Crash Your Bike? Do You Start Wearing Helmet After That?

[BookMan]

I have noticed that many foreigners in Thailand , tourist or ex-pats or whoever, don't wear helmets when they ride a motorbike.

I have also noticed that a number of these same people who admit to an accident or three STILL don't wear helmets.

Are these people candidates for a Darwin Award or simply free spirited hipsters who enjoy life?

My question is. Have you had a motorbike accident while not wearing you helmet, and if so, did you start wearing one after that?

[inzman]

I always wear my helmut, the majority of accidents happen within 3 kilos of your house. That is also the main reason people dont wear one, they say, I am only going down the street. Well, thats where you are most likely to get killed. Last year a falong got killed on his way home from the bar he owned on soi khao noy, he got killed on his motorbike a hundred yards from where he left, no helmut. Anyway, its your life, if you want to end it over vanity, I guess its up to you. Cheers

[BookMan]

Good point about the 'vanity'. I was told once 'if i wanted to wear my helmet and look like a dork it was up to me'

[nickmanchester2]

i bought a car

[robblok]

I generally use a helmet its much safer. As for the comment i bought a car.. i got one too but the car is not as good as a bike when you need to travel through dense traffic.

[Semper]

Are these people candidates for a Darwin Award

Very much so.

[draftvader]

I have heard many many excuses for not wearing a helmet, but I am yet to hear one from anybody I respect.

[connda]

I sometimes don't, but not often. Most of the time I drive with a helmet on. Sometimes on a beautiful, warm evening when the streets aren't too crowded I may "pleasure drive" without a helmet. Pleasure drive to me mean very slow, and very aware. I understand the danger, but you could just wrap yourself in body armor and still get killed on a cycle. It's a calculated risk. To be really honest, most of my friends in Western countries ride in full-leathers, and some with body armor. Cycles, especially driving cycles in Thailand, is dangerous. But sometimes I like to feel the wind through me hair. Taking calculated risks is a part of living a full life.

[thequietman]

I sometimes don't, but not often. Most of the time I drive with a helmet on. Sometimes on a beautiful, warm evening when the streets aren't too crowded I may "pleasure drive" without a helmet. Pleasure drive to me mean very slow, and very aware. I understand the danger, but you could just wrap yourself in body armor and still get killed on a cycle. It's a calculated risk. To be really honest, most of my friends in Western countries ride in full-leathers, and some with body armor. Cycles, especially driving cycles in Thailand, is dangerous. But sometimes I like to feel the wind through me hair. Taking calculated risks is a part of living a full life.

yes same here. i have had 3 bike accidents, 1 of them was my fault, nobody else involved. if i,m going into town or on a long trip, i always wear one. but when riding in the sticks through the middle of the rice fields on a beautiful cool evening, it does feel good to have the wind in your hair. gives a great sense of freedom. i know foolish but sometimes, you just gotta........

[Thongkorn]

Can any one remember the Pictures now removed, of two guys on a motor bike that crashed in Pattaya, drunk, they picked there brains up and put them in a Tesco Lotus carrier bag. They should post these pictures and let people see what damage is done to the head, some at low speed, not fast.

[richardjm65]

I don't ride 'bikes anymore, but I used to, and the 'bikes I rode were big bikes. Going thru' a green light, I got hit by a truck in Singapore - bike wrecked, and I slid and tumbled maybe 50 metres. Result? One broken shoulder, a damaged hip and plenty of road rash. All very painful. Afterwards I examined my helmet, and concluded that I preferred the damage to the helmet rather than the damage my skull would have sustained had I not been wearing it. Wind in the hair? Great - until that one, unpredictable second when your life turns to shit. And probably through no fault of your own.

[daveh]

... I understand the danger, but you could just wrap yourself in body armor and still get killed on a cycle. It's a calculated risk. To be really honest, most of my friends in Western countries ride in full-leathers, and some with body armor. Cycles, especially driving cycles in Thailand, is dangerous. But sometimes I like to feel the wind through me hair. Taking calculated risks is a part of living a full life.

