Everyone knows that when you hop on a motorcycle, you risk life and limb, but not always in that order. It's easy to forgo safety when you know what you are doing is characteristically unsafe. "What's the use?" someone might ask, but just because you are taking a risk, doesn't mean you should expose yourself to unnecessary danger. Yes, riding a motorcycle is hazardous, but so is driving a car, playing sports and even walking down stairs. What matters most is the steps you take to minimize your risk. When you walk down the stairs, you hold on to the railing. When you drive a car, you put on a seatbelt. When you hop on a motorcycle, you need to WEAR A HELMET!
It is mind boggling to see motorcyclists cruising down the expressway, weaving in an out of traffic with their bare noggin exposed to the world. It's as if the thought of instant death or paralysis has never crossed their mind. If you fall off a motorcycle, bottom line, you will get hurt. However, there is a stark difference between being injured and losing your life, and the right helmet makes all the difference.
By not wearing a helmet you are asking a die. The right protective gear lowers your chances of death or serious brain injury dramatically. You might think you are a safe rider, that you have your hog under control. So did my dad.
Every summer my dad would take us to the Jersey shore, and everyday he would wake up early and take his 1975 Triumph Trident out for a cruise along the beach. As my dad was stopped at a red light, a woman on a car-phone rear ended him and sent him flying forty feet in the air. He landed on the pavement and broke a majority of his ribs, his pelvis, and a few vertebrae. As far as his head went, the helmet he was wearing absorbed most of the impact. The doctor later told him that if he weren't wearing a helmet they would have had to scoop his brains off the side of the road. That helmet saved my dad's life, and I am lucky he was wearing one. A minor accident on a motorcycle can quickly become a tragedy when a helmet isn't worn.
By Nathan B George
It is mind boggling to see motorcyclists cruising down the expressway, weaving in an out of traffic with their bare noggin exposed to the world. It's as if the thought of instant death or paralysis has never crossed their mind. If you fall off a motorcycle, bottom line, you will get hurt. However, there is a stark difference between being injured and losing your life, and the right helmet makes all the difference.
By not wearing a helmet you are asking a die. The right protective gear lowers your chances of death or serious brain injury dramatically. You might think you are a safe rider, that you have your hog under control. So did my dad.
Every summer my dad would take us to the Jersey shore, and everyday he would wake up early and take his 1975 Triumph Trident out for a cruise along the beach. As my dad was stopped at a red light, a woman on a car-phone rear ended him and sent him flying forty feet in the air. He landed on the pavement and broke a majority of his ribs, his pelvis, and a few vertebrae. As far as his head went, the helmet he was wearing absorbed most of the impact. The doctor later told him that if he weren't wearing a helmet they would have had to scoop his brains off the side of the road. That helmet saved my dad's life, and I am lucky he was wearing one. A minor accident on a motorcycle can quickly become a tragedy when a helmet isn't worn.
By Nathan B George
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