Helmets are for pussies

[flyingzonker]

Administrative edit: Removed the direct embedding per request. Warning, graphic content:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VJXRSIcKc

[flyingzonker]

I watch this kind of video--I have watched a lot of crash vids--because, seems to me, it is an economical way to learn what not to do. The above video, while it may be preaching to the choir at this site, is one that I would have every bicycle, scooter and motorcycle rider watch at least once (a year).

I have learned to love helmets the hard way. Maybe, after all, that is the only way to get it.

I have very little passion left in this old carcass of mine, not even sex and food move me much anymore. But I still love riding--and I'm still passionate about my bright yellow high-viz full face motorcycle helmet.

[you you]

I watch this kind of video--I have watched a lot of crash vids--because, seems to me, it is an economical way to learn what not to do. The above video, while it may be preaching to the choir at this site, is one that I would have every bicycle, scooter and motorcycle rider watch at least once (a year).

I have learned to love helmets the hard way. Maybe, after all, that is the only way to get it.

I have very little passion left in this old carcass of mine, not even sex and food move me much anymore. But I still love riding--and I'm still passionate about my bright yellow high-viz full face motorcycle helmet.

Avoid the videos, not really much to be learned.

[honkerman]

Avoid the videos, not really much to be learned.

Yeah...one of the rare times I think I agrees with 2U's. If you can't learn by someone telling you, if you're that convinced of your own invincibility...well, a video isn't likely to make a difference. Heck, they've been showing kids pictures of blackened lungs in biology textbooks and videos for over 40 years and people still smoke. Odd thing about humanity, we tend to be unwilling to believe that the bad thing that happened to someone else will happen to us.

So, for myself, I'm already convinced of the need for a helmet, I'll pass on watching something that will give me nightmares.

[Mel46]

I have been to several states that have no helmet law, and we all know that smoking is bad for you, but I can't count the number of helmetless riders I have seen who were smoking while riding. I guess we are talking to the wind sometimes. But then, it wouldn't be Darwin's Theory if there weren't some out there at all times trying to prove him wrong. Let's see a show of hands for all of those who were not injuried while crashing at 60 mph, without a helmet. Hmmm. Well, did you learn Anything? Would you like to show us some tricks on your sport bike at, oh say 120 mph, without a Helmet? Go ahead, show us that Darwin is wrong.

[WhiteNoise]

Meow
Seriously lids matter if your brain means anything to you. Try living without it. I forget stuff already and mines intact.
I should be scared but you gyz keep me sane
(in-sane) < ahh, that's better, home sweet home.

[gagazman]

I haven't watched the video as I have stopped watching 'crash vids' with being a new rider and all. However I am so pleased that helmets are compulsory here in the UK. I am sure their would be more reports of casualties if there weren't.

I love my black and hi-viz helmet. Yes, not 100% hi -viz, but visible all the same, AND it may just save my life one day!!

[flyingzonker]

Avoid the videos, not really much to be learned.

On the contrary, there is a lot to learn there. At any rate I feel I have somehow osmotically learned things from crash vids that I could have only learned one other place-namely, my own crashes.

[flyingzonker]

Yeah...one of the rare times I think I agrees with 2U's. If you can't learn by someone telling you, if you're that convinced of your own invincibility...well, a video isn't likely to make a difference. Heck, they've been showing kids pictures of blackened lungs in biology textbooks and videos for over 40 years and people still smoke. Odd thing about humanity, we tend to be unwilling to believe that the bad thing that happened to someone else will happen to us.

So, for myself, I'm already convinced of the need for a helmet, I'll pass on watching something that will give me nightmares.

I can remember vividly a movie we were shown in school of the aftermath of automobile crashes. Nothing was left to the imagination. It made a big impression on me. From that day I knew cars were not like teddy bears. Cars were like real bears. I can't help thinking I was a better driver for that knowledge.

[kramnala58]

From the image on the video screen, I can't bring myself to watch the video .... weak stomach I guess.

Nonetheless, I have heard it said that typically, the shock factor tends to soften after about 3 weeks. For example, a number of years ago (about 30) I saw the results of a fatal accident which would have been quite minor had the deceased person been wearing a seat belt. The vehicle had spun around when hit as it passed through an intersection and the passenger door popped open. The passenger was ejected and struck his head on a utility pole, killing him instantly. I happened to not be wearing my seat belt because I was just going 2 blocks to the local convenience store. I remember thinking that I should always wear my seat belt, and started to do so immediately. But within a month I got back into the old habit of not wearing to go around the corner. The shock factor had worn off. Fortunately I have since corrected that bad habit and always wear a seat belt now.

