Riding Motorcycles In Phuket

[petercallen]

I remember a previous post about crash helmets on this forum and people commenting

about the quality of crash helmets here.

You can buy quite a good helmet for under 1000 baht which is adequate for people riding

a small bike who ride carefully and don't speed and weave through the traffic.

They have a hard shell, foam lining and padding.

The main offenders here are young males and people who ride high powered motorcycles

( i am not saying everyone who rides a high powered bike) but there are quite a few.

Whats the good of an expensive over priced imported helmet in you don't wear protective

clothing, if you are speeding and riding dangerously you are much more likely to die of

multiple fractures including a broken neck and internal injuries/bleeding.

Most people here ride in shorts and thongs/sandals (i am guilty of this myself when going to the

shop) but i always wear jeans and proper footwear if i am going any distance and always ride

carefully its the other idiots you have to watch out for.

How many people have you seen begging here with half a foot or leg.

[grumpyoldman]

Peter,

what is the point of this topic?

Seems to me your argument is what is the sense of wearing a helmet if you are going to hurt other parts of your body?

I've always been an odds and probabilities guy, so I am just going to say the odds that you survive a moto wreck with a helmet are better than without, maimed or no.

[fiddlehead]

By the way, I was reading that 2500 free helmets are going to be given out in Phuket town soon and after July 1st, it is going to be a 1,000 baht fine if the passenger is not wearing a helmet (and a 500 baht fine for the driver) (but driver pays the fines)

Now, if they enforce it. (and not just at 2 or 3 spots on the island)

[classix]

let those who ride decide.

[TaoNow]

As the culprit who started the earlier thread that morphed into an animated discussion of the pros and cons of different types of protective head gear -- I deserve a comment or two.

If I understand the post correctly, I am inclined to agree with 'classix': It's basically your own, individual risk calculation to wear a motorcycle helmet or not (or other protective gear).

I think I know what the risk is of a spill when I ride the 1,000 meters from my guest house room in Kata to the beach. So, as an experienced motorist in Thailand and Phuket, I think I should be allowed to decide what precautions to take for that short ride on a local road.

The same logic applies to ocean swimming and the current effort to police everyone out of the water when red flags are posted on the beach. By all means, warn people -- but let them decide whether to risk entering the ocean during the monsoon season.

The only argument for the helmet law (like the seatbelt laws in many Western countries) is that the cost of preventable injury adds to the general societal cost of unecessary medical care and, eventually, increased health insurance premiums for all.

But I don't think that is the primary consideration in this case.

[SamuiHomemadeFood]

let those who ride decide.

What an idiotic reply ! I suppose you don't wear one. For your information

IT IS THE LAW !

THERE IS NO CHOICE!!

WHICH PART OF THIS DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING ?

And to the OP it is exactly the same here on Samui.

[stevenl]

IT IS THE LAW !

THERE IS NO CHOICE!!

There is always a choice, obey the law or disobey for example.

[petercallen]

Peter,

what is the point of this topic?

Seems to me your argument is what is the sense of wearing a helmet if you are going to hurt other parts of your body?

I've always been an odds and probabilities guy, so I am just going to say the odds that you survive a moto wreck with a helmet are better than without, maimed or no.

Wrong i always wear a helmet and my wife does to, i also tell friends to wear a helmet,

i have made a present of a helmet to a couple of friends who don't have one.

A previous post was about helmets and how imported helmets were superior.

Maybe they are but they are fare more expensive here than they are overseas.

Locally manufacture helmets are adequate for most local people most don't speed

and weave through traffic and drive sensibly.

Driving a high powered motorcycle at speed without protective clothing as well as a helmet

you are more likely to be dead. paralyzed or have a life long disability , you don't see Thais

riding a powerful bike in shorts and thongs( i know they cant afford one) its nearly always

expats.

My point is why make a big deal about wearing a expensive imported helmet if you are not

prepared to buy protective clothing to.

Sensible Thai people do wear helmets which they can afford.

[LivinLOS]

let those who ride decide.

What an idiotic reply ! I suppose you don't wear one. For your information

IT IS THE LAW !

THERE IS NO CHOICE!!

WHICH PART OF THIS DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING ?

And to the OP it is exactly the same here on Samui.

I assume he was simply advocating the free choice and personal responsibility. For me, if someone wants to kill themselves without a helmet, up to them, as long as I am not due to pay blood money if they commit hari kari on my front bumper, well its thier life to end it as they see fit IMO.

I was out on the 900 for a proper dawn run today, full armoured gear, jeans, gloves, the works.. But I often pootle about in the lanes at 20 kph on my scoot too, and you know what, sometimes I dont wear a helmet.. Yes its a risk, so is riding a mountain bike, or diving without a buddy, or eating fatty foods, its a risk I evaluate, and can live with.

As to quality of helmet.. If you not on a sportbike, there are brands on the local market (real helmet real-helmets.com ) who make a decent lid for money anyone should be able to afford, they also make a childs lid which makes an excellent present (esp for Thais). The i-hop is the child size.

