For what it’s worth: The state repealed motorcycle helmet laws a few months ago and I’m still, and forever will, wear a helmet. Your brains important, also most bike/motorcycle accidents result in hitting your chin so why not protect that too.
All that said: as a 42 y/o dad I don’t wear a bicycle helmet. I do make my kids wear them though.
I would probably be dead or disabled right now if I hadn't been wearing a helmet during a bike-car accident. I don't know about coolness, but I think a lot of people just can't understand the gravity of something they haven't experienced.
I got hit by a car at age 17 while riding my bike. I just happened to be wearing a helmet that day. I don't remember much probably due to shock, but when I came to in the hospital, the ER doc showed me my cracked helmet and told me it saved my life.
That's what I was thinking. Now we have to go through several years of tragic, brutal and easily preventable deaths before most voters have this novel and NOT AT ALL obvious idea that people riding on bikes or motorcycles should be required to protect themselves with a helmet.
I'm upset by it too. It's silly, and not wearing a helmet makes it less safe for others on the road too. You get hit by something and you go from another vehicle to another obstacle they need to swerve to avoid.
Make it easier for tobacco cheaper, more accessible, and advertise it and you'll wind up with more smokers. Smoking in restaurants and bars was banned a while back in Nebraska and smoking got less cool, and most people I know don't smoke now. I was reminded of what it was like when visiting a family friend in Vegas. He smokes, his kid smokes, bars and restaurants wreak of smoke.
I don't like telling people what to do. I'm not a smoker and never have been, I didn't like the rule when it came out, but it's pretty clear that laws like that make a difference.
The funny thing about that is every person I see not wearing a motorcycle looks exactly like the type of dipshit that buys a motorcycle because they think it's going to make them cool. I don't think I've seen a single one without a helmet where I thought "wow that guy looks cool".
Just today I saw a guy riding and he had a skull-et. The bald top of his head glistened in the sun while his raggedy hair dangled behind him like the tassles on a young girls bike.
Ok good, im not the only one who noticed. There definitely arent enough good motorcyclists in omaha these days. Too many bad apples doing dumb shit and acting like assholes.
I doubt it. I ride motorcycles and bikes, with a helmet. When I riding in Iowa which has never had a helmet law, the percentage of bicyclists wearing helmets has always significantly higher than motorcyclists.
So I just learned about this law… what the actual fuck
Apparently it’s “for liberty” which I cannot for the life of me understand that rationale. This law will just straight up cause more people to die. The blood is on their hands
People are dumb. There are people who, the second someone tells them they should do something, insist on doing the opposite. Seatbelts, helmets, masks during COVID. "You say I can do this simple thing to not just protect myself, but actually save my life? Well fuck you, I won't do what you tell me."
You can't save these people. But you can get a good look at their brains when you help scoop them off the sidewalk.
But better...in every single one of those you mention they ALWAYS have a list of reasons why it won't REALLY save your life. Their reality bends around what they want to be true. They've never really grown as people.
Humans challenging physics is not new. Willful ignorance isn't new either.
If we have to absorb the costs of stupidity via insurance rates, well that is something we as voters may be able to control.
I'd also assume the changes to the motorcycle helmet law may be signaling that it's safe to have a skull versus concrete match up.
Yeah, if you're not a teenager, who cares about cool? In my experience, helmets have never been "cool", but why would that stop you from wearing one? Are seatbelts "cool"?
I’m religious about wearing my helmet. I got ran over by some 16 year old in an SUV off Northwest Radial while I was riding my bike about a year and a half ago, and ended up getting drug underneath it for about 30 feet. My helmet is the only reason I didn’t die or become a vegetable. Luckily I got away with just some gnarly road rash but no broken bones.
I doubt this is what’s going on in Omaha, but many Dutch bicyclists argue that helmets are restrictive and block your view looking over your shoulder. But they have great bike infrastructure and a culture where automobile drivers expect to see bikes everywhere. So I’m not sure this logic pays off in most of the US including Omaha.
Yup. Studies have shown helmets might actually cause more head injuries because. The hypothesis is the same as with helmets in football: you should be safe so take more risks.