This is how I feel as well. It is a calculated risk. When I took a motorcycle safety course, they described risk with this metaphor. "Given a 20 foot ladder leaning against the wall, which rung would you feel safe to jump off of?"

It's a personal choice and so is the amount of safety equipment one decides to wear. I wear the cheap helmet they give you when you rent a motorbike. In the States I wear a heavy leather jacket and a full-face Snell/DOT helmet.

I've rarely seen anyone where a full-face helmet in Thailand, but I'm seeing more and more each year I travel there. And I've not seen anyone wear full leather.

I can imagine someone who wears full-face Snell rated helmets looking at those wearing the glorified bicycle helmets thinking to themselves, "Are those guys nuts or simply candidates for Darwin Awards?"

Connda said it right, no matter the level of protection you choose to wear, there is still a risk of death or injury. We all just choose to accept a different level of risk.

[SimonD]

The standard Tesco or Big C helmets available in SE asia are a joke. You may as well wear a tin bucket for all the 'protection' you're getting. There has been conflicting research on the usefulness of certain types of helmet: those that do not cover the ears allow more awareness of one's surroundings for example, but forget the cheap, moulded plastic 'novelty helmets' most people wear. They are to allow the rider to comply with the minimal legal requirement, nothing else.

From the wiki article 'Crash Helmets':

To understand the action of a helmet, it is first necessary to understand the mechanism of head injury. The common perception that a helmet's purpose is to save the rider's head from splitting open is misleading. Skull fractures are usually not life threatening unless the fracture is depressed and impinges on the brain beneath and bone fractures usually heal over a relatively short period. Brain injuries are much more serious. They frequently result in death, permanent disability or personality change and, unlike bone, neurological tissue has very limited ability to recover after an injury. Therefore, the primary purpose of a helmet is to prevent traumatic brain injury while skull and face injuries are a significant secondary concern.

The most common type of head injury in motorcycle accidents is closed head injury, meaning injury in which the skull is not broken as distinct from an open head injury like a bullet wound. Closed head injury results from violent acceleration of the head which causes the brain to move around inside the skull. During an impact to the front of the head, the brain lurches forwards inside the skull, squeezing the tissue near the impact site and stretching the tissue on the opposite side of the head. Then the brain rebounds in the opposite direction, stretching the tissue near the impact site and squeezing the tissue on the other side of the head. Blood vessels linking the brain to the inside of the skull may also break during this process, causing dangerous bleeding.

Think about it and wear a proper, approved SAFETY helmet. It doesn't take long to become a vegetable.

A no-brainer really...

[sotsira]

It's all well and good wearing a helmet that is manufactured to the safety standards that will make a difference

to whether it will save your life, like the ones available in 1st world countries and cost in the region of 10,000bt

equivalent to your home country, but lets face the truthful fact that the helmets worn by the majority, probably 99%

of riders here in Thailand will do little or not at all make any difference to saving your head, or life for that matter.

They are made from cheap plastic and polystyrene cost 200bt for crying out loud, they won't do what people on this thread

think they would and that is to protect your head!

[theblether]

It's all well and good wearing a helmet that is manufactured to the safety standards that will make a difference

to whether it will save your life, like the ones available in 1st world countries and cost in the region of 10,000bt

equivalent to your home country, but lets face the truthful fact that the helmets worn by the majority, probably 99%

of riders here in Thailand will do little or not at all make any difference to saving your head, or life for that matter.

They are made from cheap plastic and polystyrene cost 200bt for crying out loud, they won't do what people on this thread

think they would and that is to protect your head!

+1 and to make it worse they give you a false sense of security.

[kartman]

Why do people not wearing helmets rearrange their hair while waiting at a red light i presume for the same reason as not wearing a helmet?.

[wandrinstar]

Perhaps they realise the Helmets sold here are useless, and a good one is way too expensive .Buy a Good One and its gone quicker than a Ferangs Shoes outside a Temple.

[South]

Full face or lose your face or die .... not brain surgery!

[billd766]

I have 2 bikes and share a scooter with my wife.

I never bothered to wear a helmet locally and had no problem.

After a bout a year I realised how stupid I was and bought a helmet and I am now on number 4 in 5 years.

