Telling a hardcore motorcyclist to put on a helmet is not unlike telling a football player to wear a helmet, none of them think that they need it and all of them are wrong. When someone comes up and wants to start quoting statistics about any subject that are unbelievably one-sided and based on logic you usually start to agree and change your tune. However, when many people start to argue about wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle and quote statistics, the dynamics change. The following is a short argument on why you should wear a helmet every time you get on your motorcycle.
While some will point out to you that motorcycle crash rates aren’t that much more frequent than automobile crash rates, these same people won’t bring up that death rates in the same accidents are almost 30 times larger with motorcycles. The reason isn’t because the motorcycle is evil and wants to kill you, it is simply because you aren’t in an enclosed area when the wreck begins and you are therefore hurtled many feet across a ridiculously hard surface. Which brings in the helmet, why would you want to jump out of a car going 75 miles per hour without a helmet? Then why would you do it on a motorcycle?
Many will tell you that a helmet can still be worn and the result of a crash be the death of the driver and those people would be absolutely right. The wearing of a helmet doesn’t guarantee that you will survive a wreck just as wearing a seatbelt doesn’t guarantee survival of a car wreck and wearing a gold band around your wrist won’t prevent cancer, but it will save you more often than not. In addition, it could save you big on medical costs, meaning that insurance companies know this and will let you save money on your premiums as well.
Some will try to provide enough of an argument against helmets based on reduced vision and increased neck injuries, but nothing has ever supported these arguments in studies, meaning there is effectively no argument.
