What kind of motorcycle helmet law should Maine have?

I was hit by a car that ran a red light.Broke everything on my right side,the only and i do mean only thing that saved my life was a helmet.

It's time for Maine to worry about far more important things, than taking away another right from it's taxpayers. Let those who ride dicide! It worked before it will work again.

I believe that the law should not be changed. It is our FREEDOM OF CHOICE to chose wither or not to wear a helmet.

Just another Baldacci tax ! Lets see goes into effect in 90 days.. oh yeah puts it in effect during the hottest part of the year when we are all riding ! 50,000 motorcycles 2 .5 million to balance the budget.

Why are those of us in VEHICLES required to wear seatbelts and those of you on motorcycles not required to wear a helmet?? That makes NO sense. Wear a helmet, or pay the fine.

It's ignorant NOT to wear a helmet.

I can't imagine riding without a helmet with all the close calls I've had with inattentive drivers, and all the accidents I have heard about from other riders. I have had friends killed who were not wearing helmets. However, I agree that it's up to the individual whether he/she chooses to be smart.

I ride and always wear a helmet. I don't have a problem either way as I will continue to wear a helmet regardless of the law. It's my choice.

However, I think banning cell phones while driving will prevent more motorcycle accidents and injuries and do more for all of our safety than requiring helmets. I've seen it all...people on cell phones not paying attention..teenagers texting while driving...etc...

If a rider can guarantee that he/she will not be a burden on the state after their accident then sure let them go lidless....being that most of us are not multimillionaires most of us should be wearing lids..its a selfish thing not to...

Leave the law as is. Isn't the economy important to you folks in Augusta? Do something about that please. Ban the cell phones, start grabbing the poor drivers, put a better effort on to get the suspended license knuckleheads off the roads. Read all of the comments left about this issue. You have a lot of very angry people who hate bikes out there. Most of the accidents are caused by cars and those distracted, careless drivers who could just as easily hit you or one of your family members, not just a biker.

I personally don't wear a helmet but that is MY CHOICE and it should stay that way. Every year someone submits a bill to try to put this through. Enough already stop wasting our time and money on this issue. A helmet may or may not save a life and forcing someone to wear it that does not want to should not happen.

It's freedom of choice. I wear my helmet most of the time, but if I choose not to wear it, it is my choice.
How about all you automobile drivers wear helmets too? NASCAR requires helmets. Isn't it safer for you to be wearing one too? Geez get real people! Government, stay out of our business.

Look you idoits on bikes, I am required by law to wear a seat belt.

Then you should be required by law to wear a helmut.

It really makes no difference to me if your intent on committing suicide.

I was riding a Honda 450 cc, it was a side street, light rain, at night, and street lamps were on but the road/ black top had pot holes, could not see the ruts in the road, looking for a place to park, so just barely rolling, hit a pot hole, not expecting it, dumped the bike and felt the side of my head hit the road. I broke my collar bone and abrasions on one side of my body, but if it weren’t for the helmet, I would probably be paralyzed or worse.

It is YOUR CHOICE to wear a helmet or not to.....however I can think of 3 MC crashes last year alone ion my town that the operator was saved by his helmet. I will never forget the 1 relatively minor crash last summer where I did not have the CHOICE to go and notify the wife and children of the death of a loved one who CHOSE not to wear his helmet. Thats just last summer! Maybe some of you who CHOOSE not to wear it could come along with me to make the next notification!

I think they should have to wear a helmet. The state makes me wear a seatbelt in a car which is far more safer than a bike. The helmet is to protect you just as we have our kids wear a helmet and knee / elbow pads to roller blade, skateboard ETC. I think it's a poor example to our kids if we do not want to wear one???

Ben Franklin said "Those that give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither and will lose both". This nation has fallen so far since he uttered those words. I hate to think what our founding fathers would think of us now.

I would agree with motorcyclists not wearing helmets IF they agreed to pay all expenses from an accidental head injury resulting from not wearing a helmet. Their freedom is my expense. I have no idea of the cost per incident but would guess the expense to my insurance company - or others - would be much less if helmets were worn. Furthermore, how much of the financial burden of many head injuries from motorcycle mishaps is borne by hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and then general public? Far too often the result is some formerly wonderful person sitting in a chair blankly watching television while a personal care attendant wipes the drool and changes diapers and leg bags.

