Yep, same with motorcycles. The time I dumped mine I would have been creamed if I had been wearing a helmet. Car pulled out from a stop sign right in front of me in city traffic. If I had been wearing a helmet I would not have known there was a car just behind me to left and I would have swerved that way, right into him. Instead, I laid it down and slid into the car in front of me, just like I was trained. Skinned the knee a bit but leather jacket and gloves did their job fine. Gave the asshole’s car door a few good kicks and rode away.
Some states are repealing their motorcycle helmet laws. They’re just not all they are cracked up to be. It’s my neck (head) and my kids; let us be. We don’t need no stinkin’ nanny laws. You are welcome to make your own decisions but where do you get off trying to make mine? :mad:
These threads always degenerate into dueling anecdotes. Frankly, it doesn’t matter how many accidents you personally have been in or witnessed or what the outcome was. I repeat: It DOES NOT MATTER. The statistics tell the true tale.
But this thread isn’t about whether wearing a helmet is a good idea or should be mandated. It is about why bike helmets became mainstream. People question whether soft sciences like Sociology can ever attain the level of certainty that is found in hard sciences like Physics. I don’t know, but I do know that one statement is always true of every society in every place and at every time without exception: The answer to the question “Why did society do X?” or “Why did X become popular [or mainstream]?” is NEVER “Because of sound statistical analysis.” Never. There must have been something else behind it.
While there might be some similarities regarding the issue of knowing how to fall, there’s basically no equating helmets on motorbikes with helmets on bicycles.
There are quite a few studies showing that motorcycle helmets, because of their size and weight and design, can sometimes interfere with a rider’s hearing, and with his or her peripheral vision. That simply isn’t true of bicycle helmets.