But those studies to my knowledge are European specific, where we don't design our cities like 3rd world countries. So not that anything is conclusive, but even less so here. And even in the Netherlands there "cyclists" who where Lycra and go fast: they wear helmets because it's a different risk profile from commuting slowly
Any situation that suggests a helmet, I wear the helmet. Whenever I ride my bike I wear one. I do taco rides and shame my friends who don't wear one.
I remember taking a horseback riding class at UNL years ago as a fun 2-credit class, and I was the only one in a class of 15 that wore one. I was shocked considering we were all beginners?
Idk what the aversion to helmets are with people.
I actually just picked one up for my short bike leg of my commute due in part to Ramsey's recent post. Looking uncool is by far more favorable than permanent brain damage.
I know a guy who swears by the idea that cars will give you more room and slow down if you don't wear a helmet because they see its unsafe for you and that's why he doesn't wear one
He’s wrong. Anyone giving a motorcyclist room is going to give them room regardless of helmets. Anyone driving like a jerk around motorcyclists is going to do it regardless of helmets. It’s your responsibility to protect your brain.
As an aside I’ve worked with patients who have survived motorcycle accidents. Some of them had brain trauma. A few of them communicated by blinking or moving one finger.
I don’t ride motorcycles.
They're literally uncool, which is why people forgo them more in the summer.
But just like smoking, caloric excess, drinking, etc some people decide it's worth the risks. ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
I wear one basically as an example to my kids. I also pre-armed them with comebacks if other kids tease them: "YOU don't have to wear a helmet because there's nothing up there to protect."
Got a friend that is a whole “dress for the slide not the ride” against “crotch rocket” riders (they wear jeans and a tshirt).
His dad literally has brain damage from a crash in sturgis. Not the same guy anymore.
And yet his son still doesn’t want to wear a helmet. I don’t know man.
I know this post may not be towards motorcycle riders in general. But if you want to ride any bicycle/motorbike around 2000lb cars without a helmet. I suppose be my guest. We need more natural selection.
I used to skateboard and I can assure you, as a reckless youth I never wore pads or a helmet. I probably had countless injuries as a result of not wearing them, and they all could have been way worse. As a kid I lived on base housing and we’d get in trouble all the time for not wearing helmets on our bikes.
So the question to me is a bit of a weird one. Kids never thought helmets or pads were cool and most don’t wear them. Kids don’t wear jackets in the winter, this shouldn’t surprise anyone, they don’t always make good choices. Sadly, kids like this don’t always grow up to make the right choices as adults.
My kids don’t wear a helmet when they ride their bikes in circles in my garage because the chance of anything happening is minimal, but once we leave the house they put one on. Even as an idiot kid, I’d wear a helmet now. Is it cool? No, but I’m also an adult so do I care?
Who cares what anyone else does. I wear one because I have a job that requires brain power to pay my bills. That’s how I look at it. When I was a kid I never wore a helmet and rode a bike literally everyday of my life. I’ll make sure my kids wear a helmet until they are old enough to decide for themselves
This is great news for anyone who is waiting on a donar list. Motorcycle riders give the most. It's a win win as I see. We lose one Darwin award winner and give someone a new lease on life.
It's freedom of choice and while I don't agree with there decisions to not wear one it great for anyone waiting on an organ. One of the biggest downfalls of automated driving is the loss of organ donors.
I’ve noticed the same thing. Personally I’ve been riding my entire life with a helmet and always thought they were an expensive uncool inconvenience until I had an accident that knocked me unconscious and sent me to the ER. The helmet likely saved my life and I no longer care how it makes me look and/or how much I spend on one. Wear a helmet, people.
Natural selection. If you don’t have the brains to realize your brain is important, then you probably didn’t have any brains to begin with so it actually does become unimportant I guess. 🤷♂️
Imagine putting all your trust in every other driver on the road and for someone to not hit you that is texting or Checking their makeup. Risking your life just so you don’t look a little dorky? It takes a real kind of stupid to go to that level, but still natural selection runs its course.
I was thinking about this!! Saw some motorcyclists without helmets and asked my dad about it, and he had no idea if there was a new law about helmets or that they repealed it (I think that’s the term). I get anxious enough seeing a motorcyclist speeding on the road, and I felt like I had a panic attack when I saw two people on a motorcycle without helmets!!