[katabeachbum]

Peter,

what is the point of this topic?

Seems to me your argument is what is the sense of wearing a helmet if you are going to hurt other parts of your body?

I've always been an odds and probabilities guy, so I am just going to say the odds that you survive a moto wreck with a helmet are better than without, maimed or no.

Wrong i always wear a helmet and my wife does to, i also tell friends to wear a helmet,

i have made a present of a helmet to a couple of friends who don't have one.

A previous post was about helmets and how imported helmets were superior.

Maybe they are but they are fare more expensive here than they are overseas.

Locally manufacture helmets are adequate for most local people most don't speed

and weave through traffic and drive sensibly.

Driving a high powered motorcycle at speed without protective clothing as well as a helmet

you are more likely to be dead. paralyzed or have a life long disability , you don't see Thais

riding a powerful bike in shorts and thongs( i know they cant afford one) its nearly always

expats.

My point is why make a big deal about wearing a expensive imported helmet if you are not

prepared to buy protective clothing to.

Sensible Thai people do wear helmets which they can afford.

Most thais dont even have a helmet. Ever been countryside? Not even Police wear helmets

Ok I m guilty, I ride my Ninja R in shorts and slippers and usually without a helmet if I dont expect to ride faster than 120kmh. My problem, not your.

[petercallen]

Peter,

what is the point of this topic?

Seems to me your argument is what is the sense of wearing a helmet if you are going to hurt other parts of your body?

I've always been an odds and probabilities guy, so I am just going to say the odds that you survive a moto wreck with a helmet are better than without, maimed or no.

Wrong i always wear a helmet and my wife does to, i also tell friends to wear a helmet,

i have made a present of a helmet to a couple of friends who don't have one.

A previous post was about helmets and how imported helmets were superior.

Maybe they are but they are fare more expensive here than they are overseas.

Locally manufacture helmets are adequate for most local people most don't speed

and weave through traffic and drive sensibly.

Driving a high powered motorcycle at speed without protective clothing as well as a helmet

you are more likely to be dead. paralyzed or have a life long disability , you don't see Thais

riding a powerful bike in shorts and thongs( i know they cant afford one) its nearly always

expats.

My point is why make a big deal about wearing a expensive imported helmet if you are not

prepared to buy protective clothing to.

Sensible Thai people do wear helmets which they can afford.

Most thais dont even have a helmet. Ever been countryside? Not even Police wear helmets

Ok I m guilty, I ride my Ninja R in shorts and slippers and usually without a helmet if I dont expect to ride faster than 120kmh. My problem, not your.

If you want to ride your bike at 200 kmh, naked and in a thunder storm have a great ride.

I have traveled over most areas of Thailand by road and phuket drivers/riders would win

the worst drivers award easily if they had such a award and there would be a good chance

it would not be a Thai person holding up the trophy

[Jimi007]

I know I should wear one always, but I don't. They're hot! I wear one if I'm going to Chalong or Kata, Phuket or Patong, because of the Police check points. I read recently that only the Phuket Town police are going to enforce the law that a passenger must wear a helmet as well, not Kathu or Chalong police. Kind of interesting, the police always are looking for ways to make more money... I thought.

[katabeachbum]

If you want to ride your bike at 200 kmh, naked and in a thunder storm have a great ride.

I have traveled over most areas of Thailand by road and phuket drivers/riders would win

the worst drivers award easily if they had such a award and there would be a good chance

it would not be a Thai person holding up the trophy

I have covered 380-400.000 km in LOS past 7 years, and I d say the worst and most dangerous drivers/riders are those on the wrong side of the road at night without lights. They are more to be found other places than Phuket, and they are on very few occasions farang.

I do agree pink farang on rented bikes is a safety risk, and so are all drivers/riders without experience and on holiday mode, and these people using helmet really doesnt reduce the risk for others.

I dont do 200kmh in thunderstorms, naked or protected, car or bike.

Except Autobahn in an excellent car with excellent tyres

[afx]

Whilst a 1000 BHT helmet is better than nothing, a 100 BHT one is also better than nothing.

However, I dont agree a 1000 BHT helmet provides adequate protection. They aren't even made of composite materials (fibre glass, kevlar and carbon fibre) and are simply just plastic.

However if you look hard enough in Phuket town you can get a fibre / composite helmet for 2-3K. It appears you cant spend more than 3K BHT on a helmet here in Phuket (at least I couldn't having looked for days).

But I've had friends die wearing 30,000 BHT full face Arai helmets due to head injuries. If you do have a head injury on a bike you need a reasonably decent fibre / composite helmet and a shit load of good fortune to come out of it alright.

As for why wear helmet if not wearing leathers. Very simple - far too hot for leathers and while a few seconds of sliding on asphalt will disintegrate flesh and start shaving bone, despite this being a horrendous injury it is unlikley to be fatal, unlike head injuries caused by a number of factors, bad luck, crap helmet or no helmet.

