I have a serious question for any motorcycle lovers that ride and dont wear helmets... WHY?? I have today, for what seems like the millionth time, had to watch someone die and a familys life destroyed b/c this person chose not to wear a helmet on his bike and flew headfirst into a wind shield. The Pt's brain was soooo swollen they couldnt even get the bone flap back on, or stich the dura back together....there was brain everywhere! Out the nose and Ears.. And then the pt's off the OR table only to die in PACU with a waiting room FULL of screaming crying family members..
I am not judging anyone, but rather trying to understand why someone would make the choice to not wear a helmet. Is it the feeling of freedom, or does the helmet restrict your head that much as to the point of discomfort?
I was told by someone (who had over 36 stitches in his head and on his face from a serious motorcycle accident...not to mention broken ribs, a broken leg, and arm as well)... that he would rather die on his bike from not wearing a helmet than survive from wearing one.
Yeah.. well great... because he survived (and wasn't wearing one) and it cost his family about 12-18 months of pure torture trying to care for him during his recovery.
And then there are those who don't die and never recover. It seemed totally selfish to me.
My best friend's husband lost his best friend (I walked down the isle with him at their wedding) from a traumatic head injury from a motorcycle accident. He wasn't wearing his helmet and he didn't have a scratch on the rest of his body.
I just don't understand it. It should be mandatory IMO.
What really frosted me when he got back was when I heard that they almost clipped a deer in the first 10 miles of their trip.
I was coming home one night with the kids in the car and I heard something hit the back of my car.... I looked out my rear view mirror and saw a bike (motorcycle) go flying by. I freaked.... I pulled over, ran out and the bike was lying in the ditch next to my car. Its wheels were spinning and the handlebars were off and the light was still on. It seems so surreal...
Anyway I started running up towards were the traffic had stopped thinking "Oh My God, I hit someone." I didn't know what had happened and as I was running towards him my feet felt like they were being sucked up by quicksand. I just couldn't get there...
Once I got to him, I realized what had happened. A deer clipped him (hard).... threw him off his bike and onto the median right onto his side.. (he had to be going about 55mph... that is the limit on that road and we were all going about that speed) The bike continued on and that is what hit me. The guy was lying there and some people had already covered him with a blanket (I thought he was dead)... but he wasn't. I held his hand and he said he could feel his feet but they were going numb... I'm not a nurse yet... I took that as a good sign, but I really didn't know.
I don't know what happened to him. I hope he is okay. But he did have his helmet on, he had on a jacket, jeans and gloves too. I know that his helmet saved his life. The deer was dead instantly.
I think it's very dangerous not to wear a motorcycle helmet - and cannot understand why Florida repealed the helmet law a few years ago (need for more donors?)
DeLana
P.S. Guilty of not wearing a bicycle helmet :imbar - but don't consider the risk even slightly comparable to that of not wearing a motorcycle helmet
we don't need more of a nanny state than there already is. i choose to ride my motorcycle without a helmet at times. we could all be hit by a bus tomorrow and frankly, it feels good to ride down the road without a helmet. my choice. i don't rage about laws for fat people to exercise. don't tread on me.
Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.
I think it's very dangerous not to wear a motorcycle helmet - and cannot understand why Florida repealed the helmet law a few years ago (need for more donors?)
DeLana
P.S. Guilty of not wearing a bicycle helmet :imbar - but don't consider the risk even slightly comparable to that of not wearing a motorcycle helmet
Nah, I believe they did it because they listen to those that were selling the personal choice line. I had a friend, whose boyfriend has an accident on his motor cycle. He was life flighted to a Level 1 trauma center. Several days later, when they found out he had no insurance, he was discharge with a cast on his leg and foot, back to our community. Florida's big on personal freedoms and responsibility. And very poor on providing care to those that can't afford it, after they have their accident.
Ah, thats the answer when we hurt ourselves doing something then make whatever safety items available (whether or not they work) mandatory!
Very soon in our society it will be illegal to do anything where potential harm to ourselves could occur. For example: Forget about those special moments that everyone remembers when our parents took the training wheels off our bicycles....no way...new law...no one without training wheels and we don't care how old you are...one could get hurt at any age...that scraped knee could get infected and then you would become a burden on society especially if you don't have insurance!
Forget about walking down the street, trip and fall and you could end up in the hospital.
What about doing ANYTHING in the privacy of your own home...everyone knows most accidents occur in the home...no way new law padded walls everywhere and no cooking, one could get burned.
I'll stop there, my point is where do you draw the line? Lets face it serious injury can and can occur anywhere and anytime...passing laws to protect us from ourselves is both a waste of time and money...instead of police catching real criminals they instead will be stuck at the side of the road writing a stupid ticket that usually in most states carries less than $100 fine. Not too mention that, the science has shown that even though you are less likely to suffer a head injury...you are more likely to suffer spinal injuries. The math speaks for itself, that at 30mph with a sudden stop that the head with a helmet on it weighs something like a couple of thousand pounds. Snap goes the neck! I am a motorcycle rider and I usually wear a helmet, I just don't think its the goverments business to intervene with this. If they really wanted to make a difference they would make anti lock brakes on bikes mandatory...a technology that has been shown to make a difference or more CAR operator education so they don't run over as many motorcyclist something else that has been shown to make a difference (Europe) Lets face it the motorcycle companies have more money to lobby then the private citizen so they won't be forced to make motorcycles safer. Reality check, how often do you think a motorcycle produced for the street needs to go 200mph? Or how about a motorcycle that travels 0-60 in 2.8 seconds and all politicians really want to do is pass things that sound good so they can get re-elected, doesn't matter if it works or not.