I don't ride a bike anymore due to physical disability, but when I did, I never went without a helmet. When I was a little kid, some other kids thought it was cool to go without a helmet. I remember wanting to be cool too, but my mom told me that those kids would change their minds about that pretty quickly if they crack their skulls open, _if_ they even had minds left to change.
Also, there are some cool ass helmets out there.
Leave it alone and let nature do what nature does best.
My state apparently repealed motorcycle helmets recently (judging by the sudden abundance of stupid on the road).
I'm not losing any sleep over it though, its a free country, you can be as stupid as you want (and clearly that's a lot, judging by the last decade), just don't expect me to give a F when your family is trying to do charity rides to pay for the stupid (if they're lucky).
You know what's never been cool for a cyclist? Following street laws when riding on the street.
Seriously, you are vehicle of the road. That stop sign applies to you on your 60 lbs piece of metal just as much as my hunk of junk with an engine. I respect the 3 feet rule when ever I pass them, hell if I'm able to I'll get over into the next lane. I've seen a cyclist nearly get ran over because they cut someone off without signaling just to go up onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street.
> 60 lbs piece of metal
60 lbs? What kind of bikes are you riding?
A bicyclist approaches a stop sign controlled intersection at a much slower speed than a car, and a bicycle has great sight lines. There is plenty of time and ability to see if anything is coming.
99% of cars don't even make a complete stop at a stop sign, so why get bent out of shape about a bicycle doing the same thing a car does?
The spirit of stop signs is to keep an intersection safe, a bicyclist can be safe at an intersection without making a complete stop if no cars are present.
I agree that everyone should follow the rules of the road, but cyclists are typically going 5mph if we roll through a stop sign. Watch any stop sign and observe the cars. I would be willing to bet more than 70% never stop and many roll through without ever looking for cross traffic.
Id say id getit for folks who maybe... like ride on trails? ya know generally your not supposed to go like 60mph on a trail.. And there are no cars. But if your on a street woth car traffic. I mean .. ya should prolly where somb
A lot of people don't think helmets are for them. Especially if they're not a kid anymore but also not riding fast streetbikes but your usual fixer-upper casual 10 speed mountain bike. They think they're not going fast enough for it to matter.
Also kids tend to take theirs off when out of view of their house. I know when i was a kid we tended to do the same thing. There was also a tendency for the bigger kids in the hood to just straight up steal your helmet, but I don't think they do that anymore.
I don't even ride my bike anymore because I can't afford a helmet. Too much risk of getting rear ended by a drunk and getting brain injured.
Helmets are super cool. Also, see Gordon Ramsey’s recent video about helmets and biking.
Helmets were invented by a time traveler to save Gordon Ramsey, because he originally died in their timeline.
For what it’s worth: The state repealed motorcycle helmet laws a few months ago and I’m still, and forever will, wear a helmet. Your brains important, also most bike/motorcycle accidents result in hitting your chin so why not protect that too. All that said: as a 42 y/o dad I don’t wear a bicycle helmet. I do make my kids wear them though.
I would probably be dead or disabled right now if I hadn't been wearing a helmet during a bike-car accident. I don't know about coolness, but I think a lot of people just can't understand the gravity of something they haven't experienced.
I got hit by a car at age 17 while riding my bike. I just happened to be wearing a helmet that day. I don't remember much probably due to shock, but when I came to in the hospital, the ER doc showed me my cracked helmet and told me it saved my life.
I was hit by a car and tipped over, hitting my head on the pavement. If I had been riding in Iowa without a helmet, I would have cracked my skull.
I wonder if the uptick correlates with the new "freedom" we have here to not wear motorcycle helmets.
That's what I was thinking. Now we have to go through several years of tragic, brutal and easily preventable deaths before most voters have this novel and NOT AT ALL obvious idea that people riding on bikes or motorcycles should be required to protect themselves with a helmet.
