Open Face Crash

[the Ferret]

In honor of this discussion on my ride tonight I wore my white open face helmet with flat shield, black leather jacket, black deerskin gloves and Hi Viz vest. Rode past my sons house and saw him out feeding the pony so I stopped. He told me he was out riding on his lunch hour with a co worker today and came upon a Harley rider who had just dropped his bike trying to avoid a deer ( this was at 11:30 a.m.) . The guy was wearing fingerless gloves and a half helmet and face planted on the road. Said he had a good case of rash on his face and palms of his hands. Said a full face helmet would have saved his face. Opined that my flat shield " might" have saved mine, he wasn't sure how strong the shield was lol. A safety lecture from my son lol. How ironic.

[ThomWill_imp]

Of course, I think we can all agree that even in a 3/4 helmet we are smarter than THESE people... who still ride in traffic and sometimes at a good clip.

[Offroad]

I've got one of these modular HJC in white....best innovation I've see in a while...mine was $150 so not ridiculous in price.
The only thing the open face helmets had I missed was the visor or bill to block the sun....BUT I've discover you can ride with this helmet adjusted to block the sun if needed.
I truly enjoy being able to pop up the entire face mask sitting at a stop light, then when I hit about 50 or 60, being able to pull it down into full face mode...brilliant!
http://www.extremesupply.com/Merchant2/g...r_open.jpg
Oh, I didn't see the fancy little inner shield thing...mine doesn't have that, I just have some blue mirrored polarized aviators I wear.

[Dakota_imp]

Of course, I think we can all agree that even in a 3/4 helmet we are smarter than THESE people... who still ride in traffic and sometimes at a good clip.

And blow through stop signs, etc.

[HikerToo_imp]

Of course, I think we can all agree that even in a 3/4 helmet we are smarter than THESE people... who still ride in traffic and sometimes at a good clip.

And blow through stop signs, etc.

And blow through stop signs, etc.
Hmm...I do both/all, motorcycle on the road, bicycle on the road and off, each has its own dangers.
When I go out on the road, I don't expect to have an accident, on the mountain bike, you can have a small wreck anytime you go out, usually not as bad as a road wreck though.....I currently have 2 sprained fingers from a MTB wreck earlier in the season, over the bars.
Maybe I have too many 2 wheeled vehicles...

[the Ferret]

Hiker..are autos even less aware of bicycles than motorcycles? Do you have lots of close calls?

[shysue2_imp]

I had a friend who took a sweeper pretty fast in Death Valley and hit some gravel. Her bike slid but she kept it upright and rode it thru the desert off the asphalt, only to hit a big rock hidden by a desert plant as she was decelerating. She flew over the handlebars and did a faceplant. She had a 3/4 helmet on and the lower part of her face was injured pretty badly, broke her jaw in several places, sprained her neck, road (or dirt) rash on arms, etc. I believe if she had been wearing a full-face helmet she wouldn't have broken her jaw. She would have still had the other injuries but they were relatively minor compared to the jaw. Ouch.

I've been wearing a flip-face Shoei for many years and I really, really love it. I started out with a 3/4 helmet but soon figured out a full-face is the way to go for safety and comfort. I see people out riding with a pair of sunglasses and a do-rag for face and head protection and I just cringe. Not just because of the "what if" factor, but also because of all the big bugs, rocks, you name it that comes flying at you when you're on the road. I've heard many hard things hitting the helmet and visor as I ride, and I'm always thankful I'm wearing the helmet I have.

[Cormanus]

I'm not trying to answer for HikerToo. I seldom ride bicycles on busy roads as it scares me half to death. I have a theory that it's because you can't play in the traffic; you have to run along the side of it and hope like hell cars (which are going much faster) stay away. I also think car drivers get really irritated with bicycles for that reason: they're slower, there's not quite enough room for them and you have to work that bit harder to get past them without hitting them.

I'm sure learned people have written about the psychology of driving a car. I think it can change us all from reasonable people to egomaniacs with a view that everything else on the road is a nuisance to be pushed out of the way. That makes bicyclists pretty vulnerable.

Wise road authorities in this country now build bicycle lanes on many urban streets to try to make things safer for riders and encourage more people to bicycle.

[shdwghst457_imp]

San Antonio now has a couple of bike lanes too, and there's even a big project that essentially will result in a bicycle trail that covers the city!

I was off my bike for about a decade though, so I'm still too out of shape to even contemplate going out on the roads. Now I only have to worry about the people speeding horrendously in my neighborhood!

[Tortuga_imp]

I've read this thread with great interest to date. I am still so sorely tempted to buy this bloody open face lid. What is I promise only to use it up to say 50mph and promise not to eat any insects, or crash in it?

I agree with one of the relies, that the press coverage and promotional videos for the CB make you feel obliged to ride in retro kit.