Since I started to wear a helmet

1) I came off the scooter at 15 kph doing a U turn on grit and got a bit of gravel rash and scraped the scooter.

2) Last July on my Yamaha Virago I came off and slid backwards up a hill at about 20 kph on a very sharp left hand bend and opened the throttle to wide to quickly. I was bruised but the bike was OK.

Both were my own stupid fault.

3) 6 weeks ago on my Honda Phantom 200 cc I got T-boned at a crossroads with traffic lights in my favour by 2 old ladies in a pickup truck running the red light.

I got bruised, scraped, bashed my right hand, and the bike has cost about 10,000 baht in parts to repair. They hit me just under the saddle hwere the pillion footrest is (fortunately no passenger) and the rear crashbar took most of the damage.

Ride without a helmet, cool wind in my hair (I am nearly bald).

ANYBODY that rides without a helmet is lucky, and luck doesn't last for ever, or stupid.

I eat cabbage but I don't want to be one.

They make really nice wheelchairs for paraplegics and quadraplegics nowadays and I NEVER want to be in one.

[Travel2003]

The vast majority of foreigners I have seen here are using helmets.

Except when using a motocy taxi.

How many people have been wearing that very same helmet you are offered by the motocy taxi driver, the last 30 days?

Have the motocy taxi driver cleaned/sanitized the helmet?

Dont think so.

Here lies the dillemma.

Safety, with the risk calculation of how possible it will be that an accident will happen, versus what is (living?) inside the helmet you are about to put on.

[Tonto21]

Being an ex-biker, (and having to wear a helmet) I had no problem wearing one here. Having smacked my nut more than once, (motocross and endure riding) I didn’t need to be any more ‘Forest’ so I wear one.

Interestingly, when I see a westerner riding a bike, without a helmet on…..More than not, you can see the rider…….Is not a rider, easy to see by poor road positioning and posture on the bike they have none or little experience in riding a bike let alone riding a bike in Thailand, but that’s OK……….They are on holiday…..What can happen! Guys who have a lot of experience tend to put a helmet on….Granted, not all. But most though experience of having joined the scenery at one time or another know the dangers.

And for all those who think they’ve joined the ‘Tufty Club’ by wearing there helmet back to front………..Looking good…..Muppet……….In a crash, if you manage to keep the thing on your head you stand a very good chance of getting your neck broken if your head makes contact with the deck.

[SimonD]

The vast majority of foreigners I have seen here are using helmets.

Except when using a motocy taxi.

How many people have been wearing that very same helmet you are offered by the motocy taxi driver, the last 30 days?

Have the motocy taxi driver cleaned/sanitized the helmet?

Dont think so.

Here lies the dillemma.

Safety, with the risk calculation of how possible it will be that an accident will happen, versus what is (living?) inside the helmet you are about to put on.

The only thing that matters that's living inside a borrowed crashmet is your brain. If you're more concerned about unimportant scalp infections then wear a baseball cap underneath the helmet or use your own.

Apart from good quality construction (polycarbon shell, approved to western standards) the helmet must also be a tight fit. If there is any lateral or vertical movement of the helmet when worn then it's not a good enough fit. The whole point of a good crashmet is that IT takes the force of any impact and crumples to absorb the energy of that impact, rather than your brain sloshing around inside your skull.

[flying]

Being an ex-biker, (and having to wear a helmet) I had no problem wearing one here. Having smacked my nut more than once, (motocross and endure riding) I didn’t need to be any more ‘Forest’ so I wear one.

Interestingly, when I see a westerner riding a bike, without a helmet on…..More than not, you can see the rider…….Is not a rider, easy to see by poor road positioning and posture on the bike they have none or little experience in riding a bike

Same here....Grew up racing motorcycles as a Honda sponsored rider

I cannot get on a motorcycle without a helmet....I feel naked

Like you had my share of spills in racing & have come off bikes at over 70mph & walked away with just broken fingers & wrist.

So perhaps these non riders as you rightfully call them just do not have a clue or consider it a hazard?

I cringe when I see it especially when you can see they are in fact not riders as you say & barely have control/abilities at times........But what ever works for them I guess.