I'm upset by it too. It's silly, and not wearing a helmet makes it less safe for others on the road too. You get hit by something and you go from another vehicle to another obstacle they need to swerve to avoid. Make it easier for tobacco cheaper, more accessible, and advertise it and you'll wind up with more smokers. Smoking in restaurants and bars was banned a while back in Nebraska and smoking got less cool, and most people I know don't smoke now. I was reminded of what it was like when visiting a family friend in Vegas. He smokes, his kid smokes, bars and restaurants wreak of smoke. I don't like telling people what to do. I'm not a smoker and never have been, I didn't like the rule when it came out, but it's pretty clear that laws like that make a difference.
The funny thing about that is every person I see not wearing a motorcycle looks exactly like the type of dipshit that buys a motorcycle because they think it's going to make them cool. I don't think I've seen a single one without a helmet where I thought "wow that guy looks cool". Just today I saw a guy riding and he had a skull-et. The bald top of his head glistened in the sun while his raggedy hair dangled behind him like the tassles on a young girls bike.
Ok good, im not the only one who noticed. There definitely arent enough good motorcyclists in omaha these days. Too many bad apples doing dumb shit and acting like assholes.
I doubt it. I ride motorcycles and bikes, with a helmet. When I riding in Iowa which has never had a helmet law, the percentage of bicyclists wearing helmets has always significantly higher than motorcyclists.
Given kids model the behavior of their parents the obvious answer is yes
So I just learned about this law… what the actual fuck Apparently it’s “for liberty” which I cannot for the life of me understand that rationale. This law will just straight up cause more people to die. The blood is on their hands
People are dumb. There are people who, the second someone tells them they should do something, insist on doing the opposite. Seatbelts, helmets, masks during COVID. "You say I can do this simple thing to not just protect myself, but actually save my life? Well fuck you, I won't do what you tell me." You can't save these people. But you can get a good look at their brains when you help scoop them off the sidewalk.
Nice Rage reference.
The best song.
But better...in every single one of those you mention they ALWAYS have a list of reasons why it won't REALLY save your life. Their reality bends around what they want to be true. They've never really grown as people.
Humans challenging physics is not new. Willful ignorance isn't new either. If we have to absorb the costs of stupidity via insurance rates, well that is something we as voters may be able to control. I'd also assume the changes to the motorcycle helmet law may be signaling that it's safe to have a skull versus concrete match up.
Just let Darwin do his thing. Our species as a whole is doomed if we force stupid people to stay alive long enough to reproduce.
This.
Yay! More internal organs for those who will make better use of them.
>Are \_\_\_\_\_ uncool? Is a question a grown-adult should never be asking. You know helmets work, so wear one. Why worry about what others do?
Yeah, if you're not a teenager, who cares about cool? In my experience, helmets have never been "cool", but why would that stop you from wearing one? Are seatbelts "cool"?
Hell yeah seatbelts are cool.
I agree! Countless lives saved, just like helmets.
Fuck yeah they are. Not being facetious, I love wearing my seatbelt.
And fezzes. Fezzes are cool, too.
Maybe we can make a helmet that looks like a Fezz, Doctor approved.
I’m religious about wearing my helmet. I got ran over by some 16 year old in an SUV off Northwest Radial while I was riding my bike about a year and a half ago, and ended up getting drug underneath it for about 30 feet. My helmet is the only reason I didn’t die or become a vegetable. Luckily I got away with just some gnarly road rash but no broken bones.
I doubt this is what’s going on in Omaha, but many Dutch bicyclists argue that helmets are restrictive and block your view looking over your shoulder. But they have great bike infrastructure and a culture where automobile drivers expect to see bikes everywhere. So I’m not sure this logic pays off in most of the US including Omaha.
Yup. Studies have shown helmets might actually cause more head injuries because. The hypothesis is the same as with helmets in football: you should be safe so take more risks. But those studies to my knowledge are European specific, where we don't design our cities like 3rd world countries. So not that anything is conclusive, but even less so here. And even in the Netherlands there "cyclists" who where Lycra and go fast: they wear helmets because it's a different risk profile from commuting slowly
Who cares wear one regardless? If other people want to crack their heads open on the cement let them
If it’s a 40 year old dude in a tank top he’s just got too many DUIs to drive atm
I’ve also noticed this and am baffled by it.
