I won't wear a helmet, makes me look stupid

[The Snark]

Dumb  dumb here. 40 years in and around emergency services. One little comment:

This Should Not Be A Topic Of Discussion.

Start a new thread -> Something about being stupid and ways to avoid it or whatever.

CVAs and other brain trauma are normally your frenemy for life as you become a burden for other people.

GET OVER IT.

 

OR, restrict comments on this thread to people with hands on experience in the trauma rooms of ERs.

 

PS Just great. Posturing.

[Road Warrior]

a IQ of 1/10 - look more stupid IF DEAD !!!!!! . 

[bunnydrops]

2 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Some farang try to imitate the Thais.

 

The other day I saw one riding a m/c without footwear. If he had crashed into a bus, he could have hurt his feet. Broke his toe even. Did have a crash helmet on though.

I don't think there is a law about driving or riding a bike without footwear, but I believe it is unlawful to drive a car or ride a MB without a shirt. A few years back I saw a Thai on a MB wearing a pot on his head. Made me wonder what the definition of "helmet" was in Thailand.

[owl sees all]

1 minute ago, bunnydrops said:

I don't think there is a law about driving or riding a bike without footwear, but I believe it is unlawful to drive a car or ride a MB without a shirt. A few years back I saw a Thai on a MB wearing a pot on his head. Made me wonder what the definition of "helmet" was in Thailand.

There is indeed. According to the Mr Policeman who fined me 40 baht, when I was on my way from Ban Dung to Kumpawapi via Non Mek.

 

In Ban Dung, I was holding Mildred, and she did a little spew - as babies do - on me shirt. The wife said we could get one in the Non Mek market. So I took it off to drive.  Nice policeman was waiting for the topless farang to come along.

[bob smith]

I only wear a helmet when i'm sober..

[The Snark]

So you survive an ambulance trip to the ER. And you get lucky a POD noticed a neuro issue. Game on.

Your future:

- In the US, $200,000 to start. No brain bucket = many insurance companies skate: self inflicted injury.

- Get to know the neuro ward real well.

- CT scans and EECs regularly for life.

- Diet becomes crucial. You are in the prime candidate category for CVAs down the road.

- Disqualified automatically from many jobs and positions.

- Self administered neuro tests in your wake up regimen.

- No full self reliance. Must be periodically observed and assessed by a qualified person.

[ross163103]

19 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

One of the things that has astonished me about Thai's throughout Covid is how they were all convinced to wear masks yet the numbers wearing helmets remained so outrageously low. 

I think the same way; I see them with masks on riding a motorcycle with no helmet.....hmmmm. 

[Retfed50]

19 hours ago, bignok said:

Why do they need ads? Common sense. 

Because once they get on a bike or behind the wheel of a car, all common sense goes out the window!

[VocalNeal]

^ Only if the window is open.???? 

 

(I piggybacked on the joke about women's hand signals.)

[wwest5829]

19 hours ago, Keep Right said:

So very true scuba duba guy. But I would also add that any farang riding a motorbike in Thailand is " low IQ."

I wanted to thank you for the personal insult for which you are unjustified. I'm retired, my Wife and I love the motorbike travel. We also always wear helmets. The car is used when needed for shopping, long trips, weather. Ha! Driving in Thailand is a sure test for "Old Timer's" (not to make light of the condition). Your brain must be firing on all synapsis or ... accident/death. Fair game to make your judgement only if I continue to drive after I detect deterioration of thinking/reflexes.

[wwest5829]

49 minutes ago, Hummin said:

The most important, is wearing a proper safety standard helmet, and then for more safety, a full face helmet. Have to start one place.

 

Short rides, shopping, beach, I use a proper open face helmet with proper shield, which covers the most essential parts. 

When first arriving, I was recommended to wear a hemet with a face shield to keep road dust out of the eyes. Good advice.

[Hummin]

13 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

When first arriving, I was recommended to wear a hemet with a face shield to keep road dust out of the eyes. Good advice.

Not to forget the well sized panzer beetles they have here. Saw a few incidents where they created a huge fling/cut in the face. 

[wwest5829]

5 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Not to forget the well sized panzer beetles they have here. Saw a few incidents where they created a huge fling/cut in the face. 

In over a decade I have heard a couple of those bounce off the helmet. A direct hit to the eye would be serious and, no doubt would result in going down on the bike.

[bignok]

3 hours ago, DJ54 said:

The guy has choices Wear a helmet look stupid OR don’t wear one and be stupid

Buy an expensive cool looking one

[Tropposurfer]

One of the most sickening sounds I have ever heard was a riders head hitting the roadway helmetless.

 

The dark blood that poured our of all his cranial orifices and deformed skull didn't make the sight any less horrific either.

[TigerandDog]

20 hours ago, bignok said:

Why do they need ads? Common sense. 

