'Onest.
07/07/2011 04:40:42 PM
- 757 Views
So do not smoking, eating right and regular exercise, but we haven't made them mandatory.
09/07/2011 11:04:58 AM
- 758 Views