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DOT & Helmet Laws

Mz Bling

Mz Bling

Member
I recently rode through the Phoenix area. I wore my helmet the whole time. It never reached 60 degrees and yet out of 50 or so riders that I saw, only a couple riders had helmets on. They looked chili! I assumed that either they didn't own a helmet being in Arizona where the law allows "no helmets", or that's simply their preference which is cool.

I'm from LA..... I can't imagine riding without a helmet because that's what I'm used to... but it got me thinking....... The next time I head over to AZ I might try riding around without one to see how it feels (when it's WARMER):newsmile078:. It looked "freeing" but yet.... I like my brain and it looks so...vulnerable. :wall

Once we got home from our trip I was reminded of how many of our friends are being pulled over in LA lately for NOT wearing DOT helmets. $250 a "pop"! The city's hard up for cash so they're soakin' us for every penny. Politics!

So I guess I have 2 questions regarding helmets, I"m curious......
Do you where a helmet at all? Why or why not? (obviously this would be according to your state laws but I'm curious about folks who live in a "no helmet law" state but still wear helmets)
Do you wear a DOT helmet? Yes or no and why?
 
Wear a helmet? Always! Why? Because I have loved ones whom I care enough to try to take care of this old celebrated cranium (or just a legend in my own mind)...and I would never let anyone ride with me without one, for that same reason.

DOT approved YES, don't want to worry about getting stopped for something silly like lack of proper (read "legal") riding gear. Would ride with helmet even if there were no law requiring it...had too many experience of lost friends who did not...

Wearing a 1/2 to 3/4 helmet when riding the Harley because it awakens the open feeling and enjoyment; rather than the full helmet for a sportbike quiet zone focus on rider skill and concentration required for serious "spirited" rides.
 
Yes I wear a DOT helmet, half helmet. I have gone without for a few blocks around the neighborhood without, but other than that always wear it. At first only because I was required by the Marine Corps to wear one, but after losing a Marine :small3d022: in a motorcycle accident (he was wearing a full face ), and 6 months later going down myself (wearing a half helmet DOT approved), I always wear it. It's a HARD:small3d015: :small3d012:hit, and about 5-10 minutes I don't remember:small3d031:. I can still feel it 2 years later...:newsmile053:........... So yeah I always wear it now. I also won't allow a passenger ride with me without a helmet! I encourage my friends to wear one, but it's up to them, I can't make em!
 
I wear a helmet more often than not; mainly because I want my Mrs. to wear one and secondly because I have seen a several combat related deaths that may have been avoided if they had been wearing helmets.

I do on occasion not wear a helmet; for no particular reason other than I don't have to wear one in Maine/NH.

My helmet is a "skid lid"; it is DOT approved for all the good that little helmet will do. I wear a DOT because where there are helmet laws DOT is required and it seems a waste to wear a non-DOT helmet if I forced to wear a helmet or choose of my own free will to wear one.

In my younger days I wore a "steel pot" helmet liner, sanded smooth, painted flat black, with a velcro strap pop riveted on, windshield-washer hose split in the middle and glued around the rim, and a DOT sticker from an old motocross helmet glued to the back.
 
Its law up here in Canada but I would wear it even if it wasn't law. Too old to be cool and I don't bounce like I once did. :newsmile034:
 
Yes & Yes (DOT). NE is lobbying to retract their helmet law b/c they feel the sate's losing $$$ from biker's bypassing to adjoining states w/no helmet law. I think this is false/wrong - it's going to cost more $$$ for emergency services (responding to tramatic accidents, medical (accident bills fm added injury/care) & higher m/c death rate due to this change. No, I'm not bashing the right to not wear a helmet - I don't agree w/the fact of it being a means to generate revenue.

I learned my lesson, like others, & will always wear a helmet. Unlike others, mine are all "full-face" b/c I've seen the results of a face scraping along pavement/gravel (former EMT). Want to be around for awhile & my wife worries every time I scoot out the garage. Doing the best I can to keep her happy & me alive...Cheers!
 
In Florida you can go either way but when I first stated rid-en in the 60's my father had me wear an old leather football helmet in NY. I really wanted a German helmet but he didn't care for that.

Been wearing one ever since.
 
Of the 80K miles I have ridden on cycles I have not went ridden without a helmet...not even a city block. However, I AM AGAINST MANDATORY HELMET LAWS!!!!
My helmet of choice is the modular full face with the flip up retractable mandible protection portion.

Indiana for years had a mandatory helmet law but it was repealed a long time ago. Grass roots lobbyist convinced the state fathers that education had reduced cycle deaths...not the helmet as such.

Now I'm thinking if you are a juvenile and a passenger you have to wear a helmet and if you have a beginners permit you have to wear your helmet, but any adult with there official motorcycle endorsement on the license can elect not to wear a brain-bucket. But, I chose to mine always.

My helmets are always DOT or SNELL approved.

I have been down twice...both times at low speed, and walked away uninjured, oh that pavement is so hard! My brother had a more severe crash and his helmet was severly scraped up. Better his helmet that noggin proper. He had to go to the hospital but checked out OK. Boy was he glad he had his Helmet on!

Now you mentioned 250.00 for a helmet...money well spent IMHO. I figure if I can't afford the Helmet, I can't afford the cycle.:newsmile093:
 
Living in Florida it is not a requirement to wear one and I dont,I do wear it when im on the highway and then it is just a non DOT brain bucket.I do own a couple of DOT helmets and I will wear them if I am going on a military base where they are mandatory
 
I don't think this is very complicated at all.

If you wear a helmet in a state that doesn't require it, you obviously do it for the protection that it affords. I've never seen a male or female model strutting around with a helmet on for the cameras so they must not do much to improve our looks!

If you live in a state where helmet use is not mandatory and you choose not to wear one, you must be expressing your freedom of choice or making some kind of statement. Noone will ever convince me that it's safer to ride without a helmet so I can't think of any other explanation.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion and that's mine, oversimplified as it may be.
 
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