I’ll have to admit to some ambivalence about this helmet thing. I haven’t been wearing one when I ride my ATV, because I frankly haven’t felt a need for it. I ride slow and careful, seldom going faster than 30 mph and then only on straight stretches of road. I’ve never had a close call. But, I don’t ride it on snowmobile trails either.

On the other hand, I never go without a helmet when riding my snowmobile. With that machine, I go as fast as 70 mph on straight stretches of road and on lakes. There is a crack in my snowmobile helmet that tells me I wouldn’t be here today if I had not been wearing it.

I think I will start wearing my helmet when riding my ATV, at least on public trails. There, I can’t control how the other guy rides, who might crash into me. A defensive measure, such as wearing a helmet, seems prudent. But, helmet or not, I definitely will stay off the snowmobile trails.

 

Our dunes http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7...4760--,00.html probably average one or two killed each short season (along with untold injured) while being a fraction of the size of most others nationwide (which is probably a factor in and of itself).

Helmets (as you related above) are a 21st century 'given'....common sense conception as to the 'one-way' make-up of the park itself....is evidently not.

 

I guess you kind of took the bait here, jagger....as the question we can't get your fellow atvers to ask you is this....how do you keep from implying that your son isn't "a real man" like helmetless Dad; if he doesn't ditch that helmet when he's "legally" (this is the law I assume you propose) of age to do so?

Pardon the lack of compassion here, yet it's not exactly your life I really give a rip about (if you're using your signature to promote drinking and riding to the kids who frequent this site...you are beyond help)....it's the kids who look up to you and the ones who witness you exhibit this kind of behavior day in and day out that are actually the keepers of the flame here.

You can't save everybody....yet you can sure as heck put laws in place which put at least 'some' doubt in the minds of those kids being taught otherwise.

 

Here's a scenario for you:

"The kid" in your local atv club finally turns whatever age the radical right atvers in your state convince the legislature to put the "age of consent" at...and starts riding helmetless like the "live free or die" mentors in his club. Said kid smucks a tree, gets thrown off and cracks his head on a rock or any of a hundred of other ways to kill yourself on a quad without the proper head protection.

HOW IN THE HECK DO YOU PEOPLE <u>LIVE</u> WITH YOURSELVES AFTER SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS?

Do you drag out the tired old "helmet wouldn't have made a difference" story?

Do you just not ever look his parents in the eye again?

Do you take the next kid aside who is about to come of age/make that decison and beg of him...."don't keep the helmet on or everybody will <u>remember</u> that we didn't bother to model proper behavior for your dead little friend......"?

What kind of legacy exactly is it that you are trying to <u>build</u> there?

 

heres an example a person with out a helmet could die from a fall off a 6foot ladder
with a helmet if i remember right it would take a 20 plus foot fall to kill you

PLUS the only organ in the human body not able to repair it self is the human brain , injure it and thats all they wrote your done !!!
so cruiseing around the yard in first gear on a wheeler is fast enough to wipe out the old brain ,, if you don't have a helmet on ..
yes everybody wishes common sense would prevail , and there is some thing to be said about darwin selection and the gene pool ..

 

Well said....I wouldn't have any problem with natural selection and thinning out the gene pool....."if"...it (#1) was only 'full grown adults' that were injured/dying as a result; (#2) those riders permenantly maimed were all independantly wealthy millionaires more than willing to drain their family's savings when they end up in a wheelchair...and (#3) every helmetless death was swept under the carpet like that man or woman never walked the face of this earth (for the benefit of those understanding the physics of your post above).

Unfortunately, as we all know, these riders are affecting our abiltiy to build any kind of meaningful legacy.....and our grandchildren's chance to experience it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] (yet 'gosh', don't tell these people that to their face...how will we ever build another place like 'Windrock' if we do?).

 

It is no wonder kids these days have no respect for anything and make some pretty incredibly poor decisions... Now before you think I am kid bashing.. I admit there are some out there, thankfully the majority of them, that do act responsibly.. but man, the small percentage of the ones acting out sure have taken stupid to a new level..

Parental responsibility is severely lacking too, especially when impressionable youths are involved, you just keep repeating the cycle. A sure sign of not being comfortablein one's skin I guess. I keep hearing that famous line from Forrest Gump in my mind.. "Stupid is as stupid does.", I didn't understand that before... but it sure is becoming clearer.

Kids are looking for good examples to emulate. They need standards to be set, limits to be established, and consequences for their actions. If you don't teach them that when they are young, they will never learn it when they are older and develop their "mind your own business" mentality. Well friend, helping protect kids is my business... and if persons like you cannot do that, the decision will be taken out of your hands... We don't want that to happen... but when lawmakers get involved... it affects everyone...

 

Pismo seems to be about the same. I know that 2003 saw 3 deaths in the high season (May-Sep). One was a new to Pismo guy on an MC who they assumed went off a face. Found him in the AM. It's posted around here somewhere. 2nd was a lady who crashed and hit her head on her daughters (crashed) quad (razorback). Third was a DUI. Under-18 y/o hit a 10 y/o pedestrian in the camp area.

Califronia also has the largest OHV program in the US. And I know there are deaths other places. I was at Hungry Valley (Gorman, at the top of the infamous Grapevine) Memorial Weekend '03 and the medivac chopper was there several times.

It was interesting to see that MI has banned any two-up riding, even on MCs. CA allows two-up on ATV designed and certified by the manuf. for 2 people. MCs also require pegs for the passenger (I thik this ISN'T) enforced as I've only once seen a dirtbike (street tagged and ridden by a couple in their 60s...if not older) with pegs for the passenger.

It would really be interesting to see injury & death numbers from around the country and compare that to the number of visitors. Pismo gets about 1 million visitors per year. They sell out camping (1000 spots) nearly every weekend from Memorial weekend through Labor Day weekend. A lot of people escape the 100 degree central valley heat for the 70 degree temps of the coast.

The stats that I did find from the CPSC show a lower rate and lower total number of deaths each year as the sport has grown.

Is the sport dangerous, yes, to some extent. Accidents (something that is unavoidable) happen (rare). Most incidents are preventable. Usually someone screws up, somewhere. We just have to take measures to reduce the impact (pun not intended).

My helmet has saved me at least twice (when *I* screwed up) while riding (wheelied and fell of the back and did a barrel roll when I hit a rut going around a corner WAY too fast) and several times from cutting my head open (in the forest walking around moving stuff off the trail I've smacked my head on an overhanging branch) SEVERAL times. I've crashed 3 times and twice I needed my helmet.

I've even read a thread (over on a Glamis site) where some of the sand rail guys are starting to wear helmets and even arm restraints to keep the outboard arm (left on the driver, right on the passenger) inside the rail in the even of a roll over.

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everbody takes chances.sure they may not be smart ones but i figure it's my life and it should not concern anybody else.when my son gets to age sure i'll buy him a helment and hill wear it till he is old enough to make his own choice.and i see nothing wrong with beer seems a few people could use one to lighten up or at least it would shut there mouth for a moment.i think the only thing that save your life is god and who knows i could wrap my quad around a tree tommrow if he sees fit....guess we will find out

 

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