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
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
- 947 Views
Kinda undermines his protest
*NM*
05/07/2011 09:01:50 PM
- 278 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
- 607 Views
New York feels that people should have to wear helmets for their own safety
05/07/2011 11:20:36 PM
- 580 Views
He felt his own safety was his own concern.
06/07/2011 12:07:05 AM
- 511 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
- 663 Views
The same people who pay for everyone else whose actions render them vegetables.
06/07/2011 01:50:20 AM
- 785 Views
Maybe a more effective argument you could use against me would be pointing out
06/07/2011 02:33:21 AM
- 573 Views
what a fricking idiot
05/07/2011 10:02:17 PM
- 740 Views
That's your opinion to which you're entitled.
05/07/2011 11:19:36 PM
- 996 Views
Anarchy, baby! *NM*
06/07/2011 12:58:23 AM
- 495 Views
Sorry, as an advocate of civil rights (which especially includes minorities) I oppose anarchy.
06/07/2011 01:18:19 AM
- 665 Views
The public's nose is on the line here too.
06/07/2011 01:47:08 AM
- 705 Views
So my increased ease of hearing/seeing vehicles and other hazards isn't worth $1200.
06/07/2011 02:25:53 AM
- 721 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
- 827 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
- 677 Views
you keep spreading falsehoods, stop it please
06/07/2011 02:49:01 AM
- 850 Views
Sounds like your real argument is with the other bikers; I'm just reiterating their arguments.
06/07/2011 03:38:39 AM
- 775 Views
Uh Joel...
06/07/2011 03:38:24 AM
- 603 Views
Agreed, having others in the car does make a difference.
06/07/2011 03:47:53 AM
- 682 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
- 653 Views

Depends on whether the driver, rather than the law, is the one insisting.
06/07/2011 08:06:24 PM
- 521 Views
You'd place your own comfort over other people's safety?
06/07/2011 11:37:00 PM
- 558 Views
It's more a comfort issue than anything else; it's not solely one.
06/07/2011 11:56:28 PM
- 1036 Views
Hold the phone here...
06/07/2011 07:49:10 PM
- 961 Views
+1 *NM*
06/07/2011 08:42:14 PM
- 344 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
- 682 Views
im not bringing abortion into this, its a separate issue *NM*
06/07/2011 10:56:17 PM
- 335 Views
It's really not.
07/07/2011 12:20:10 AM
- 710 Views
i'm really not
07/07/2011 03:34:23 PM
- 788 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
- 750 Views
Holding the phone here might be good, yes....
06/07/2011 10:33:46 PM
- 777 Views

See...that's the difference between you and me
06/07/2011 10:56:53 PM
- 866 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
- 843 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
- 531 Views
why not just ban motorcycles all together, they are much more dangerous than cars
06/07/2011 05:39:51 PM
- 541 Views
Helmets help save lives. 'Onest.
07/07/2011 04:40:42 PM
- 709 Views
So do not smoking, eating right and regular exercise, but we haven't made them mandatory.
09/07/2011 11:04:58 AM
- 714 Views