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NC helmet law change


hiro
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Here's my .02, not that it matters to anyone else:

If you ride a motorcycle, you know the inherent danger presented to you. Therefore you should be able to chose if you want to wear a helmet or not. I, for one, value my head and my face. it may not be the prettiest or the smartest one out there, but it's mine. I'll take care of it by wearing a helmet, and a full face one at that. I know I stand a better chance of survival and not being a vegetable or looking like Sloth from The Goonies should I crash. 

It should also be said that by signing the title or whatever for your motorcycle that you acknowledge said inherent risks and should you decide to not wear any protective gear, that you assume all liable risk and injury. And if you take a header (pun intended) that you're responsible for yourself and whatever medical issues arise from your own doings. Don't live off of my paycheck, there are already enough wastes of space doing that.

Again..this is my opinion, and mine only.

 

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7 hours ago, hiro said:

Don't some people from OH ride in NC? WTF tho? People on this site talk about all kinds of random things. At least this is riding related.

I guess the point I was trying to make is the whole helmet law stuff has been beat to death countless times. Everytime I've been to an OR meetup or ride, everyone wears a helmet and mostly full gear. It's not like we have people outraged by helmet laws and can provide a 2-sided debate. 

 

Regardless of law, if someone does decide to ride without a helmet, it's not just their life they are effecting when shit hits the fan. Family's don't wanna take care of a vegetable for the rest of their life.

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While I definitely value everyone's right to choose whether they want to wear a helmet or not, doesn't mean that it doesn't affect affect us as motorcyclists.  Our insurance rates go up because crashes that could have been rather meaningless end up being life threatening or life ending because they didn't wear a helmet.  

 

My insurance on the GSXR is close to 2600/yr.  Sure, it doesn't help that I'm high risk due to several speeding tickets, a low side motorcycle crash, etc., but I'm sure a large percentage of what we pay in insurance is directly affected by others lack of wearing protective gear. Just my .02 and I could be wrong....

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1 hour ago, DerekClouser said:

...but I'm sure a large percentage of what we pay in insurance is directly affected by others lack of wearing protective gear, speeding and low side crashing.

FTFY

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4 hours ago, JustinNck1 said:

Regardless of law, if someone does decide to ride without a helmet, it's not just their life they are effecting when shit hits the fan. Family's don't wanna take care of a vegetable for the rest of their life.

Good point about the families as opposed to the rider. My wife always tells me, just don't linger! haha

BTW, I wasn't trying to start a debate, just posting some news. It's more relevant to me since I plan to move. It's in the off-topic area anyway.

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3 hours ago, DerekClouser said:

While I definitely value everyone's right to choose whether they want to wear a helmet or not, doesn't mean that it doesn't affect affect us as motorcyclists.  Our insurance rates go up because crashes that could have been rather meaningless end up being life threatening or life ending because they didn't wear a helmet.  

 

My insurance on the GSXR is close to 2600/yr.  Sure, it doesn't help that I'm high risk due to several speeding tickets, a low side motorcycle crash, etc., but I'm sure a large percentage of what we pay in insurance is directly affected by others lack of wearing protective gear. Just my .02 and I could be wrong....

True. And I was just thinking, instead of having helmet laws, insurance companies could just charge a penalty if you crash without one. That way the risk doesn't translate to higher rates for everyone. Then again, they probably want to charge the highest rates possible. $2600/year?! I'd change bikes! Get a V-star 650. hehe

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Just now, hiro said:

True. And I was just thinking, instead of having helmet laws, insurance companies could just charge a penalty if you crash without one. That way the risk doesn't translate to higher rates for everyone. Then again, they probably want to charge the highest rates possible. $2600/year?! I'd change bikes! Get a V-star 650. hehe

Or you could choose your type of insurance based on if you wear a helmet or not... if you crash or are cited for a ticket with helmet insurance and aren't wearing a helmet, it's as though you were uninsured.  

 

In all fairness to my GSXR, my Honda Pilot insurance is 2200.  

