And some people still don't think we need a helmet law

Never understood the requirement of having to wear seatbelts in vehicles but not wear helmets on atv's or motorcycles. Seemed putting the cart before the horse. Most motorcycle groups push the save a life, be aware slogan but will fight tooth and nail not to have helmets required.

If I'm not mistaken, the law already requires helmet usage for anyone under the age of 18.

Laws only help to protect those who obey them.

And even then, the laws are based on the percentages. They protect the majority of those who obey them, but they may increase the danger for some who obey them.

I was involved in a fatal accident many years ago. I was the lone passenger in the back seat of a full-size Chevy stopped at a red light that was rear-ended by a VW bug that had apparently made no attempt to stop or swerve to avoid the collision. The driver was wearing a lap belt, which was still the only required safety device in that vehicle. His chest was crushed by the steering column and the steering wheel spokes. The wheel rim was still swinging back and forth on the column slowly as I looked in his open window to see if there was anything I could do for him, and heard the last rattle of breath that told me there wasn't.

I had been buckled in when we left the plant, but had unbuckled and slid down in the seat to allow the seat back to act as a headrest for the remainder of the trip home. I never could actually get to sleep on the way home, but it felt good to put my head back and rest my eyes. At impact, I was thrown forward with such force that my nose was broken by impacting the driver's seat back. The Chevy had been shortened almost the entire length of the trunk.

Pretty sure that I'd have been as dead as the driver of the VW if I had still been properly buckled up and sitting tall as there were no rear seat headrests in those days. His use of his seat belt didn't save him, and my non-use of mine likely DID save me. That doesn't make me against the use of seat belts but it does make me more aware of the fact that even some safety items employed for the best of reasons can end up harming you.

The Takata airbags that we hear so much about have undoubtedly saved many lives and much injury, but they have also killed some who would have escaped unhurt had they not deployed.

When it comes to safety regulations, the line sometimes gets even harder to see. Yes, those involved in motorcycle wrecks whose heads hit the pavement would have almost always been better off with good helmets. But how many of them would have avoided the accident entirely if they had been able to hear the approaching vehicle without their head in a padded helmet, or had seen it in their unobstructed peripheral vision. And how many whose heads didn't make solid contact with the pavement would have survived intact had their necks not been snapped by the added weight of that helmet during the impact or the resulting tumbles? If we don't have good answers to those questions, then it's poor policy to risk the lives and well-being of riders based on our poorly substantiated suspicions. The choices in some things should be left to the operators and passengers. Probably good to require the helmets for the beginners and those under 18, because that at least gets them used to riding with one and protects them through the most likely periods of the gear being needed.

I rode with a helmet for years, and gradually decreased my use of one as I got older. By then I had learned that I enjoyed riding much more when I simply avoided the higher traffic areas and higher speeds, and I was no longer in as necessary a position as my family's provider. At some point, when our whiskers are white, we have earned the right to make our own decisions on acceptable risk levels for the enjoyment of responsibly enjoyed pleasures.

My next door neighbor, another septuagenarian, takes long trips with his Harley, sometimes through states with helmets required. He wears one while in such states, but is always highly relieved to get it off as soon as they cross the state line, as he has neck strain issues with even the lightest of effective and legal helmets. He's told me that as much as he still loves to ride, if IN passed the helmet requirement, his bike would be for sale.

Ex biker here...

Helmets may protect the head, but increase risk of neck fractures and being paralyzed as I recall. Plus they limit your visibility and hearing.

Law already exist for those under 18. All others should have freedom of choice imo

Bikes are dangerous period. Well, not so much the bike as the idiot riders and surrounding drivers.

Atvs are illegal on roads in most counties in Indiana.

I personally hate the helmet law for ATV's we use ours on the farm alot. Moving wagons etc, Don't think my kids should have to wear one every they jump on atv to do something !!

TBH, I could not care less if people wear helmets on the roadway as long as it doesn't affect any sort of legal outcome. If you are on the road without a helmet on, probably a Darwin-Award nominee anyways...

My thoughts on the subject of helmets and seatbelts is simple. Let the insurance companies institute a clause that they are exempted from paying claims if the injured party was not wearing either a helmet or seatbelt.

I also believe that any parent that willingly allows a child to operate an ATV larger than they are approved for or without a helmet should face child endangerment charges.

I guarantee helmets have saved more lives than they have taken.

Amen

You get a well preserved head with a mangled body and broken neck