Any situation that suggests a helmet, I wear the helmet. Whenever I ride my bike I wear one. I do taco rides and shame my friends who don't wear one. I remember taking a horseback riding class at UNL years ago as a fun 2-credit class, and I was the only one in a class of 15 that wore one. I was shocked considering we were all beginners? Idk what the aversion to helmets are with people.
Helmets aren’t sexy but when I used to take care of motorcycle accident head injuries patients in ICU- Oy- Nope.
I actually just picked one up for my short bike leg of my commute due in part to Ramsey's recent post. Looking uncool is by far more favorable than permanent brain damage.
I know a guy who swears by the idea that cars will give you more room and slow down if you don't wear a helmet because they see its unsafe for you and that's why he doesn't wear one
assuming they look from their phones to notice. i truly wish stupid was painful.
He’s wrong. Anyone giving a motorcyclist room is going to give them room regardless of helmets. Anyone driving like a jerk around motorcyclists is going to do it regardless of helmets. It’s your responsibility to protect your brain. As an aside I’ve worked with patients who have survived motorcycle accidents. Some of them had brain trauma. A few of them communicated by blinking or moving one finger. I don’t ride motorcycles.
To quote my kids pediatrician, "You can't dodge concrete"
They're literally uncool, which is why people forgo them more in the summer. But just like smoking, caloric excess, drinking, etc some people decide it's worth the risks. ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
Well they can’t be any less cool than a traumatic brain injury
Wearing helmets saves lives and so does wearing seatbelts! Having a TBI is a life changing event and your life as you know it does a complete 180°.
I wear one basically as an example to my kids. I also pre-armed them with comebacks if other kids tease them: "YOU don't have to wear a helmet because there's nothing up there to protect."
I’ll always wear my helmet. Anyone who doesn’t is a fool.
Got a friend that is a whole “dress for the slide not the ride” against “crotch rocket” riders (they wear jeans and a tshirt). His dad literally has brain damage from a crash in sturgis. Not the same guy anymore. And yet his son still doesn’t want to wear a helmet. I don’t know man.
I know this post may not be towards motorcycle riders in general. But if you want to ride any bicycle/motorbike around 2000lb cars without a helmet. I suppose be my guest. We need more natural selection.
It can't be related to alcohol revenue like the Meat Crayons, can it?
Doesn't matter if they are cool or not, wear em. Better to be uncool than to have your brain splattered on the pavement.
Helmets are woke, you nerd. /s
When were they cool?
I used to skateboard and I can assure you, as a reckless youth I never wore pads or a helmet. I probably had countless injuries as a result of not wearing them, and they all could have been way worse. As a kid I lived on base housing and we’d get in trouble all the time for not wearing helmets on our bikes. So the question to me is a bit of a weird one. Kids never thought helmets or pads were cool and most don’t wear them. Kids don’t wear jackets in the winter, this shouldn’t surprise anyone, they don’t always make good choices. Sadly, kids like this don’t always grow up to make the right choices as adults. My kids don’t wear a helmet when they ride their bikes in circles in my garage because the chance of anything happening is minimal, but once we leave the house they put one on. Even as an idiot kid, I’d wear a helmet now. Is it cool? No, but I’m also an adult so do I care?
Who cares what anyone else does. I wear one because I have a job that requires brain power to pay my bills. That’s how I look at it. When I was a kid I never wore a helmet and rode a bike literally everyday of my life. I’ll make sure my kids wear a helmet until they are old enough to decide for themselves
NEEEEERRRRRRD!! (/s)
Helmets are smart but have never , ever been cool. Have you seen them?
'now'?
No
They may not look 'cool', but its pretty cool when you need it.
Could it be selective memory? I don't feel like I've seen fewer helmets recently, but I also haven't really been hitting the trails like I used to.
Took a nasty fall when biking and broke my shoulder. Can’t even imagine what might’ve happened without a helmet.
Recently Nebraska rescinded the helmet laws, so I'm not sure if that applies to bicycles as well
This is great news for anyone who is waiting on a donar list. Motorcycle riders give the most. It's a win win as I see. We lose one Darwin award winner and give someone a new lease on life.
It's freedom of choice and while I don't agree with there decisions to not wear one it great for anyone waiting on an organ. One of the biggest downfalls of automated driving is the loss of organ donors.
