5 Common Motorcycle Helmet Myths
I often hear people commenting on how motorcycle helmets aren’t that great and can actually cause more problems than if you’re not wearing one. While that might be the case in some extremely rare situations, for the majority of us, wearing a helmet is a no-brainer (also a law in some states). Below are some common misconceptions about helmets.
1. Motorcycle Helmets Break Necks
You’ve put more weight on your head by wearing a helmet, so you may think it logical that the force of a crash will be more likely to break your neck when you wear a helmet. Luckily, that’s not exactly so. DOT approved helmets are designed to absorb energy from a crash, the same energy that would break necks upon impact. It’s actually been shown that helmets help to prevent neck injuries in crashes.
2. Helmets Decrease Alertness and Hide Danger
One of the most common misconceptions people have is thinking that by wearing a helmet they won’t be as alert as if they aren’t wearing one. Really though, research shows that those who do wear a helmet seem to crash less often. This could be due to many things, but most likely because: riders who wear helmets understand the importance of safe driving; a helmet cuts down on wind noise and provides good eye protection; and most importantly, helmets do not impair peripheral vision, so riders really can see impending danger.
3. A Helmet Won't Help in Crashes
I wonder who came up with this crazy idea. I mean, really, do you think the government would mandate the use of helmets if they didn’t help?? Most motorcycle helmets are tested at low impact speeds, leading people to believe that at higher speeds the helmet won’t be of any help. It’s important to remember though that most impacts do happen at relatively low speeds. Besides that, helmets that meet DOT standards (the ones you should be wearing) are made to save lives, even at high impact speeds. That’s just what they do. If you still don’t believe me, do research. You’ll see that riders who wear helmets sustain less head injury than those that don’t.
4. A Helmet Will Leave You Brain Damaged in a Crash
Brain damage is possible in any situation, helmet or not. But again, the helmet really is designed to keep injuries from being serious. If you really do sustain an impact that hard, chances are that your life-threatening situation is due to many other injuries. You’ll actually find that riders who aren’t wearing helmets are much more likely to sustain brain injuries, even at low speeds. For the most common impacts, you’ll likely not end up with any serious brain damage.
5. Helmets make riders feel secure and increases risky behavior.
I can see where this idea came from, and for some people, this may be the case. For the majority of us though, wearing a helmet indicates that we understand the risks associated with riding and we take our health and safety seriously. In fact, there is some indication that riders who wear full gear will actually ride in a less risky way than others.
Regardless of whether you believe any of these myths or not, wearing a helmet is the best thing you can do for yourself. Trust that if helmets weren’t really helpful, so many people wouldn’t be encouraging you to wear one. And it definitely wouldn’t be a law to wear one. And the helmet companies would be frantically searching for new ways to improve helmet performance. But helmets do help. The proof is in the numbers.
- Julie
While mythology and warm, fuzzy feelings dominate most helmet opinions still today, a quick review of historical statistics are still valid. The California mandatory helmet law passed in the late 1980s, promoted by then-Assemblyman Dick Floyd. Floyd used selective data from a study done over a decade or so of some 3000 actual motorcycle accidents to categorize these accidents. After purchasing the 800-page study from USC myself and closely studying it, it was apparent and clear that Floyd misrepresented almost everything he claimed regarding the benefits of helmets, all for the purpose of justifying his Assembly Bill. To summarize the report, of the 3000 or so reported accidents (there was absolutely no clue as to how many accidents occurred that went unreported), approximately 72% involved no physical injuries. Note that this was done at a time when some 40% portion of riders did not wear helmets. About 22% of the accidents involved injuries which required hospitalization of 1 day or less. The great majority of this category involved broken legs from autos broadsiding motorcycles at intersections. About 5% had injuries injuries requiring hospital stays greater than overnight. Only between 1-2% had critical physical damage, including head trauma, that was considered as permanent or caused death. Even in these cases, due to the extreme injuries received altogether, the helmet was was of little benefit. The bottom line was that once the rider found himself in an undesirable situation of a potential accident scenario, either the accident was of a non-critical nature, or luck or good judgement and skill minimized or eliminated any physical injuries from occuring. Beyond that, hardly any accident scenario was such that the presence of a helmet was of a great benefit. In those cases where helmets were worn and the head was protected, the body itself was still damaged to such an extent that critical injuries resulted. It is obvious that helmets protect from head injury, but it must be kept in mind that today's motorcycle environment is much more street-race oriented than during the 1970s, where there is a constant higher probability of minor falls with minimal impacts. These minor falls are not the same as those where there is a high probability of a serious impact with a fixed object. In these latter cases, the probability of a critical body injury is equal to if not larger that a head injury. The helmet will only be of a benefit, if only the head receives the impact, and the helmet eliminates the potential damage. This scenario is not often seen.
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Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 18:22.