Biker dies in no helmet protest

[shrub]

How many who hit their head in a crash without a helmet are here to post the result?

Me. When I was 22 I often rode without a lid - let those who ride decide etc, and FTW, FTP and suchlike testosterone fuelled finger raising mindlessness. I had a very nice chopped CB750 that I had spent a hell of a lot of time and money on, and was at the Waihi Beach pub one night drinking tequila when someone said he knew where there was a party where there were nurses. So I set off looking for said party and the guy following me watched me miss a corner at around the ton and slam into an (er, this is where all shreds of cool evaporate) outside toilet.

I wasn't expected to make it to hospital alive, I had a fractured skull, broken back and more, but I survived. I was in hospital for 2 months and have lost those months and the month or so before the crash. Paradoxically it was the fractured skull that saved my life becuse it gave my brain room to swell and bleed etc.

[FJRider]

I wasn't talking about bike control, I was talking about risk control.

I wonder if HE counted his lack of rider skills as one of the risks he was taking ...

knowing ALL the risks seems to help with risk control ... not knowing the risks ... how can you be "in control"

[jazfender]

I wonder if HE counted his lack of rider skills as one of the risks he was taking ...

knowing ALL the risks seems to help with risk control ... not knowing the risks ... how can you be "in control"

Who says he didn't know "all the risks"?

Besides, you can't quantify that, so it's a moot point.

I mean if you're going to be a bitch, you might be hit by space junk from a satellite when you're out riding. Evasive fucking manoeuvre that one.

[Spearfish]

I don't think it matters what some stats say about helmets contribution to safety, or if helmets save lives, or if its full or open face, a German bellend, even a rag.
The bit that total undermines the protest was falling off and hitting his head killing himself and any protest msg. It just reinforces the fact that not only are bikers around 22 times more likely to die in a crash they are 22 times more likely to be farken stupid.
A protest like that isn't talking to other bikers its talking to legislating non bikers so you cant change someone's opinion of you by reinforcing it.

[jazfender]

The bit that total undermines the protest was falling off and hitting his head killing himself and any protest msg. It just reinforces the fact that not only are bikers around 22 times more likely to die in a crash they are 22 times more likely to be farken stupid.

What?

It only undermines it because he wasn't wearing a helmet and died. If he had worn a helmet and died it wouldn't be as bad for the protest.

[Spearfish]

What?

It only undermines it because he wasn't wearing a helmet and died. If he had worn a helmet and died it wouldn't be as bad for the protest.

Yep.

Because his audience couldn't say I told you so.

[davereid]

As for your comments re actual safety, they are plain inaccurate.

I did take the time to publish actual statistics.

While the Cochrane study tells us that we would expect a 42% decrease in deaths due to helmets, in fact the 5-year reality was an increase from 43 deaths before the introduction of helmets, to 130 after.

The Cochrane study claims to be valid. Maybe it is. I don't really care, as in fact I am likely to die of heart disease, suicide, prostate cancer, jealous husband or angry wife, way more than from a motorcycle crash.

The fact remains.

For no reason other than pleasure, I put myself at risk, every time I hop on a motorcycle.

I intend to keep doing it, until eventually Mr. Cochrane, or someone else equally interested in improving my quality of life stops me.

So, on a quiet summers evening I may take my Harley for a ride.

Some days, I may even add a bit of pleasure by doing it helmet-less.

Its actually quite enjoyable, and horror of horrors I do quite frequently on the quiet rural roads I live on.

I enjoy the smells, the sights and the sounds of our beautiful country, and do it, debate-ably at more risk than you, but IMHO I live more richly as a result.

Then, I may go home, , cook a cholesterol loaded steak on my BBQ, and ruin my liver with a tipple or more two than ALACs 1.35 standard drinks and enjoy unprotected sex.

Please, live your life with care.

I enjoy mine, I love its taste and texture, and don't wish it to end prematurely.

But please, don't take pleasure from my life, so that I may be safer, and your wallet heavier.