Lets keep the laws fair here. If we're going to let the insurance companies govern us and we are required to wear seat belts while driving our safer now then ever vehichles. There should at least be a helmet law- don't ya think!

If all people in cars have to wear seatbelts because insurance companies say they save lives then people on motorcycles shoiuld all have to wear helmets because helmets save lives too..I think the law has 2 different standards here.
I have to wear a seatbelt, but motorcyclist don't need helmets,, come on here, safe is safe

I wear a helmet at all times because I value my head & safety.

However, the government cannot protect people from themselves; if someone is capable of making the choice not to wear a helmet, the government ought not to interfere.

Someone under 18 is legally not responsible for making such choices, so a helmet should be mandated to protect them.

Frankly, I think the seatbelt law falls into the same category and should not be required for people over the age of 18, capable of making their own choices, and dealing with the consequences.

How about we remove all rules regarding motorcycles and everyone mind their own damn business.

If we're gonna impose a rule regarding helmets, it should only be enforced on individuals without health insurance.

Furthermore.... with the current overall condition of Maine's roads, I often wonder why anyone would jump on a motorcycle at all!!!! : )

Blah Blah..... Just another right taken away maybe next if u curse the taxation state can fine us for that to!Hey maybe we should put training wheels on them to!

I just don't get the argument by those who complain that because they have to wear a seatbelt then bikers should wear helmets. Sounds like a bunch of three year olds crying if I can't do it then they shouldn't either. The reluctant seatbelt wearers should have been raised their voices when that law was first proposed. Remember that....when we were told that they seatbelt law would not become a primary offense. But it has hasn't it.

The reality is that we are allowing our governments to slowly erode many of our personal freedoms. We need to wake up an say enough is enough. I personally believe that wearing a helmet and a seatbelt are both personal choices. In fact, I personally choose to do both most of the time. What I am against is the government or some legislator who has likely never ridden a motorcycle (I mean no disrespect, Ms. Beaudoin) dictate what I can and cannot do. Lastly, our legislators and senators should stop wasting their time and our money sponsoring such tribble (aren't there three helmet bills on the floor). My challenge to them is to focus on the real issues. Use your brains and find ways to fix Maine's economy and create jobs and opportunties for the many folks who have lost their jobs. Do what you were elected to do!

Leave the law as is. Accident prevention is the key not safer crashes. Mandatory helmet laws do nothing to prevent crashes that injure or kill motorcyclists.

Some actual facts for the general public and legislators to consider:
The so called societal cost of bike accidents.
1. A) 1992 study by the University of North Carolina's Highway Safety Research Center reported that automobile drivers and motorcyclists have their medical costs covered by insurance at a nearly identical rate.
B) A Harborview Medical Center study published in 1988 reported that injured motorcyclists in the trauma center relied on public funds a lower percentage of the time than did automobile drivers to pay their hospital bills during the same time period.

2. In 2000, approximately 1.55 percent of total U.S. health care costs are attributable to all motor vehicle crashes

3. One-half of all fatal motorcycle crashes involve another vehicle. The most common crash involves the driver of the other vehicle failing to yield the right of way to the motorcyclist. Motorist awareness campaigns and motorcyclist conspicuity programs can reduce the frequency and/or severity of these types of crashes.

4.Motorcycles are 6% of national traumatic brain injuries, Bicycles are 7%, Pedestrians are 13%, Occupants of Enclosed Motor Vehicles are 62%, Others are 12%.

When you look at all the facts it becomes clear Pedestrians and Auto drivers have a higher rate of head injurys. Given Maines icy winters it stands to reason by some peoples logic that pedestrians should be required to wear helmets during winter months at minimum and all auto drivers should wear one all the time.

The seatbelt argument is bogus. When you look at the number of registered voters who ride motorcycles in comparison to cars we are greatly outnumbered. Why should you decide for us how we protect ourselves? As automobile driving voters everyone had a chance to vote yea/nay for a seatbelt law. Seatbelt laws were sold as a way to reduce insurance costs, how many voters saw their premium drop when the law passed? Do you think it will be any different forcing bikers to wear helmets?

