Should Motorcyclists Always Wear Helmets?

A motorcycle helmet is the equivalent of the car’s seat belt. Both are essential and both should be required by law in order to lessen injuries should an accident occur. Motorcycles are fundamentally dangerous because the rider is not surrounded as is a car driver. A car driver has a car frame (with crumple zones or a heavy steel body), airbags, and a seat belt, to name a few things, protecting the driver. A motorcycle rider, on the other hand, has none of these protections. Therefore, if a motorcycle rider gets into an accident on the road, he/she has a greater chance of getting injured and of getting injured more severely. However, a helmet can greatly increase the chance that a motorcyclist will survive an accident and will be less severely injured. Granted, a helmet protects only the head, but this does not mean that it should not be worn.

Because it is not possible to add seat belts or frames or airbags to a motorcycle, the primary defense that motorcycle riders have against injury, in the unfortunate circumstance that an accident should occur, is the helmet that they wear. Practically speaking, the head is the most important part of the body to protect. As such, the helmet is designed to protect that vital body part.

Helmets, like seat belts, can be annoying and feel restrictive. As such, many people do not like to wear either when operating their motorcycle or car, respectively. However, it is essential that such safety devices be worn. As such, due to the fact that people do not wear helmets due to their negative impact on their comfort level, the government should step in and require that riders were the item that may save their life.

Requiring a helmet for motorcycle riders, although maybe intrusive, is a good law. People are not always willing to protect themselves from injury and as such, in order to force these people to protect themselves, the laws that are on the books should remain on the books. The point is to conserve human life while at the same time keeping the motorcycle a street legal vehicle. If a simple helmet law will make all of this possible, I say let us require that motorcycle riders wear a helmet.

The benefits of preventing injuries and saving lives far outweigh any disadvantages that a helmet may have. As such, motorcycle helmets are and should be required.