How's this for irony?

[widgeon13]

Well, there was that split second OH Shlt moment when he might have wanted it.

[vash]

he hit his brakes and crashed?

helmet or no helmet, the guy had little riding skills. with no helmet, you better have the riding skill bugs all worked out.

[vash]

what about those tiny useless skull caps some of the harder harley riders are wearing? ball caps backwards underneath..yea right.

[island911]

Clearly the only sol'n is to ban motorcycles.

More irony; getting a seat-belt violation ticket from a cop riding a motorcycle.

Actually, come to think of it, with tens of thousands of motorists dying on our roads annually.. --we should prolly make roads illegal.

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by vash

what about those tiny useless skull caps some of the harder harley riders are wearing? ball caps backwards underneath..yea right.

That and of course riding in the bikini.

[mossguy]

Ban Accidents!!

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

That and of course riding in the bikini.

I have never ridden my Harley in a bikini! ( well, nobody has seen me as far as I know....)

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by vash

what about those tiny useless skull caps some of the harder harley riders are wearing? ball caps backwards underneath..yea right.

Those are the beanie helmets I mentioned previously. They're good for nothing by complying with the law.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by on2wheels52

Art, wouldn't you be even safer driving a car with a helmet also?
Jim

My wife worked with child car seats for a while, actually helped get a law passed here in Michigan. There is a case of a child in the middle seat of a mini van doing very well in an accident because he still had his hockey helmet on after practice. I think he was belted in too, perhaps it was a side impact, not sure. Point is, helmets inside of cars work, even with children. Not that I'd wear one on the streets.

On the way to work.............July of 2008

[LeeH]

Tough choice between liberty and safety, isn't it? It would be interesting to hear from the motorcyclist's family.

Can you imagine how few traffic fatalities we'd have if all of our street cars were equipped like race cars and drivers & passengers outfitted with helmets and nomex? Tough call on where to draw the line. How do you give the individual the feedom to decide how safe they want to be without burdening the rest of the population with a $1,000,000.00 hospital bill if things go wrong? No helmet = automatic DNR? Yep... tough call for sure.

[island911]

How much will it cost to outfit cars, drivers & passengers with helmets and nomex?

. . . and Then how big of risks will those newly safety-clad drivers be taking? (ever notice Volvo driver's "skilz"?)

[GH85Carrera]

I have always figured it would make more sense to put the really bad drivers with multiple crashes and lots of tickets in a glass bubble in the front bumper of their car and have sharp steel spikes pointed at their head. Especially the tailgaters of the world.

[JR Indy]

No one gets out alive.

[Rikao4]

kid down the street lives on his skateboard..
Daddy dearest even built him a ramp ...
so day after day while other kids study..
numbnuts practices jumps & whatever..
took a cantalope with me on a recent walk..
dropped it in front of him..split open..
that will be your head should you land on it..
the confused look assured me ..
some serious trauma might improve things up there..

Rika

[jpd]

I was on the interstate heading out of town Friday, when a van cut off 3 guys on bikes. They were doing about 60-65. The up front guy hit the brakes. Front wheel locked up, he went over the handle bars and landed straight on his head, then tumbled for a little further. I came to a stop about 10 feet from him, lying in the middle of the left lane. Miraculously, the 5 or so cars between me and him managed to stop and pull off without hitting him. I stayed there for a minute till I was sure no one would run him over, and pulled over too. Me and my wife were both pretty sure he was going to be dead, as he wasn't moving at all, and he just took a serious f'ing spill. He was wearing a half helmet (no face shield/visor). After a few minutes, he woke up, and after a while, he remembered who he was and where he was going. (From Texas, going to Mississippi - he made it 9 miles into Ms).

We waited about 30-40 minutes before a cop arrived, then another 20 or so for EMS, then another 10 or so for a chopper to airlift him. He was on the road for at least an hour or more. Had he not had the helmet, his brains would have absolutely been all over the road and he would've been dead, if not from the fall, from sitting on the road for an hour with his brains hanging out. And I'd have the f'd up memory, along with my wife and 5 year old daughter, of watching him die.

Rider 2 laid his bike down, scraped his knees really bad but was otherwise ok. Rider 2 stopped in time. No. 1 was wearing jeans and jean jacket, boot. Didnt seem to have any bad road burn, but we didn't move him to check (his front was in tact, and when I first stopped his back was too me, and looked ok).

I spoke to his mom later Friday - he had 2 cracked ribs and one punctured lung. Serious condition, but not in ICU and expected to recover.

[Rick Lee]

Did the van driver stop? Get his plate #?

[jpd]

Van never even slowed down. The crazy thing was, no one had any clue as to what happened. There were (guessing) 4 cars in front of me on the left lane, and one or two behind them in the right lane, traffic was pretty tight. I saw the van swerve from the left into the right, and (I think instantly) took my foot off the gas. The way he swerved, I was certain there either was an accident, or he just caused one. I also knew the bikes were up there. About 1 second after he swerved, there was dust and debris flying around, and brake lights lighting up, and everyone in front of me stopping off the road. My wife said one fo the first things I said was where is the white truck that hit him.

I spoke to everyone on the scene, no one had a clue as to what happened. The guy who laid his bike down said that an old white minivan swerved in front of them. I had seen it swerve, and had also just seen an old white dodge minivan pass me on the right, then cut into the left lane. Put 2+2 together and realized it was the same van. By then, the guy was long gone. The biker thought he may have had a blow out, so I called 911 back to tell them the guy left the scene, maybe with a flat. I don't think I could have chased him even if I realized immediately that he left the scene because 1. I had my wife and two kids in the car and 2. had the guy right in front of me in the road, with no way around at first.

Dude is very lucky. I really thought when I got out that I was going to see him dead or die. Crazy scene.

[nynor]

this surpasses the irony of the firefighter who didn't want to wear his protective headgear on the job. his argument was that hair was naturally flame retardant. to demonstrate, he lit his hair on fire, in court, neglecting that he had doused his hair with hair spray. a lot of hairspray. it wasn't fatal.

[Danny_Ocean]

My buddy was driving through LA in somewhat heavy traffic. A motorcycle (with a helmeted rider) was splitting lanes & zigging/zagging. Once he passed my friend, he zigged instead of zagged and bumped a car. He over-corrected and fell over under a box truck. The dual rear wheels of the box truck rolled over his helmet and, with a loud "POP", smooshed the helmet flat. Brain matter everywhere. My buddy was white as a ghost several days later when he was relaying the story to me in person.

Had that guy not been wearing a helmet...the horrific "pop" sound probably would've been more of a "squish".

[GH85Carrera]

Like a lot of 15 year olds I wanted a motorcycle. My buddy that rode the school bus with me every day got a motorcycle and he started driving that to school. In school he had lots of stories of his freedom and he was cool. Then one day on the way to school he tried to make a turn and hit gravel. He slid right under the wheels of a 18 wheeler. He was the first friend of mine that died. I decided cars were a little safer and I never wanted a motorcycle after that.