Introduction
The questions of safety while performing particular activities remain crucial even nowadays, where individuals use high technology and smart devices. However, despite the popularity of smart transport like automobiles with their technical advancements, many people prefer traditional vehicles such as a motorcycle. Being a popular vehicle, the bike became a must-have in each family and friends circle, which also led to particular contradictions related to personal safety while riding. The principal question about safety during riding refers to wearing a helmet, its advantages, and disadvantages, and if it should be mandatory or not.
Avoiding Head Injuries
It is widely known that wearing a helmet is an obligatory safety strategy because the helmet protects a rider against head injuries that happen in most accidents related to riding. Since head injuries appear to be the most serious ones for human beings, it is strongly recommended to wear helmets to avoid them and to decrease the risks. A particular policy exists in the USA, where two main types of laws were adopted in different states: a universal helmet law and a partial helmet law. The universal helmet law covers all age groups and requires obligatory helmet-wearing (20 states), while the partial helmet law covers only a particular age group (27 states), and three states have no helmet law (Eltorai et al. 2). According to statistics, “in states with universal helmet laws, 12% of fatally injured riders were unhelmeted … 64% in states with a partial helmet law and 79% in states with no helmet law” (Nolte et al. 50). Due to these results, the effectiveness of helmets remains obvious and beneficial for every individual, which proves the success of these safety measures for the population.
Weather Protection
Secondly, depending on the geographic location of an individual, the weather conditions differ from each other tremendously, which, however, does not diminish the popularity of riding. Owing to precipitation like snow, rain, or hail, the motorcyclist’s vision may suffer since riders would not be able to observe the road in front of them. Moreover, well-constructed helmets can protect riders against such hazards as sunstroke or extremely low temperatures, preserving blood pressure and heartbeat at an average rate. Therefore, helmets with their protective structures and special covering for vision occur to be extremely profitable in hard weather conditions without interfering with a favorite activity.
Lack of Comfort
Since helmets represent big heavy objects, some riders may find it uncomfortable to wear them on a daily basis. Motorcyclists are likely to suffer from ear problems, migraines, or even blurred vision because of the pressure helmet provides. Furthermore, additional painful effects can lead to distraction, and further accidents since riding a bike require a high level of concentration. The ignorance of these factors might lead to rejection to wear helmets, which would result in advanced risks. Therefore, the universal usage of helmets appears to be detrimental for some individuals because of their physical peculiarities and preferences.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the illegality of helmet-wearing is a contradictory discussion due to a wide range of factors to consider before a final decision. Although helmets may seem to be a universal protecting tool with a lot of advantages, there are still drawbacks related to personal health while wearing a helmet. Thus, to satisfy the requirements of all motorcyclists, it is highly relevant to conduct detailed research which would consider all the aspects.
Works Cited
Eltorai, Adam E. M., et al. “Federally Mandating Motorcycle Helmets in the United States.” BMC public health, vol.16, no.1, 2016, pp. 2-4, Web.
Nolte, Kurt B., et al. “Motorcycle Policy and the Public Interest: A Recommendation for a New Type of Partial Motorcycle Helmet Law.” The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, vol. 45, no. 1, 2017, pp. 50-54.