Helmets and Safety

Jason's assertions are contradicted by the empirical evidence in the
_Motorcyclist Magazine_ article, "Motorcycle Helmet Performance: Blowing the
Lid Off." This is my first time seeing this article and props to Warren for
providing the link to the list.

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/ge...atz/index.html

After carefully reading it I am convinced that a DOT-certified helmet best
suits the most statistically probable accident that _I_ might have (material
of the chin bar notwithstanding.) To be clear, I am not disparaging other
certification criteria. We have to choose what we think best suits our
individual needs.

All of us know someone - or have personally experienced - a get off while
sport-touring or getting ornery in the twisties. I'm not minimizing these
accidents; people die in them, but statistically your risk of dying from this
injury is much much less than the two cited in the following profound three
paragraphs excerpted from the "Blowing the Lid Off" article:

Hurts So Good . . .
"Actual crash speeds are slow, but the damage isn't. These are serious, often
fatal crashes. Most of these crashes happen very close to home. Because no
matter where you go, you always leave your own neighborhood and come back to
it. And making it through traffic-filled intersections—the ones near your
home—is the most dangerous thing you do on a street motorcycle.

The next-biggest group of typical accidents happens at night, often on a
weekend, at higher speeds. They are much more likely to involve alcohol, and
often take place when a rider goes off the road alone. These two groups of
accidents account for almost 75 percent of all serious crashes. So the
accident we are most afraid of, and the one we tend to buy our helmets
for—crashing at high speeds, out sport riding — is relatively rare.

Even though many motorcycles were capable of running the quarter-mile in 11
seconds (or less) and topping 140 mph back in '81, not one of the 900-odd
accidents investigated in the Hurt study involved a speed over 100 mph. The
"one in a thousand" speed seen in the Hurt Report was 86 mph, meaning only one
of the accidents seen in the 900-crash study occurred at or above that speed.
And the COST 327 study, done recently in the land of the autobahn, contained
very few crashes over 120 kph, or 75 mph. The big lesson here is this: It's a
mistake to assume that going really fast causes a significant number of
accidents just because a motorcycle can go really fast."

So, in other words, you can significantly reduce your risk of injury or death
if (A) you don't drink and drive and (B) exercise extra careful vigilance and
utilize best riding safety practices in traffic - particularly close to your
home. This is universally true regardless if you don a Snell, BSI, ECE or
plastic DOT-certified helmet.

Pap

From: Jason Mellen
> >Sent: Apr 3, 2006 6:09 PM
> >Subject: Fw: Fw: CL 14 Helmet
> >
> >Plastic is not as strong as fibreglass. Fibreglass is reinforced plastic.
> >
> >I'm sure it's a fine helmet, but there's a reason plastic helmets are
cheap.


------------------------------------------------------
"I never cared for fashion much, amusing little seams
and witty little pleats: it was the girls I liked."
- David Bailey (1938-)

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
Vfr mailing list
Vfr@xxxxxx
For subscription and delivery options:
https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/vfr