Similarly, even though I know the importance of a helmet, I rarely wear one when I take my PCX to the shop at the top of my small street (400 meters/yards away). I always wear a helmet beyond that, but not typically when just going to the top of the street. As well, I typically ride without any protective gear beyond a helmet because it is so hot here. I know that it is risky, but I sense that there is a little bit of a feeling that it won't be me, it will be the other guy when it comes to thinking something bad might happen to us.

I know that this is foolish thinking (or lack of thinking) on my part, but somehow I can't break the habit, though I suspect when I get a motorcycle in the US, it will be different because the environment and the culture are much different as well.

Okay, fellow members, go ahead and tell me how dumb I am.

[flyingzonker]

Okay, fellow members, go ahead and tell me how dumb I am.

Well, since you are giving me permission...

As to the story you tell of the accident you saw and how soon the effect wore off. I can relate. I once made what is called a Hollywood stop at a two way stop intersection and then continued on. When I had gone through and before I drove on, for some reason I looked in my rear view mirror and saw something that astonished me--a motorcycle and rider had risen out of the pavement, like Jack's beanstalk out of the earth! It took me a few seconds to shake this impression and realize--to my horror--that this guy had fallen off his bike and I was somehow implicated in that fact.
'What had happened was this: I had made a perfunctory stop and given a perfunctiory look at the road and then continued on. I had absolutely seen no vehicles approaching .Meanwhile this rider was coming on at too high a speed to safely stop his bike. He highsided and lost his helmet--it was not strapped on--and injured himself badly.
When I realized what had happened, I got out of my car and went back toward the scene of the accident. There was already a bunch of people there--it was a residential area. I stood frozen in grizzly horror watching this guy get to his feet and stagger off toward the curb. I'll never forget his face--it was purple. I was sure he was going to die.
To make a long story short, he didn't. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and I was given a traffic ticket and nothing more.
And yet, sometimes I find myself Hollywood stopping!
Someday, I think, someone will fix it so I settle up with this guy. So be it.

[you you]

Okay, fellow members, go ahead and tell me how dumb I am.

Well, since you are giving me permission...

As to the story you tell of the accident you saw and how soon the effect wore off. I can relate. I once made what is called a Hollywood stop at a two way stop intersection and then continued on. When I had gone through and before I drove on, for some reason I looked in my rear view mirror and saw something that astonished me--a motorcycle and rider had risen out of the pavement, like Jack's beanstalk out of the earth! It took me a few seconds to shake this impression and realize--to my horror--that this guy had fallen off his bike and I was somehow implicated in that fact.
'What had happened was this: I had made a perfunctory stop and given a perfunctiory look at the road and then continued on. I had absolutely seen no vehicles approaching .Meanwhile this rider was coming on at too high a speed to safely stop his bike. He highsided and lost his helmet--it was not strapped on--and injured himself badly.
When I realized what had happened, I got out of my car and went back toward the scene of the accident. There was already a bunch of people there--it was a residential area. I stood frozen in grizzly horror watching this guy get to his feet and stagger off toward the curb. I'll never forget his face--it was purple. I was sure he was going to die.
To make a long story short, he didn't. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and I was given a traffic ticket and nothing more.
And yet, sometimes I find myself Hollywood stopping!
Someday, I think, someone will fix it so I settle up with this guy. So be it.

What's a Hollywood stop?

[flyingzonker]

What's a Hollywood stop?

A term used to describe an incomplete stop of a vehicle, usually at a stop sign.

[zone23]

What's a Hollywood stop?

A term used to describe an incomplete stop of a vehicle, usually at a stop sign.

I thought it was California stop?

[kramnala58]

What's a Hollywood stop?

A term used to describe an incomplete stop of a vehicle, usually at a stop sign.

I thought it was California stop?

As they say in Thailand .... Same, same, only different.

[you you]

What's a Hollywood stop?

A term used to describe an incomplete stop of a vehicle, usually at a stop sign.

I can see that on google but does it mean that the vehicle didn't actually totally stop or does it mean it crossed any stop signs or lines!

[Mel46]

Sometimes the Hollywood stop is called a California Stop, or a rolling stop. The driver does not fully stop, or they stop for a second...closer to a Yield than a Stop.

[you you]

Sometimes the Hollywood stop is called a California Stop, or a rolling stop. The driver does not fully stop, or they stop for a second...closer to a Yield than a Stop.

Aaahaaa. Got it cheers