Maine Motorcyclist Helmet Laws


Rawknrohl

New Member
Ok, so I'm having trouble navigating my local papers $hitty site, but here is the link to one of the articles that I had bookmarked when I was researching the subject. This also happens to be the article referenced in the article that was in my local paper anyway, so there ya go....

Forbes.com - Magazine Article


Here are a couple snippets from the article for those of you who don't want to read the whole thing... Also I want to again preface all of this by saying YOU SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET in my opinion at least. However, I always enjoy playing devil's advocate:sinister:... for some reason.... I blame the government, since it's almost always them that I'm arguing against.

Go to a motorcycle shop and examine a Department of Transportation-approved helmet. Look deep into its comforting plush lining, and hidden amidst the soft fuzz you'll find a warning label: "Some reasonably foreseeable impacts may exceed the helmet's capability to protect against severe injury or death."

What is a "reasonably foreseeable" impact? Any impact around 14 miles per hour or greater. Motorcycle helmets are tested by being dropped on an anvil from a height of six feet, the equivalent of a 13.66-mph impact. If you ride at speeds less than 14 mph and are involved only in accidents involving stationary objects, you're golden. A typical motorcycle accident, however, would be a biker traveling at, say, 30 mph, and being struck by a car making a left turn at, maybe, 15 mph. That's an effective cumulative impact of 45 mph. Assume the biker is helmet-clad, and that he is struck directly on the head. The helmet reduces the blow to an impact of 31.34 mph. Still enough to kill him. The collisions that helmets cushion effectively--say, seven-mph motorcycles with seven-mph cars--are not only rare but eminently avoidable.

I called a local (Massachusetts) Suzuki dealer, and told the salesman I was a first-time buyer looking for something cheaper than the standard $15,000 Harley. He said I could buy the GSXR 1300 for only $10,500, a bike that could hit speeds in excess of 160 miles per hour. He recommended that I wear a helmet, even in non-helmet-law states. Imagine: a novice on a 160-mph bike wearing a plastic hat that will reduce any impact by 14 mph. It's like having sex with King Kong, but bringing a condom for safety's sake.

Actually, it's true that bikers indirectly jack up the rates of car drivers, but not for the reason you might think. Car drivers plow over bikers at an alarming rate. According to the Second International Congress on Automobile Safety, the car driver is at fault in more than 70% of all car/motorcycle collisions. A typical accident occurs when a motorist illegally makes a left turn into the path of an oncoming motorcycle, turning the biker into an unwitting hood ornament. In such cases, juries tend to award substantial damages to the injured biker. Car insurance premiums go up.
 

MichaelInVenice

Lot of Class, Mostly Low
Elite Member

Brock Kickass

New Member
I'm a big believer that everyone is entitled to there opinion, so don't take this as a personal attack, just my personal feelings...

I disagree with most of what you said. If I want to ride without a helmet (I don't) I should not be fined for it, mainly because I am risking NO ONES LIFE AND/OR SAFETY BUT MY _OWN_. That's the key, laws that protect others from the actions of the stupid are necessary (a necessary evil in some cases, but necessary none the less). Nanny state laws put in place to protect us from ourselves are ridiculous, it is not the place of a government to do so. Example: You want to be a raging alcoholic? fine. You want to be a raging alcoholic who drives while intoxicated? no... because now you are putting others in danger not just your own liver. I realize this is a more complicated subject than I'm making it, but making me pay my hard earned money to the state because I refuse to wear my seat belt when driving feels a little crazy to me. Making me pay said money to the state for speeding, I have no argument for that at all for the same reason as before, at that point I was potentially endangering others, and I understood that and accepted and paid my fine without argument. (Also, I know I should wear my seat belt I guess, but I don't, and maybe one day I will die because of that choice... but wearing a seat belt in my car then hopping on my motorcycle seems counter-intuitive. End of rant. :)

Here's the less ranty part: I was in _no way_ trying to say that helmets do not protect or that you should not wear one, I took a bird to the face once (yes, a fricken bird....TO THE FACE) and without my helmet to glance off it would've messed me up pretty good, also I get the feeling that had it hit me in the face without a helmet it probably would have screwed me up enough for me to go down at the 70+ mph I was going since I almost went down even with the helmet, still not sure how I recovered from that exactly.

The research I noted in my first post was actually from the article in my local paper where I first learned about the proposed law, I will sift through the papers site and find the article so I can put up a link. The reason I brought it up had more to do with my own argument against the law and I repeat: was _not_ an argument against actually wearing one. I've seen the remains of a helmet that saved my friends life, the ER doctor showed us the smashes in the helmet and said (paraphrasing) "this hit would have set you back to 2nd grade, and this one would've taken off most of your jaw." My issue with it is a personal freedoms issue.

I'm getting redundant with this so..... ~FIN~

Ride safe y'all.
No offense taken; your opinion is just as valid as mine. There are a few points you make that I don't agree with, but I said from the start I am not entering this thread to debate, but simply to state my opinion, which I did. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I appreciate you making your point known by showing the merit in it, rather than just flaming me.

I did, however, notice in your post that you got hit in the face with a bird, and it reminded me of the time Fabio took a seagull right in the beak while riding a rollercoaster. Ever hear about that? It was hilarious!
 

Anthony

Fastest Member
Elite Member

Rawknrohl

New Member
Just wanted to say that i very much appreciate how respectful of each other everyone was in this thread, it's a topic that, as was noted by the all powerful admins, can easily become a nasty argument/pissing contest. I'm glad to have the opportunity to be part of this group. For the most part i can't stand the childish idiots which seem abundant everywhere else online. So.... Thanks and ride safe!:)
 
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Rawknrohl

New Member
Almost forgot! An update on the potential law that started the conversation. Maine riders spoke up in incredible numbers which is likely the reason it was overwhelmingly shot down by the state legislature. :Sport:
 

Anthony

Fastest Member
Elite Member


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