They need the ads to educate/brain wash people into doing the correct thing. I just look back at all the advertising done years ago in Australia to get people to wear seat belts, to stop drink driving and to stop speeding. If you don't see the impact of what can actually happen the old saying of "I'm alright mate it won't happen to me" stays in effect. They need far more road safety campaigns like the one scubascuba has posted to make the populace wake up.

[818Pilot]

I understand a lot of Thais can’t afford high quality gear such as a Shoei helmet etc, but, but anything is better then nothing. It kills me when I see people, not just Thais, riding with no helmet, gloves, in flip flops, shorts and/or a dress! 
 

My recent event:

 

I flew back to LA on June 26 for a few weeks and ended up having a motorcycle vs Car accident on July 1. I was on a City street when a car illegally turned in front of me and I was only going about 40 kph. 
I’m thankful I had a good quality (shoei) helmet and gloves with palm sliders on or things could have been a lot worse since I flew 7 meters over the car hood. As it is, I broke 7 bones between my arm and hand, two brakes were compound fractures (bones sticking out of your skin for those that didn’t know the term), 10 days at Cedars Sinai hospital, 2 surgeries, 1 skin graft and I’m doing 2 hours of therapy every other day.
 

Cost of surgeries and hospital in the US so far has been $554,756 or 19,600,000 bhat. While I understand the cost would have been substantially less here, I’m still paying 2,000b every other day here for occupational and physical therapy and still need. one to two more surgeries. 
 

My point is, even with good gear what happened to me is life changing and had I not had a helmet it could have been life over! 
 

As I tell everyone, but the best you can afford as wearing something is better then nothing. Even those cheap helmets at BigC provide a tiny amount of protection over just your head!

[Felton Jarvis]

Looks even stupider when your brains are spilled all over the highway. Get with the program and protect yourself.

[Hummin]

We all do stupid things in life be it one way or the other. Sometimes we just have to roll the dices and say F it! 

 

Anyway, I put my money on proper safety gear, tires, brakes and insurance and try to minimize what possible can go wrong, and not to do to many stupid things at the same time, and be ignorant on it.

 

Well, at least I can do my share of the safety aspect on it, the rest is up in other hands.

 

 

[bignok]

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

You where not born with Your common sense. How many campaigns through how many thousands of years to form your common sense? 

 

Local society's, tribe chiefs, shamans, religion, priests, kings, dictators, politicians, and "Fox News" ????????

Humans should have logical brains. Pain bad, no pain is good. Maybe some are just born stupid. Bad genes.

[BarraMarra]

19 hours ago, Thailand said:

I can understand wearing a mask but is a helmet really that important?

It isif you hit the Tarmac its not justs your Brains that will be all over the Rd, the remnents of your face will be as well from skidding along the rd.

[richard_smith237]

33 minutes ago, Hummin said:

We all do stupid things in life be it one way or the other. Sometimes we just have to roll the dices and say F it! 

 

Anyway, I put my money on proper safety gear, tires, brakes and insurance and try to minimize what possible can go wrong, and not to do to many stupid things at the same time, and be ignorant on it.

 

Well, at least I can do my share of the safety aspect on it, the rest is up in other hands.

Not so much as F-it... but being practical. 

 

There is no point getting a second car - we did have two cars and did 1000km in 1 year in the second which was utterly pointless. 

 

Thus - a motorcycle for me has been extremely useful when nipping out to the shops, going to play sports, running nearby errands etc.

 

And yes, proper safety gear to an extent depending on where I am going. 

Local Soi and Subsoi journeys (i.e. within 1-2kms)

- Quality open face helmet (Bell)

- MC Gloves,

- Solid footwear (trainers)

 

Beyond local Soi's (onto main roads)

- Full face helmet (Bell or Shoei)

- Rev'it MC Jacket (with back, elbow, shoulder armour)

- MC Gloves (with sliders)

- Urban MC boots

- Rev'it MC pants (or Rev'it MC jeans) - if travelling a distance.

 

*By main road I mean anything such as Petchaburi, Rama IV, Sukhumvit etc in Bangkok.

 

Also other strict factor: 

- No drinking when riding

- No riding at night (or limit to very local journeys - to many other drivers are drunk or have dark tint and can't easily see)

- No riding in the wet (roads are too slippery)

- No chancing or jumping lights

- No speeding

- Keep bike well maintained

- Don't ride while distracted (angry etc)

 

 

Sticking to the above rules limits the risk of being involved in an incident - and IF an incident were to happen wearing gear limits the severity of impact. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hummin]

35 minutes ago, bignok said:

Humans should have logical brains. Pain bad, no pain is good. Maybe some are just born stupid. Bad genes.

Thanks to others mistakes, I have survived s long as I have! 

 

So be great full for others stupidity 

[Hummin]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Not so much as F-it... but being practical. 

 

There is no point getting a second car - we did have two cars and did 1000km in 1 year in the second which was utterly pointless. 

