Natasha Richardson's tragedy in the headlines: how safe is safe enough?

March 26, 12:31 AMDC Motorcycle Travel ExaminerMark Poesch

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As motorcyclists, we recognize the dangers associated with riding, and many recognize the value of wearing a helmet.

Riders can be broadly categorized into three groups:

• Those who wear helmets because they want to.
• Those who wear helmets because they have to by law, but will take them off at the first opportunity.
• Those who don’t wear helmets.

The riders who don’t wear helmets are certainly demonstrating their attitude, and it raises a legitimate question about whether attitude really is everything.  It seems to me that the only way any sane person could ride a motorcycle without a helmet is if they are completely assured that they will not crash.  And, perhaps, as long as they’re cruising sober and alert, with the right attitude, the odds are in their favor.  Either that, or it’s a combination of denial and a roll of the dice.

At the other extreme, the sport-bike crowd is notorious for dressing thoroughly, and then treating their bike, helmet, and armor as a license to blow through the twisties at an inhuman pace.  As a result, they’re running a somewhat “Tortoise and the Hare”-like game of chance, but instead of losing the race to the Tortoise, they’re crashing and sometimes going to the hospital as the cruiser crowd rolls by shaking their unhelmeted heads: “What good does all that armor and the helmet do you if you’re going to push yourself so far past the limits that no safety gear can save you?”

Well, summarizing results from the Hurt report, in his article for Motorcyclist Online, Jim Brown writes:

In the case of fatal accidents … There were essentially no deaths to helmeted riders from head injuries alone.

That is, helmets are doing their job, and saving lives in all but the worst accidents.

So, with Natasha Richardson’s injury on ski slopes resulting in her death last week, it seems reasonable to ask again if helmets should be required not only for motorcyclists and kids on bicycles, but even more broadly.  How safe is safe enough?

In his article, The Truth About Helmets, Buzz Buzzelli writes:

My head does not belong to The State, it belongs to me. So it is only natural that when The State orders me-a free man-to wear something on my head, I resent it and want to rebel. And that reaction is, after all, the All-American response to oppression.

But further in the article Buzz observes:

One thing's for certain: it is a fact of life that many riders who end up on life support were not wearing helmets or were wearing beanies; and that they may not have had those debilitating injuries if they'd worn a proper certified helmet. Everyone has their own version of a living hell, and mine is to be alive but not living-what we call brain dead.

So, how safe is safe enough?

Is it the government’s job to keep us safe from ourselves?  Is it the government’s job to protect the families of riders and other sportspersons who put their lives in danger?  Is it the government’s job to protect taxpayers from the cost of others’ negligence?  Or, is it the government’s job to support the cost of care for those injured due to their own negligence?

I, for one, prefer personal responsibility over the nanny-state.  My choices are my responsibility, and accordingly, I am accountable to my family and friends for the potential impact my risk-taking may have on their lives.

To my mind, there are four responses we riders can take to the risk of head injury:

• Wear a helmet and ride to stay safe
• Ride to stay safe (no helmet)
• Wear a helmet and ride like there’s no tomorrow
• Ride like there’s no tomorrow

One thing’s for sure: riding like there's no tomorrow is the quickest way to prove yourself right.

For me, helmet law or not, wearing a helmet and riding to stay safe is the only answer.  For many, riding safe with no helmet is an answer that works for them.  But, if you’re riding like there’s no tomorrow, helmet or not, you probably shouldn’t be riding.

So, how safe is safe enough for you?