Motorcycle Helmet Laws

Sometimes the only difference between a bad motorcycle injury and certain death is your helmet. We can go into the all the reasons why wearing a motorcycle helmet should not be regulated by the government (civil liberty rights, freedom of expression, etc.) but the fact remains is that 47 out of the 50 states have motorcycle helmet laws.
Know your state and the laws that pertain to wearing helmets. Only three (3) states are on the books today with no laws- Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire. All other states require that if you are under 18 you must wear a helmet. Over 18 years of age, it will be different by state as to whether or not the driver needs to wear a helmet. In the majority of states, if you have a passenger, the passenger is required to wear a helmet. Helmets must meet D.O.T. (department of transportation) qualifications. Check with your local bike--- and no your bicycle helmet will not qualify as a motorcycle helmet!

Comparing the ATV Helmets

When you own an ATV, you want to protect yourself. Like any other motorized vehicle, accidents can happen no matter how careful you are and protecting yourself is vital. Many people use motorcycle helmets to protect their head, but ideally you want to used specialized ATV Helmets made to protect your face, scalp and chin in ways that are just slightly different than the standard motorcycle helmet.
Types of ATV Helmets
ATV Helmets come in three specific types:
1) Open Face
2) Full Face
3) Offroad
Each of the ATV helmet types comes with varying degrees of safety, but the key to choosing a helmet is not just protection but comfort. No ATV helmet is going to keep you safe if you do not use it, and finding a comfortable ATV helmet is the best way to make sure you use it.

Open Face
This type of ATV helmet is the least protective and often leaves your chin and mouth open. Many people choose the open face helmet because it is the most comfortable, and while a fall can cause severe damage to your chin and mouth, they do tend to be more comfortable and any helmet is better than nothing.

Full Face
Unlike open face, full face ATV helmets come complete with a face shield that spreads below your chin and mouth to ensure that they remain protected. Full face helmets are very safe, but they also tend to be the most uncomfortable and a little clunky.

Offroad
Often referred to as “Motocross” helmets, this ATV helmet type covers your entire face in the same manner as the full face, with a mold that protects your teeth and jaw. However, these helmets also come complete with extra ventilation as well as a flip visor face shield for extra protection. Offroad/Motocross ATV helmets also tend to have additional features such as a scratch proof shell, noise filters, cheek pads and more. They are also lighter weight. An offroad ATV helmet will likely cost you more than a full face helmet, but the extra features make it ideal for the aggressive driver.
All three of these helmet types provide some method of protection. While offroad ATV helmets are the best for the ATV enthusiast, full face provides with the same amount of protection and open face is far better than riding with no helmet at all.

How to Fit a Motorcycle Helmet (Motorcycle Helmets)

Purchasing motorcycle helmets for your new ride is one of the first things that an individual does before they start riding their new motorcycle. Motorcycle helmets are the primary piece of safety equipment that any and every motorcycle rider knows they need, and so it is not uncommon for someone to rush to purchase their helmet so they can start riding right away.


But motorcycle helmets that are too hastily purchased can be very uncomfortable.


Fitting Motorcycle Helmets
Despite the tendency for people to choose motorcycle helmets based on generic sizes, most helmets need to be measured properly to ensure a good fit. The best place to start is with your own hat size. If you have never measured your hat size before, any local sporting good shop will have hats of varying sizes that you can use to get a good measure without having to bother anyone.


Once you have chosen the motorcycle helmets that seem the right head size, it is time to try on your helmet:


Trying On Your Helmet

• Use the chin straps to put the helmet securely on your head by spreading the sides of the helmet and placing it firmly on. Don’t be too discouraged by a little bit of tightness right away, as until your helmet is fully in place it will feel tighter than normal.


• Once you have placed it on your head it should not move at all. Motorcycle helmets are only going to be useful if they do not move when they hit the ground. If the helmet moves at all once it is fully placed on your head, it is quite likely that it will move in a crash and you will get injured.


• The cheek pads should be in contact with your cheeks. They should not necessary push against them, but they should be touching.


• You want all of the parts of your helmet to be touching your head. If there are gaps between your forehead and the top of your helmet, for example, then the helmet probably is not fitting.


• At the same time, the face shield of full motorcycle helmets should not be touching your nose or chin.

After you have tested all of these aspects, keep the helmet on your head for a while. You will start to get a little use to wearing it and you can judge how comfortable it is.

Then take the helmet off. Motorcycle helmets are expected to be worn regularly enough that it can be expected that you will ride your motorcycle to important meetings etc. As such, when you take the helmet off, it should not be sore anywhere and there should be no red welts. If you see them, it is likely the motorcycle helmet is tight in those areas.
Motorcycle helmets need to fit well, be comfortable, but at the same time be tight enough that they do not move at all when placed on your head. If you can find a helmet that fits correctly, it is probably a keeper.

Welcome

As a motorcycle enthusiast, I feel it is about time that we take a clear and unbiased look at the current restrictions regarding wearing motorcycle helmets. Clearly, with the increase in gasoline prices riding street bikes to work will become more and more prevalent over the next few years.

A quick review reveals that as of today: There are 20 states that have laws requiring that all riders, passengers included, must wear helmets. There are 27 states that have laws that usually either require those under 18 or passengers to wear helmets and then there are Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire that do not have helmet laws.

Bottom line, if you are lucky enough to live in one of the 3 states above you will be stuck wearing a helmet--- for sure if you are under 18.

Let us review the real facts. It is more risky to ride a motorcycle on streets and highways then driving a car, albeit the major reason is that car drivers do not look or take the time to look for riders. With that said there is an increase in Motorcycle accidents over the past 10 years. Again, this is partially because there is an even higher increase in motorcycle riders over the past 10 years. Comparing those states without laws for helmets to those with helmets reveals that there is a anywhere from a 20-35% decrease in deaths related from motorcycle accidents. Let be clear, there is no way of knowing the difference in death from not wearing a helmet and those that are so critically injured that they would want to be dead even though they wear a helmet. OK, so helmets do work. All statistics point in that direction, however, we do need to speak about other issues and the reason why a majority of states have WEAKENED (yes, that is right WEAKENED) their existing motorcycle helmet laws.

Freedom of choice! Is there really a price you can put on this (sure, as some would say it's a life—but for goodness sakes it is your life). Upon further review, the amount of accidents involving motorcycles has been about the same after you factor in the growth of rider ship over the past 10 years. Amazing enough, there has been NO decrease or increase in deaths when the accident involves automobiles. Clearly, the increase or decrease in deaths is only with the motorcycle rider. Is it not our choice to choose what type of risk we are or are not willing to take?

I would like to know your thoughts and will be posting new information on helmets, helmet laws, and should you live in the 47 states that require helmets, for now, what type of helmet you should buy. The passion for me is clear--- I enjoy riding and would like to pass on any information that I can garner to the new riders that are learning that riding is economical, easy and most of all FUN.