People have many different reasons for choosing to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. Some of them think that the helmets do not make that much of a difference, so they choose not to wear them. Others do not like the weight or complain about how they feel the helmets restrict their vision.
What’s clear from the statistics, however, is that the helmets do work. They do. They save lives.
Look at the 2016 stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for instance. They say that 1,859 lives were saved by these helmets in that year alone. If everyone on a bike had also had a helmet on, they think that 802 more people would have been saved. It’s a stunning number. Thousands of lives could be changed forever, year after year, simply because of helmet use.
When they break it down, the CDC claims that the odds of death in an accident drop by about 37% for those who have helmets on during a crash. The odds of a head injury also fall by a massive 69%.
There are many things drivers can do to stay safe on a bike. They can wear bright clothes, avoid distractions and practice defensive driving. They can learn how accidents tend to happen and what types of things they need to watch out for. But the most important thing they can do is simply to put a helmet on before they get on the bike to go for a ride.
Of course, you can still get hurt in an accident, so you need to know if you have a right to compensation.