I mean everyone has to live their own life.

At times a case could probably made for going through other parts of life with a helmet on too. Look at the drivers in Thailand & the speeds outside of city limits....Makes you wonder if the car drivers should wear helmets too

One thing that I DO wish is that parents in Thailand could all at least see the need & afford to buy their kids they pack around on scooters a helmet. Kills me to see the little kids hanging on the back with no protection. But again I know it could be financial as well as ignorance in this case.

[longstebe]

Mine is a 3/4 face helmet from a Thai motorbike shop, probably not the greatest but I still wear it.

Looking 'cool' is not my thing and I keep trying to educate the wife that the cool people still have a skull.

Each to their own I suppose.

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[Tonto21]

Mine is a 3/4 face helmet from a Thai motorbike shop, probably not the greatest but I still wear it.

Looking 'cool' is not my thing and I keep trying to educate the wife that the cool people still have a skull.

Each to their own I suppose.

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Yer the looking cool thing, I had this conversation with my Thai teacher, after she had crashed her bike through a wall in CM, (not her fault, there’s a surprise in Thailand) I came in for my lesson and she was hobbling about like ‘Quazi Modo’ I asked the obvious question………”Did you have a helmet on”…. She just gave me a sheepish look! But then started to try and justify why she didn’t wear one. She did laugh when I said I though she rides without one for reason of vanity. It’s a strange thing, she, my teacher, looks after herself, health and fitness wise, only a few days before she ….at great length explaned why she is taking all these pills, vita, vit b……….And so on. Our conversation on the merits of wearing a lid ended on a high note when I said; “well, there is some cold comfort for you, if you die on your bike, you will possibly be the healthiest stiff in the morgue”

IMHO as far as looking 'cool' I think wearing a helmet wins hands down over the brain injured fasion wear and look. The drooling, pampers and eating steak though a tube for the reast of your life.............Not so 'cool now'

[Kilgore Trout]

99.9% of helmets worn in Thailand would probably cause more damage to your head than not wearing one (at speed).

The only thing they are good for is to avoid paying the police.

If you really want protection you must get a dot certified helmet, they cost about 10k baht.

[Digitalbanana]

I was told once 'if i wanted to wear my helmet and look like a dork it was up to me'

The opposite is true these days.

[Travel2003]

The vast majority of foreigners I have seen here are using helmets.

Except when using a motocy taxi.

How many people have been wearing that very same helmet you are offered by the motocy taxi driver, the last 30 days?

Have the motocy taxi driver cleaned/sanitized the helmet?

Dont think so.

Here lies the dillemma.

Safety, with the risk calculation of how possible it will be that an accident will happen, versus what is (living?) inside the helmet you are about to put on.

The only thing that matters that's living inside a borrowed crashmet is your brain. If you're more concerned about unimportant scalp infections then wear a baseball cap underneath the helmet or use your own.

Apart from good quality construction (polycarbon shell, approved to western standards) the helmet must also be a tight fit. If there is any lateral or vertical movement of the helmet when worn then it's not a good enough fit. The whole point of a good crashmet is that IT takes the force of any impact and crumples to absorb the energy of that impact, rather than your brain sloshing around inside your skull.

I see you point.

Really, I do.

And I agree.

But we all know how we human beings always make calculations (due to laziness) when it comes to safety.

Think about how many never used seat belts in cars before it became compulsory.

[Gers1873]

Dont ride any more but agree 100% with Trout - most helmets sold in Thailand will at best be ineffectual in an accident. Even when coming to Thailand on holidays, knowing in advance that I'd rent a bike, I always brought my own helmet with me.

The thought of Thai helmets being dangerous probably never enters your average riders head --- not till its too late.

[bunta71]

It's a "Brain Bucket". If you don't have the brains to put in it...f__k it! Or so they say. I started out on tote goats, went on to a honda 55cc trail bike and worked my way up riding mostly in the dirt. Did a lot of hill climbing on thumpers and usually crashed quite often. Quite often head first into hard objects. I also feel naked without a brain bucket. Brought my current one from the states as I have others in the past. My brain already works slow enough these days.