If it is a law for motorcycle riders then it should be a law for car riders, you can get some pretty bad head injuries in a car as well, the seatbelt does not protect you from everything, I say yes if it includes all forms of transportation and no if it does not.

I work in the hospital and I cannot tell you how many non-helmeted motorcycle accident victims we see every year. It may be their decision to ride without a helmet but 9 times out of 10 it is our tax dollars repairing them and then housing them in "rehab centers".

If have an operators license is a privlige and not a right and the legislators are the ones who make the laws then they ultimately are the ones who should make the decision. There are a lot of differences about this subject and it seems that the problem is always something else that is causing the problem reguardless if you are invoulved in an accident and do not have the proper protection your are going to get hurt. Who wants to take that chance. Who has to tell the family that their loved one was killed in an accident but would have probably survived if they had worn the proper equipment. It should not be about choice it should be about safety. So blame the cell phone users the car drivers the law makers etc. you are the one that takes the chance of ruining your life and those around you as you did not take the precautions to at least lessen the chance of injury should you get in an accident. Then the next thing i ask is who was at fault when the single vehicle in the accident was the motorcylce that hit the tree ran into the back of a car and or truck skidded becase the road was wet. It wasn't the law makers the cell phone users or the inattentive driver it was the operator. And finally where are the statistics for all these faults.

I'll bet that all the 1275 votes for the helmet and fine are people who have never rode a motorcycle. Probably upset that they have to wear a seatbelt and those bikers don't have to wear a helmet. I rode a bike for quite a few years but don't have one currently. I always wore a helmet because I felt safer but I don't begudge those that CHOOSE not to wear one. Its a matter of choice!!!

I'm 52 years old and have been riding since I was 10. 42 years experience on motorcycles have taught me that NOT wearing a helmet is an advertisement of stupidity. This whole "freedom" thing that bikers are screaming about seems to be the mentality of a certain group of riders that ride a certain brand of motorcycle. I currently race motocross in the VET class all over New England. Racers know the value of head protection and we're not allowed on the track without helmets. Part of me believes that if people are that stupid that they don't wear a helmet, go ahead, ride without one, that will probably eventually remove them from the gene pool. The other part of me says make them wear a helmet, at some point in the future, they'll be glad they wore one.

Make helmets mandatory!!! It will save lives of the new and even the not so new riders as well as the less informed and inexperienced riders.

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There goes Maine vacationland off my list of places to go this summer. Your left wing looneys have struck again. Don't go by this poll for accuracy as there are a very large percentage that don't ride or haven't even contimplated riding. Go Maine you are only second to California from going off the deep end and being a complete socialist state.

I think there's a fundamental confusion between "liberty" and "license" on the part of those who still question the seatbelt law and the suggestion that all motorcycle riders wear helmets - unless by "liberty" is meant the freedom to get injured or killed in an accident.

Liberty has always had responsibilities to one's self and to others, license is doing what you want regardless of the consequences. Though accidents, by definition, are unpredictable, there are some situations that are accident- prone -like talking on the cell phone while driving - and others that are accident-protective -like wearing seat belts, which, by the way, are designed to work with air bags. Wearing a helmet is one of those things you'll wish you'd done as you are propelled toward the pavement, just as you'll wish you'd buckled up as you find yourself ejected from your vehicle.

Most vehicular laws are designed to protect us from others and sometimes from ourselves. If we want to discuss liberty versus license, let's confine our differences to economics or politics, but not to the safety that we all deserve on our roads.

I wear a helmet, but it is by choice; not because I have to, but because I want to. I say let the person on the motorcycle decide how much risk they are willing to take.

The question was flawed. "NONE" should have been one of the options. Just because you don't care for an answer, as a pollster you must provide available answers that don't drive to a preconcieved outcome.

so true mmc rn

thye choose not to wear helmets, but i dont have a choice to fix them when they crash and they suck off the state becasue they have no health insurance to fix themselves. dont want to wear a helmet? fine. dont make me liable for fixing you.

