Big Ben Strikes One, Hope's He's Around For #2

Steelers' Roethlisberger Totals His Bike & Himself

[skibum]

Roethlisberger lost most of his teeth, fractured his left sinus cavity bone, suffered a nine-inch laceration to the back of his head and a broken jaw, and injured both of his knees when he hit the ground, police said.

Sounds rather optimistic for that type of crash.

Story [pittsburghlive.com]

Unbelievable he could be riding a Suzuki Hayabusa [pittsburghlive.com] with a top speed of 189 with no helmet.

Hope he makes a full recovery.

[Hawkgirl]

He had a choice and he made it.

If he has such little respect for the gray matter between his ears, then I, too, have that amount of respect for the gray matter between his ears.

As a motorcyclist for 12+ years, I will say I would never ride with someone who doesn't wear protective gear. But that's because I like my friends and I want them to be around for the next ride. It's true that you can't paint with a broad brush and say, absolutely, "those who don't wear helmets are more unsafe riders." But in my years of riding, I can tell you (from my unscientific, yet constant observation of other riders) that the guys I see without helmets, who wear shorts and flip-flops while riding around on their sportbikes - those are the guys who tend to push their limits on the street harder than more conservative, gear-wearing folks.

But I'm not going to say helmets should be mandated. He's an adult, he knows the risks (he wears a helmet when he runs around on grass, for heaven's sake, he's certainly aware of the risks), so if he's a glutton for punishment he's welcome to it.

I hope he recovers fully - because no one deserves that kind of punishment. And maybe he'll wise up and give his noggin some protection in the future.

[hannamyluv]

I think he was irresponsible because he wasn't suppose to be on the bike in the first place, but the fact of the matter is, that when you are riding a motorcycle, you have as much of a chance of suffering a fatal or serious injury whether or not you are wearing a helmet.

Helmets prevent head injuries but a typical morotcycle helmet also encourages spinal injuries in that it acts like a rolling fulcrum, the point of which falls on the base of your head. Land on your back after you are hit by a car an you could very well snap your neck.

Most states allow the rider to make the decision because of this fact. The state I live in actually repealed their helmet law because of this fact.

Think about it, every state has a seat belt law because seatbelt are proven to save lives. If the same were true of helmets, why wouldn't they have the same laws? It's not like they don't have precedence with the seat belt laws already.