Helmet Safety

Published by: 2Wheeltips on 27th Dec 2009 | View all blogs by 2Wheeltips

I came across this wonderful site that lets you see if your helmet passed the DOT/Snell test. www.helmetcheck.com

Regardless of what people tell you (and there are some out there that say wearing a helmet is more dangerous because of the risk of whiplash), helmets will protect your head if you fall off your bike and hit your head on the ground.

Check out the site and let us know what you think.

Comments

13 Comments

by Carol 2 years ago

That's a great website! I've heard that, sometimes, DOT stickers on some helmets are fake, so I guess this website will help me determine if my helmet of choice really IS DOT and/or Snell certified!
by Biker Beast 2 years ago

I believe wearing a helmet should be between the rider and his/her insurance company. If the insurance company requires you to wear one, then it should be or you may have the option to pay more insurance for not having to wear one. The medical professionals should get paid more for cleaning up and dealing with severe head injuries and the brain matter that is splattered on the pavement from those who chose not to wear a helmet, hence higher premiums. I personally wear one every time I ride along with eye and hand protection.
by 2Wheeltips 2 years ago

I've never heard it put that way before. Interesting view. I'm no tree hugger or "save the whales" type person, Just that I met a guy who was missing most of his lower jaw. He looked pretty bad, almost like a cartoon character. In passing he mentioned that he was in a motorcycle accident and was wearing a flimsy helmet.

That's all it took for me.
by mrlmd 2 years ago

Like everything else in life you do have a choice in what you do.
You can either leave your face and/or brains scraped off on the road or wear your full face helmet.
You can wear the protective armored jacket or not, But then don't expect other people to pay for your care in the ER and after if you make it that far. 15 seconds to put on the gear may save you weeks or months in the hospital and home recovering from a preventable event. Sounds harsh, but that's the reality.
by Carol 2 years ago

Year ago, when I was in college, a very good friend of mine lectured me on riding gear, in particular full face helmets. He had been riding since he got his license (and still rides today...as of last year, he had over a million miles under his belt!!!) and I laughed at him when he started lecturing me..."Carol, don't ever let anyone tell you that wearing a full face helmet is uncomfortable...if it feels uncomfortable at first, you will get used to it...and before you know it, it will feel like a part of you..." "Sure, Phil, whatever you say," I told him, laughing to myself that the day I ever get on a motorcycle will be the day hell freezes over. Well, I guess hell froze over, because I now have my motorcycle endorsement and my own bike and from the day I started riding on the back of a friend's bike, I never wore anything but a good quality (doesn't have to cost a fortune!) full face helmet. My friend Phil was absolutely right: I got used to my helmet and now I cannot get on a bike without it. I've seen too many examples of what can happen if a biker goes down without the proper gear..and although I don't consider myself a vain person, I prefer my face, teeth, brain, etc. as they are now...far from perfect, but intact.
by Nevada 750 2 years ago

Besides safety I think that without a full face the wind is intolerable to eyes and ears, especially for bikes bigger than 250cc. After years of riding hearing and sight will surely be adversely effected.
by mrlmd 2 years ago

And don't forget, don't take a passenger out for a ride unless you can furnish them with full protective gear. like a helmet and armored jacket. Or at least give them yours and take YOUR chances, not theirs.
by mrlmd 2 years ago

Besides falling down and protecting you from banging your head on the ground, the full face helmet and faceshield keep the bugs and birds and gravel and road debris etc. from hitting you in the face. Even a bee or pebble at 50-60 mph can do considerable damage and could cause you to go down, again avoidable with a proper helmet.
by Carol 2 years ago

I was riding back from Pa one evening, around dusk, when I got hit by what I thought was a rock. It hit my helmet (I only wear a full-face helmet) hard and the helmet absorbed the impact perfectly so I was not thrown off my bike. Once home, I removed my helmet and took a look at the damage that had been done by the rock....only to find that it was not a rock at all but, rather, a very large (now totally unidentifiable) bug! I wiped the bug splatter and guts off my helmet, cleaned the visor, and put it away. All I could think was how, if that bug had hit my face, I definitely WOULD have been thrown off my bike, if for no other reason than that it would have probably penetrated my cheek. I most likely would have ended up in a hospital because the impact itself was so severe, I am certain it would have caused quite a laceration (at the very least).
by mrlmd 2 years ago

Getting a little off the subject, windshields also do the same thing - protect your body from all sorts of debris, like the faceshield protects your face from impact. Eye protection, with goggles, is really not sufficient, you need full face protection as from a helmet with a faceshield.
by Carol 2 years ago

I agree, mrlmd! That exploding bug that hit me landed on the part of my helmet that covered my cheek area, an area of my face that would not have been covered by a 1/2 helmet and goggles.
by 2Wheeltips 2 years ago

not off topic at all. A windshield give great protection. Take a look at all of the garbage that is on the windshield after a good ride. All of that stuff would end up hitting you if the shield wasn't there.

Occasionally you will get a huge splat or a good sized chip from something big hitting the shield. Think of what would happen if you didn't have a shield or at least something covering your face.
by Dino Dogan 2 years ago

Im always having to make a choice between the freedom to crack my face open with a half-helmet or the restriction of a full-face helmet....I'd say I make the stupid choice about 8% of the time.....what can I say...Im work in progress ...lol