Important facts about motorcycle helmets

Motorcycles are fun to ride not to mention very fuel efficient. That’s not news to anyone who’s ridden one. But neither is the fact that they’re also way more dangerous than a car.

Because of lack of protective structures found in cars—seatbelts, a rigid framework surrounding the occupants, crumple zones—motorcycle riders are 30 times more likely to die in a crash than people inside a car, according to the United States Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

This is a critical issue facing our motorcycle riders here now that they are the most dominant road user—71 percent of the total motor vehicles utilyzing the country’s road network. According to the Land Transportation Office, the number of registered motorcycles here has already reached 18.8 million. Of this number, 9.83 million are those without side cars (tricycles), making the two-wheeled ride, the country’s most popular means of transports.

Unfortunately it’s also the most vulnerable to road traffic crashes. According to a World Health Organization Philippines data gathered last year, there were a total of 11,264 deaths from accidents on Philippine roads. Almost 6,000 of these or 53 percent of that number were riders or passengers of motorcycles, tricycles, and other two- or three-wheeled vehicles.

It’s interesting to note that this same data found that more than 90 percent of these affected riders and passengers were not wearing helmets, despite the passage of Republic Act (RA) 10054 (which mandates all motorcycle riders to wear standard protective helmets while driving) or despite the Metro Manila Development Authority warning that one in every two motorcycle riders who figured in an accident were declared dead on arrival because they wore no helmet or were not properly strapped.

Wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle may be frustrating for riders who love the open feeling of the road, however, wearing a helmet is the cheapest and most effective insurance policy out there.

Helmets are about 37 percent effective in preventing motorcycle deaths and about 67 percent effective in preventing brain injury.

There are a number of reasons why a helmet is a must accessory:

• presence of thick inner liner that should at least meet the minimum safety standards. Typically this should be firm, polystyrene foam inner liner that is about one-inch thick. If a helmet has soft foam padding or a bare plastic shell with no padding at all, this is definitely not a safe helmet (hint: try to check the stickers and quality seals attached inside).

• a helmet should have sturdy chin straps with solid rivets to keep the helmet securely in place on the wearer’s head.

• helmets should meet the safety standards and so, are required to have a sticker on the outside back of the helmet with the letters “DOT,” certifying that the helmet meets standards. Also, a helmet may be additionally certified by private, non-profit organizations like Snell or the American National Standards Institute, in which case it would have a sticker indicating certification.

• a helmet must have a label inside stating the manufacturer’s name, model, size, month and year the helmet was made, construction materials and owner’s information. Yes, these type of motorcycle helmets can be costly, but try not to cheap out here, because you can’t put a price on your head. Always remember that you are protecting your brain and all the knowledge it has accumulated over the years. Now is not the time to be skimping on quality.

Indeed, it doesn’t matter how awesome a rider you think you are. It doesn’t matter if helmets make your head sweat or if it ruins your hair style. The only thing that matters is that it might very well save your life one day, or at the very least prevent your face from getting mangled.

Remember, helmets are replaceable, heads are not.