[LivinLOS]

However, I dont agree a 1000 BHT helmet provides adequate protection. They aren't even made of composite materials (fibre glass, kevlar and carbon fibre) and are simply just plastic.

1200 or 1400 baht.. for fully DOT compliant standards.

I'll take DOT testing over your subjective opinions thanks.

Of course helmets can cost many multiples of that.. But to say these helmets are not adequate, when they are fully legal for euro etc use.. Well..

[afx]

However, I dont agree a 1000 BHT helmet provides adequate protection. They aren't even made of composite materials (fibre glass, kevlar and carbon fibre) and are simply just plastic.

1200 or 1400 baht.. for fully DOT compliant standards.

I'll take DOT testing over your subjective opinions thanks.

Of course helmets can cost many multiples of that.. But to say these helmets are not adequate, when they are fully legal for euro etc use.. Well..

Not wishing to split hairs - but the OP stated 1000 BHT helmuts. You know where they sell DOT tested fibre glass index or other half way decent brand for a 1000 BHT?

[Daewoo]

They aren't even made of composite materials (fibre glass, kevlar and carbon fibre) and are simply just plastic.

Actually, the link I posted in another thread about whether we wear helmets (can't search for it, 'cause my connection is too slow) showed that Polycarbonate (i.e. Plastic) helmets provided superior protection to Composite because the flexible nature of the shell abosrbed more of the 'road to helmet' impact, letting the interior foam absorb more of the head moving inside the helmet impact...

The tests showed that the $US70 helmet from the autoparts store was more effective in an accident that was otherwise survivable... the helmets designed to meet higher standards (Snell) would provide better protection to your head when you were going to die anyway from bodily harm... pointless...

The impact that does the damage in most accidents is the helmet hitting the groung... some force, gravity x weight of your head x verticle distance you fall, if you are on a scooter or a big bike... speed has no bearing on the force, and in fact the higher the speed, it is possible there is less force because there is more skidding, less thumping...

also, if you are unlucky enough to hit something at 60, the bike stop, and your head, hit straight into something (i.e. bike hit side or back of truck, head hits back or side of truck (horizontal imapct)) it doesn't matter if you are on a big bike or a scooter...

But you do feel like a dill wearing All The Gear All The Time on a scooter...

I guess people do die from abrasion, but mostly I think it just f^cks you up... lots of scaring and toes missing... not so much life threatening... where the protective gear is more important is the back plate to protect the spine... give me some 'chicks dig' scars over a wheelchair any day...

Cheers,

Daewoo

[LivinLOS]

Not wishing to split hairs - but the OP stated 1000 BHT helmuts. You know where they sell DOT tested fibre glass index or other half way decent brand for a 1000 BHT?

1200 baht at the link I provided..

Skip a chang or two and your golden..

[afx]

1200 baht at the link I provided..

Skip a chang or two and your golden..

Yeah for sure - it's neither here nor there. I wasn't meaning to a pedant about it, just that the OP actually stated a decent helmet for less than 1000 BHT. Big C style 700 or 800 BHT moulded plastic is just something I'd stay away from personally. They dont even have any fibre helmets there. I'd hazard a guess you yourself dont use a moulded plastic helmet ? I reckon anyones noggin deserves more than 17 quid spent on it. Maybe too expensive for a lot of Thais to buy a decent helmet but a farang has no excuse.

[katabeachbum]

Not wishing to split hairs - but the OP stated 1000 BHT helmuts. You know where they sell DOT tested fibre glass index or other half way decent brand for a 1000 BHT?

1200 baht at the link I provided..

Skip a chang or two and your golden..

Most helmet manufactorers dont bother to pay american DOT or german TUV or anyone else to test their helmets. If the padding is good, the helmets fits your headshape, and the weight is low, these are the most important issues to save your scull. Armored material shells may cause larger impact on scull since they may be to hard and flex to little.

Speed has nothing to do with head impact, on the contrary higher speed may make you slide longer and sometimes head doesnt even have impact. Hitting a truck 90 degrees in 30 kmh is major head impact. as I recall from my years in the auto industry, its called HIC.

[classix]

let those who ride decide.i live in the country everybody brings the children on honda wave to the nursery.even i have a helmet for the children this is a farce here.if i sit on my bigbike i use mostly a helmet for longer distance i wear protection.i dont need a law.may others i am adult enough to know when i need a condom.there are many states with different laws.in california nevada its up to yourself.in germany you can sign a paper that insurance dont need to pay in case of an accident.insurance anyway dont pay if you didnt wear a helmet.in california they find out that bigbikes make so little accidents that its not worth to have a law after hells angels mc pressed a too small hemet on the governors head.and about laws.when i came to thailand 10 years ago i opened always my front light in daytime,police stopped me many times for turn off the lights,i still opened my lights for my safety against the law.now its law.as a german we had many laws,we killed millions of poeple by law.some didnt follow they are today heroes.if some people need more laws may go back to some comunist countries or afghanistan.women can t go to school by law etc.as a real biker nobody will steal me a ride free .my hair in the wind dreaming against the wind.(Bob Seeger)ROAAAR