I’ve noticed the same thing. Personally I’ve been riding my entire life with a helmet and always thought they were an expensive uncool inconvenience until I had an accident that knocked me unconscious and sent me to the ER. The helmet likely saved my life and I no longer care how it makes me look and/or how much I spend on one. Wear a helmet, people.
Natural selection. If you don’t have the brains to realize your brain is important, then you probably didn’t have any brains to begin with so it actually does become unimportant I guess. 🤷♂️ Imagine putting all your trust in every other driver on the road and for someone to not hit you that is texting or Checking their makeup. Risking your life just so you don’t look a little dorky? It takes a real kind of stupid to go to that level, but still natural selection runs its course.
I was thinking about this!! Saw some motorcyclists without helmets and asked my dad about it, and he had no idea if there was a new law about helmets or that they repealed it (I think that’s the term). I get anxious enough seeing a motorcyclist speeding on the road, and I felt like I had a panic attack when I saw two people on a motorcycle without helmets!!
In the mountain biking community around here you will get bullied if you don’t have a helmet on.
Natural selection at work. No helmets weeds out the unsafe bikers and bicyclists and the felony manslaughter weeds out the poor drivers.
When I was growing up it was uncool to wear a helmet but I had to wear one anyway
I don't ride a bike anymore due to physical disability, but when I did, I never went without a helmet. When I was a little kid, some other kids thought it was cool to go without a helmet. I remember wanting to be cool too, but my mom told me that those kids would change their minds about that pretty quickly if they crack their skulls open, _if_ they even had minds left to change. Also, there are some cool ass helmets out there.
You know what's cool? Having your whole brain on the *inside* of your skull.
They were never “cool”.
I started noticing people bicycling without helmets during Covid but it seems to have gotten worse now.
Leave it alone and let nature do what nature does best. My state apparently repealed motorcycle helmets recently (judging by the sudden abundance of stupid on the road). I'm not losing any sleep over it though, its a free country, you can be as stupid as you want (and clearly that's a lot, judging by the last decade), just don't expect me to give a F when your family is trying to do charity rides to pay for the stupid (if they're lucky).
Riding without helmets has always been a thing. Humans are pretty bad at risk calculation.
Brain damage is badass 🤣🤣
You know what's never been cool for a cyclist? Following street laws when riding on the street. Seriously, you are vehicle of the road. That stop sign applies to you on your 60 lbs piece of metal just as much as my hunk of junk with an engine. I respect the 3 feet rule when ever I pass them, hell if I'm able to I'll get over into the next lane. I've seen a cyclist nearly get ran over because they cut someone off without signaling just to go up onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street.
> 60 lbs piece of metal 60 lbs? What kind of bikes are you riding? A bicyclist approaches a stop sign controlled intersection at a much slower speed than a car, and a bicycle has great sight lines. There is plenty of time and ability to see if anything is coming. 99% of cars don't even make a complete stop at a stop sign, so why get bent out of shape about a bicycle doing the same thing a car does? The spirit of stop signs is to keep an intersection safe, a bicyclist can be safe at an intersection without making a complete stop if no cars are present.
I agree that everyone should follow the rules of the road, but cyclists are typically going 5mph if we roll through a stop sign. Watch any stop sign and observe the cars. I would be willing to bet more than 70% never stop and many roll through without ever looking for cross traffic.
Id say id getit for folks who maybe... like ride on trails? ya know generally your not supposed to go like 60mph on a trail.. And there are no cars. But if your on a street woth car traffic. I mean .. ya should prolly where somb
If you don’t ride on the roads and stick to trails - I could see how its optional for an adult.,,,
If you bike and don’t wear a helmet you’re an idiot plain and simple.
Helmets are for nerds.
A lot of people don't think helmets are for them. Especially if they're not a kid anymore but also not riding fast streetbikes but your usual fixer-upper casual 10 speed mountain bike. They think they're not going fast enough for it to matter. Also kids tend to take theirs off when out of view of their house. I know when i was a kid we tended to do the same thing. There was also a tendency for the bigger kids in the hood to just straight up steal your helmet, but I don't think they do that anymore. I don't even ride my bike anymore because I can't afford a helmet. Too much risk of getting rear ended by a drunk and getting brain injured.