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1 hour ago, Tpoppa said:

I live in Ohio.  I never wear my seat belt.  I always wear my helmet.

Me, too. When seat belts were made mandatory in NJ way back, people were annoyed by it. Now I feel naked without the belt. It's a habit that we're now required to teach to kids, which is good. (Expect when only a lap belt is used and someone becomes paralysed by breaking their back in half. It's happened)

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1 minute ago, DerekClouser said:

Or you could choose your type of insurance based on if you wear a helmet or not... if you crash or are cited for a ticket with helmet insurance and aren't wearing a helmet, it's as though you were uninsured.  

 

In all fairness to my GSXR, my Honda Pilot insurance is 2200.  

Oh, I didn't know about clauses like that. When we lived in NJ our car insurance was much higher, so any insurance rate in OH is decent to me.

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Just now, hiro said:

Oh, I didn't know about clauses like that. When we lived in NJ our car insurance was much higher, so any insurance rate in OH is decent to me.

I don't know if those clauses exist currently.  I'm suggesting they add them and if you choose to not wear your helmet, you can pay a higher premium. 

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Just now, DerekClouser said:

I don't know if those clauses exist currently.  I'm suggesting they add them and if you choose to not wear your helmet, you can pay a higher premium. 

Right, but most people would say they do just to decrease the rate. So, yeah, if the card stated that you agreed to wear a helmet but don't have one on, a ticket would be in order. Only thing is, it doesn't help the insurance company at all. Now, if your insurance was made void, that would be tragic, but people might take it seriously!

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5 minutes ago, hiro said:

BTW, it was a republican motorcyclist who pushed for this change. The minimum age requirement kinda makes sense. We don't have that in OH do we?

Under 18 and first year with endorsement requires a helmet.   They put 'Novice Until: MM/DD/YY' on the license when it's printed as a novice motorcyclist which indicates they are required to wear a helmet until that date.  

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1 hour ago, DerekClouser said:

In all fairness to my GSXR, my Honda Pilot insurance is 2200.  

Dude....I hope your insurance company gives you a case of lube every year for Christmas....thats crazy...

I pay aobut 3k a year, but thats for 2 cars, a motorcycle, and a house.

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58 minutes ago, thompsonian said:

Dude....I hope your insurance company gives you a case of lube every year for Christmas....thats crazy...

I pay aobut 3k a year, but thats for 2 cars, a motorcycle, and a house.

Well when you have a 2 Crashes and 10 points on your license with an average credit score...  that's how it ends..

 

but fortunately all the stuff (minus the crash) comes off my MVR in 3 months. 

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The injury severity vs helmet no helmet cost has very little to do with what your insurance premium is. In most cases you don't even get med pay unless you add it on to your policy. Then you buy a specific dollar amount. How much you need depends on how good your present medical insurance is. Have none or it is crap well you need to buy a bunch. It is more supplemental than primary. I personally only carry 1K because my work insurance is very good. Cost---27 bucks a year for all 4 bikes. The major determination in your premium is which vehicle you choose to own and insure. Other factors are the county you live in,credit rating,driving record and a few more. My premium on all 4 bikes is 570 dollars a year. Full coverage w/250 deductible. 100/300 liability. Under/uninsured motorist,roadside assistance w/trip interuption. Progressive has just come out with another add on that is called enhanced injury protection. It pays 250 bucks a week for up 2 two years if injured and 25K if you need a pine box. I just added that at 109 bucks a year. For comparison when I added the FJR1300 my premium went up $193. I had my my wife run a quote to add on a 2012 GSXR1000 to the policy----1596 bucks just for the GSXR. So in essence I/Comps have targets on certain vehicles and charge accordingly. They have us by the balls. I wanted to get a Doberman Pincher when I retired but  my homeowners insurance company said if you do get one we will drop you. They are on the bad doggy hit list. Also Progressive has just implemented the disappearing deductible in Ohio----deductible drops 25% per yearly renewal if you have no claims. Yes my wife is a licensed agent but we get no discounts because of that. 

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