 

Thus - a motorcycle for me has been extremely useful when nipping out to the shops, going to play sports, running nearby errands etc.

 

And yes, proper safety gear to an extent depending on where I am going. 

Local Soi and Subsoi journeys (i.e. within 1-2kms)

- Quality open face helmet (Bell)

- MC Gloves,

- Solid footwear (trainers)

 

Beyond local Soi's (onto main roads)

- Full face helmet (Bell or Shoei)

- Rev'it MC Jacket (with back, elbow, shoulder armour)

- MC Gloves (with sliders)

- Urban MC boots

- Rev'it MC pants (or Rev'it MC jeans) - if travelling a distance.

 

*By main road I mean anything such as Petchaburi, Rama IV, Sukhumvit etc in Bangkok.

 

Also other strict factor: 

- No drinking when riding

- No riding at night (or limit to very local journeys - to many other drivers are drunk or have dark tint and can't easily see)

- No riding in the wet (roads are too slippery)

- No chancing or jumping lights

- No speeding

- Keep bike well maintained

- Don't ride while distracted (angry etc)

 

 

Sticking to the above rules limits the risk of being involved in an incident - and IF an incident were to happen wearing gear limits the severity of impact. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty much same as my standards, except wet roads and rain. We do go on to next destination even if its raining.

 

Full package safety gear and visible colours and extra headlamps as. No evening night riding, or extreme busy holidays I park my bikes to.

 

Local riding Im a bit easy on it, but always helmet.

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Pretty much same as my standards, except wet roads and rain. We do go on to next destination even if its raining.

 

Full package safety gear and visible colours and extra headlamps as. No evening night riding, or extreme busy holidays I park my bikes to.

 

Local riding Im a bit easy on it, but always helmet.

If I were out on a 'ride' obviously I'd have to 'ride in the rain' with everyone else. 

 

But, I've down-graded my bike and only have a 300cc scooter which is for convenience only and not the fun of riding.

 

Thus, if it looks like its about to rain I don't use the scooter - most of the accidents I see are from people who have approached something with a little too much speed, applied the brakes and the front wheel slides out from under them.  ABS is also essential IMO. 

 

 

 

[thailand49]

20 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Well, that is great but the problem could be much improved preventing the accident in the first place.  Drivers training requirements and proper engineering of the roadways to start would cut down on a lot of them. But, that will probably never happen so blame it on no helmets.

Also, the helmets most wear are so cheap and flimsy many are Styrofoam inside they will protect nothing. I would like to see some stats on injured or death while wearing a helmet.

Wearing a helmet is important it doesn't matter what the person think if it is required then it is up to the authorities to enforce it which when it comes to Thailand, that is the problem here with most things. 

In the early 90's, in California I was involved by accident law requiring helmets.  All the excuses were there from groups including the Hell's Angels No way my freedom you hear that a lot even today.  

The data was overwhelming as to the need,  of course no helmet is going to save you if you are far exceeding the speed limits or driving recklessly as they do here in Thailand. 

At that time the cost to taxpayer over a billion once the law was implemented and enforced the cost dropped dramatically. It isn't just lives but the greater cost if one doesn't die. 

The human makeup the tissue around the head is just that cerebral cortex the most valuable area,  reason the helmet is design like a mushroom for that area protection.  Here in Thailand I agree poorly made but something is better than nothing that bare skin dame with protective clothing. 

One can have a simple accident slip fall hit their head in the wrong spot your number can be up worse yet which are in many cases paralyzed the cost to tax payor is a lifetime. 

You see the data of death the greater  cost in Thailand not often mentioned the emotional toll if they don't and the medical and dependent cost. 

Yes,  education is a key and enforcement is part of that education the solution to reducing the problem is simple but as long as Thailand doesn't understand the problem things will never change.  

The data is there all you got to do is take the time. 

[impulse]

On a per km basis, studies in Aus and the USA say you're 20-40 times (2,000-4,000%) as likely to be killed on a scooter than riding in a 4 wheel vehicle.   Those same studies indicate that helmets reduce motorcycle deaths by 40%.

 

So you really cross the safety Rubicon when you throw your leg over a bike instead of fastening your seatbelt, safely ensconced in 4 wheels, doors and a roof.   Given, of course that's even an option based on economic factors.

 

[spidermike007]

19 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

But if I have eyes in the back of my head, doesn't wearing a helmet cover them up?

Have you ever considered taking your show on the road? Alot of money these days in stand up comedy. 

[spidermike007]

21 hours ago, rocketboy2 said:

Come on give it a go.

Suits you sir. 

 

The favored cap for MIT grads these days. 

[owl sees all]

6 hours ago, RocketDog said:

Riding to Huahin one day I looked at the rode passing beneath me at 90kph.

That's very fast RD. Most farang don't go more than 40kph on the open road. Less in town.