NO HELMETS IN MICHIGAN.....

  • April 13, 2012 7:48 PM PDT
    I'm not real sure how i feel about not having to wear a helmet in Michigan anymore. You know i have been riding motorcycles since i was 19 and i am 37 now and have always had to wear a helmet. Now that i do not have to wear one i am not real sure if i want to just put it up and not wear it. I guess maybe it is the "safety" factor of it and all or maybe that it is just new to me. Have any of you felt the same way when given the choice and how many of you wear a helmet in your state when you do not have to by law?
    • Moderator
    • 19067 posts
    April 13, 2012 10:38 PM PDT
    Me personally, I do not wear a helmet if not required. And like 'most' sensible riders believe in personal choice.
    This has been a forum topic here several times, here is a link to one of those...

    http://www.cyclefish.com/forum/Biker-Chat/Bikers039-Topics/Do-You-Wear-A-Helmet-if-not-required-18-1.html />

    • 846 posts
    April 14, 2012 12:58 AM PDT
    Remember it a personal choice, I live in Massachusetts which requires one and work in NH which doesn't. I will sometime ride without one. But i still need something on my head, head wrap or hat due to the fact that I've always had something on my head for all these years of riding. So it really up to you on what you want to do and having that choice is important.
  • April 14, 2012 2:37 AM PDT
    I believe that if you don't feel comfortable not wearing a helmet then go ahead and wear one. The great thing is that you now have a choice..as it should be. Myself..I don't wear one when not required and that is my choice.
  • April 14, 2012 4:18 PM PDT
    Yeah i rode today without one and it is a pretty cool feeling. The one thing i do know that when it is below 60 i will be wearing one.
  • September 27, 2013 4:11 AM PDT
    It is a personal choice, I just always choose to wear one.
  • October 10, 2014 9:43 AM PDT
    It should be you're choice anywhere in America. This is supposed to be a free country.
    • 84 posts
    October 10, 2014 1:15 PM PDT
    My brother (8 years older) started riding in Texas when a helmet wasn't required.  He never wore a helmet when it wasn't required (and even sometimes when it was).  By the time I started riding helmets were required so I always rode with one. I moved away with the Army to Ft. Campbell, Ky/Tennessee where helmets were also required.

    The helmet law was repealed in Texas and I remember in the mid 70s when heading for San Antonio on a 2 week leave I was excited because finally I didn't have to wear a helmet after crossing the Lone Star state line. Well, I pulled into the welcome center for some water and to remove the helmet. Pulled back on the interstate hit about 70 and took a good long look at things. The sounds and the feeling of exposure were deafening. After about 3-4 miles I pulled to the shoulder and put the helmet back on. I've not ridden without a helmet since. As I was required to wear a helmet when an Army pilot some have said the helmet gave me a safe feeling and became sort of a security blanket. That and most probably the fact as a HEMS pilot in the US I picked up a lot of donors on the side of the road that just might have been alive if for a helmet.

    Now, I believe in freedoms and believe helmets should be a personal choice. But, with exercising freedom also comes responsibility. I read some stats in the 70s about how in accidents resulting in serious head injuries to motorcycle riders riding without a helmet 70-80% (don't remember exact number but it was way high) those riders also didn't have sufficient hospitalization insurance. Hence, becoming the taxpayer's burden. So, I became an advocate of personal choice for helmets but only if the chooser had sufficient personal insurance.

    As I understand the law in Texas now is an adult may choose to not wear a helmet as long as they have proof of personal insurance if stopped. Thank you internet.

    My $0.02
    • 2 posts
    November 22, 2014 3:30 AM PST
    Your head, your choice but I elected to wear one BEFORE they were required.

    Still remember the day New York made them mandatory - people zipping about wearing football helmets, polo helmets, WWII steel pots and one guy wearing a plastic bucket with the bail tucked under his chin