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.
Thanks to all for your responses....I am not saying it should be a law but I just fail to comprenhend people's reasons but oh well...Thanks for the input...
This is my take on the subject. I think you should be required by law to wear helmets and seat belts.
GilaRN..... not directed at YOU personally, but a comment in general.
What about wearing helmets WITH seatbelts in cars........think about the benefits there! Perhaps even impact mitigating garments? The DOT hould look into those options as possible requirements!
How I loathe the word "mandatory." Especially when mentioned in the same breath as "government" and/or "nationwide."
Where, exactly, does the "noble quest" of trying to protect everyone from everything in the world end? Why not just cut to the chase and outlaw the bikes themselves? Then, why would it stop there? Make it illegal to drive any type of vehicle. Now everyone walks. ("Yay" for Mother Earth!) But you can't go anywhere unless you have a "safety buddy" with you at all times and your iLocate device is firmly implanted in C6...
I don't see an end. Can anyone tell me where the logical end point would be?
People know the dangers. They choose not to wear helmets (or, in the case of cars, seatbelts). That is their body, their choice--for better or worse. (My uncle, for example, got the latter.)
The more national "standards" you get, the less choices you are allowed to make, the more the government mandates or initiates in order to "protect" you--especially from yourself--the more pointless life becomes. What is life but choices and risks? People will become, in effect, like those brain dead motorcyclists. (Except for the fact that they didn't have a choice in the matter.)
[Just for the record, I wear my seatbelt (and I would wear a helmet) because I choose to. Not because I have someone standing over my shoulder.]
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.
i don't rage about laws for fat people to exercise. don't tread on me.
does that even make sense??
i dont think the law should be mandatory and i agree the government has no business in our personal lives. i just dont understand the choiced people make i guess...that goes for all aspects in life, not just not wearing helmet....
as far as the 13 mph limit on helmet protection, heres some info..
"most motorcycle helmet standards use impacts at speeds between 4-7 m/s (9-16 mph) at first glance, this is confusing given that motorcyclists frequently ride at speeds higher than 20 m/s (45 mph). this confusion is relieved by understanding that the perpendicular impact speed of the helmet is usually not the same as the road speed of the motor cycle and that the severity of the impact is determined not only by the speed of the head but also by the nature of the surface it hits. for example, the surface of the road is almost parallel to the direction the motorcyclist moves in so only a small component of his velocity is directed perpendicular to the road while he is riding. of course, other surfaces are perpendicular to the motorcyclist's velocity, such as trees, walls and the sides of other vehicles. the other vital factor in determining the severity of an impact is the nature of the surface struck. the sheet metal wall of a car door may bend inwards to a depth of 7.5-10 cm (3-4 inch) during a helmeted head impact, meaning that it generates more stopping distance for the rider's head than the helmet itself. so a perpendicular impact against a flat steel anvil at 5 m/s (11 mph) might be about as severe as a 30 m/s (67 mph) oblique impact against a concrete surface or a 30 m/s perpendicular impact against a sheet metal car door or windscreen. overall, there is a very wide range of severity in the impacts that could conceivably happen in a motorcycle impact. some of these are more severe than the impacts used in the standard tests and some are less so.
the speeds are chosen based on modern knowledge of the human tolerance for head impact, which is by no means complete. it is possible to deduce how well the 'perfect' helmet would perform in an impact of a given severity. if currently available data suggest that the rider is unlikely to survive in such an impact, regardless of how well his helmet performs, then there is little point in demanding that helmets be optimized for this impact. on the other hand, if an impact is so mild that the rider is unlikely to be injured at all so long as he is wearing a helmet than that impact is not a demanding test. modern standards setters choose the severity of the standard test impact to be somewhere between these two extremes, so that manufacturers are doing their best to protect the riders who can be helped by their helmet during a head impact."
luvmy3kids
675 Posts
I was told by someone (who had over 36 stitches in his head and on his face from a serious motorcycle accident...not to mention broken ribs, a broken leg, and arm as well)... that he would rather die on his bike from not wearing a helmet than survive from wearing one.
Yeah.. well great... because he survived (and wasn't wearing one) and it cost his family about 12-18 months of pure torture trying to care for him during his recovery.
And then there are those who don't die and never recover. It seemed totally selfish to me.
My best friend's husband lost his best friend (I walked down the isle with him at their wedding) from a traumatic head injury from a motorcycle accident. He wasn't wearing his helmet and he didn't have a scratch on the rest of his body.
I just don't understand it. It should be mandatory IMO.