Look all you people complaining about having to wear a seat belt, GET OFF IT! You all voted for it in a referendum vote several years ago. Yes, it was only for a secondary offense, but Disgusta, in all thier wisdom, decided to take it one step further, a primary offense. Incrementalism at it's best. If the automobile drivers can decide to wear seat belts for themselves, then why can't bikers decide for themselves to wear or not wear a helmet. I have an idea...why not a referendum on a helmet law, only licensed motorcylists allowed to vote. If you've never operated a motorcycle you should not be telling me how to! I've been operating a motorcycle for 37 years, and yes I've been in a serious accident (with no helmet I might add). I had insurance. The law in Maine is you must have insurance to operate a motor vehicle on the highways and byways of Maine. Nuff said!

Rider education is what saves lives not helmets!
This is just another government idea to take away another one of our rights as "free americans" and give more $$ into supporting people who abuse the system (including politicians).
what's next? why don't you get your $$ from the speeders that fly by my house 2- 3 times faster than they should be driving -- that'll save lives!!!

its amazing how we the people react. we bitch and moan about the economy but fight new business in maine because it "doesn't fit". we complain about the roads but no one wants to pay the extra money to fix them and now we have some obscure delegate that probably heard a sob story or two about someone gettin hurt on a motorcycle and here we go again. lets make a new law and once again force the taxpayers into doing something they don't want to do. yes i ride, been riding since i was old enough to kick start a bike. ive crashed on my dirt bike a few times. am i regretting not wearing a helmet, well guess what i was wearing one. i don't on the street though, why because it is supposed to be a controled enviroment and it is SUPPOSED to be kept safe for the public to use. i'm not coming down on our law enforcement officers but the fact is this. i would have been dead years ago if i had my seat belt on. rare occasion, maybe but its the fact and to this day i have somewhat of a fear to wearing them so most of the time i don't. is a helmet the same, sure it is...it can save your life, no doubt but HEAR THIS, it can kill you also. my best friend died because he was wearing a helmet. the extra circumferance caused by the helmet caused him to get jammed under the front of a vehicle, parmedics said the helmet crushed, ultimately doin the same to his head. point here is not to scare anyone but to agree that teaching our younger generation how to be responsible behind the controls of ANY motor vehicle. making laws to protect everyone not just the ones your driving by. i have had my fair share of close calls and to be honest it's due to the driver of the car talking to the better half, on their cell, or just spacing out. i wish these folks that want to pass this would put half the effort into beating some sense into everyone out there that votes against casinos in maine, new shopping malls in maine, expansions on infrastructure, promoting the hell out of tourism because i for one am sick of paying more taxes than most of the country and then having to play dodge the dam pot hole and pay a buck to drive a half mile on the pike. i see that the poll is leaning towards "mainers" wanting the law to pass. i wish they were that passionate about habitual offenders that don't have their licenses and then crash there cars and kill someone. its time to worry about something important for a change folks....stop thinking like your grandparents.

A doctor once said to me that whether or not to wear a helmet isn't really an individual right because if there's an accident, unless the rider is killed s/he usually becomes the responsibility of the health care profession.

Safety laws should be aimed at protecting individuals from the harmful actions of others. They should not be aimed at protecting individuals from themselves.

If a biker rides without a helmet, he's not endangering anyone but himself - and that should be his right if he so chooses. But I think it would be fair for his health insurance company not to cover his medical costs if he survives.

Make them wear a helmet. The law thinks its safe for these guys on motorcycles to drive 70 on the highway with no helmet, but god forbid I drive through Portland going 30 with no seat belt on in my 2000 pound vehicle. Make it consistent. Seat belt and helmet, or no seat belt and no helmet.

I think the people that ride should be able to decide. Im against the whole seatbelt law too. When you take a motorcycle saftey class they teach about what could happen as they do when you take drivers ed. It's such crap that it has came down to this. $500 fine - it's all about MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
There's so much i want to say but im so pist about the whole thing!

As far as the people that are for this law how many of you ride? I don't mean a put around the block every few months, i mean REALLY ride ? Cause if you did you wouldn't be for it, and if you do theres no law that says you CAN'T wear your helment so worry about yourselves

I think, wearing a motorcycle helmet is very important when riding a motorcycle. And the best helmet is full face helmet.