Surely it is an undisputed truth that cage drivers and passengers would be safer if they wore helmets.
If they wore helmets, they would sustain less injury, and suffer fewer deaths, especially when head trauma is involved.
We might then wonder why no states have laws requiring the wearing of helmets for occupants of vehicular cages. It seems the answer lies in statistics. Statistically, the injuries cagers suffer will be primarily non-head, whereas for bikers, head trauma is the primary cause of serious injuries.
If we look at the statistics for bikers who are in accidents with actual or potential head injury, we see that some groups are at high risk, and some groups are at low risk.
High risk groups include the young (under 21) and the inexperienced (owned a bike less than 2 years, and/or ride less than 5000 miles per year).
The group that excludes these individuals, are at low risk for any type of accident, especially those with real or potential head injuries, and that group logically should not be required by law to wear helmets any more than cage drivers.
I know of no statistics to support my claim, but I say a 17 year old cage driver is at greater risk for head injury than a thirty year old biker, with 12 years experience and over 100,000 bike miles logged in.
For those who are interested in such things, I started riding about 40 years ago, have over 100,000 bike miles logged in, and currently ride a Triumph Rocket III. In the last 12 months I have ridden over 8,000 miles around my home in Western Maryland. When I ride in Pennsylvania I have agreed with family members to always wear a helmet, and in exchange they have agreed, in the event of my death in a motorcycle accident, to put this on my tombstone:
“At least he was wearing a helmet.”
The sad truth is that most bikers killed in motorcycle accidents were wearing a helmet.
They stood little change against the cage that ran them over.
What do you think BMW builds?