[Berries]

Just spent a week riding around Rarotonga without a helmet. Only going at about 40kph most of the time but still felt a bit vulnerable ... oddly, as much from the chance of a coconut falling on me while I rode.

Come on mods - you going to allow racist comments like that ?

[Kickaha]

Its actually quite enjoyable, and horror of horrors I do quite frequently on the quiet rural roads I live on.

I actually find it fucking uncomfortable at any speed over about 20-30kmh

Your eyes water, bugs hitting you fucking hurt etc etc

[bogan]

I actually find it fucking uncomfortable at any speed over about 20-30kmh

Your eyes water, bugs hitting you fucking hurt etc etc

same here, I always thought that was why farm quads only go approximately that fast

[Old Steve]

I actually find it fucking uncomfortable at any speed over about 20-30kmh

Your eyes water, bugs hitting you fucking hurt etc etc

He's riding a Harley, he probably can't get up to that speed before it breaks down

(Tongue very much in cheek!!!)

[Milts]

I did take the time to publish actual statistics.

While the Cochrane study tells us that we would expect a 42% decrease in deaths due to helmets, in fact the 5-year reality was an increase from 43 deaths before the introduction of helmets, to 130 after.

The Cochrane study claims to be valid. Maybe it is. I don't really care, as in fact I am likely to die of heart disease, suicide, prostate cancer, jealous husband or angry wife, way more than from a motorcycle crash.

The fact remains.

For no reason other than pleasure, I put myself at risk, every time I hop on a motorcycle.

I intend to keep doing it, until eventually Mr. Cochrane, or someone else equally interested in improving my quality of life stops me.

So, on a quiet summers evening I may take my Harley for a ride.

Some days, I may even add a bit of pleasure by doing it helmet-less.

Its actually quite enjoyable, and horror of horrors I do quite frequently on the quiet rural roads I live on.

I enjoy the smells, the sights and the sounds of our beautiful country, and do it, debate-ably at more risk than you, but IMHO I live more richly as a result.

Then, I may go home, , cook a cholesterol loaded steak on my BBQ, and ruin my liver with a tipple or more two than ALACs 1.35 standard drinks and enjoy unprotected sex.

Please, live your life with care.

I enjoy mine, I love its taste and texture, and don't wish it to end prematurely.

But please, don't take pleasure from my life, so that I may be safer, and your wallet heavier.

Cochrane do not have a political agenda, or intend to 'take away the pleasure of your life' by, eg, forcing you to ride with a helmet. They just meticulously provide evidence of what the results of an intervention are, one way or the other.

I do support your right to choose. I just think the 'evidence' you presented to support your view was entirely innaccurate. For example the statistics make no mention of the nubmers of riders in any given year, the number of kilometers travelled in any given year, changes to speed limits, road surfaces, increases in the speed of new motorcycles, or control for any one of hundreds of other factors. The numbers from the Cochrane review do, and each reviewer takes years (literally) to ensure the information is as accurate and objective as possible. That's all I'm saying.

EDIT: and impying cochrane aim to make any financial gain from such a study is again about as uninformed as it is possible to be.

[Matariki]

It makes me shudder every time I see someone riding without protective gear.
I know in my recent crash I probably would of died If it weren't for my helmet. In fact I suffered no head injuries at all, I wasn't even knocked out. If you don't want to a wear a helmet then thats your choice, but I know it isn't mine.
Motorcycling is fun, why should wearing a helmet yet alone protective gear change that? If anything it shows that you are aware of the dangers, and by riding safely you are respecting them.

Be a smart representative of riding, it will probably save your life.

[Bob]

A bareheaded biker, taking part in an anti-helmet law rally, has died from head injuries received when he lost control of his vehicle. The rider struck his head on the pavement, during the rally in central New York State – one of the 20 US states that has a mandatory helmet law. State troopers said that the victim, 55 year old Philip Contos, would “most likely have survived” if he had been wearing a helmet.

Jim Hedlund, of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said that wearing a helmet reduces the wearer’s chance of being killed by more than 40%.

[ducatilover]

But you look tough without riding gear