BajaNomad - Motorcycle helmets required?

Motorcycle helmets required?

thebajarunner - 4-2-2008 at 06:03 PM

I have a young friend, Baja bound on his bike in Sept.
I have given him maps, all the border info, gas stops, the whole nine yards.
His only question???
"Do I have to wear a helmet?"
Well, I told him "only if you need to use your brain in the future" but he persisted in the question.

So, simple question (no more lectures needed)

"Are helmets required while operating a motorcycle in Baja?"

did not open

thebajarunner - 4-2-2008 at 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vgabndo
I personally have never seen a gringo riding in Mexico fool enough to ride the highway without a helmet. (That includes the Harley crowd)

You might forward the following link to him.

http://us.f826.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=3521_56759...

your site did not open,
and the question was as to the law,
not as to whether or not it made any sense
(we pretty thoroughly thrashed that through the other day)

and, I share your observations, I told him I have not seen riders sans helmets in Mexico, but he says he likes to ride over Sonora pass and park the hat "after I figure we have passed the last CHP"

vgabndo - 4-2-2008 at 06:33 PM

The link (and post I removed) was to a series of photos of a guy with his head stuffed into the rear end of an 18 wheeler. He lived because he wound up hanging limp from his captured helmet after being dragged for a quarter mile.

If your friend is as self destructive as he sounds, I'd recommend he just not take a helmet. How bad is a ticket when compared to a thousand other things that may help him into the next world.

DENNIS - 4-2-2008 at 06:50 PM

I see riders all over the place here without helmets. I have no idea about the law pertaining to this but I'm sure, whatever it is or isn't, it could be interpreted many ways. Especially here, it would be insane not to wear one.
Is the helmet law in the states a federal or state law? Are there states which don't require them?

vgabndo - 4-2-2008 at 06:58 PM

Yes Dennis, they are state laws and Arizona, for one, is contributing to the increase in our health insurance premiums. I like to look for the little spot of light they make when the sunlight shines in one ear and out the other. :lol:

Price - 4-2-2008 at 07:04 PM

I t seems to be in San Felipe helmets are required - but - during events is the only time is it enforced - yesterday noticed several 4-wheelers right by the police station - no helmuts

JamesBC - 4-2-2008 at 07:12 PM

I think helmets are required nationally in Mexico, but enforcement is spotty in most places. On the island of Cozumel (which is 'scooter central' - to the point that there are even special pumps at Pemex, just for scooters) enforcement is (relatively) strict. I haven't seen tickets given, but I have seen the police stop people and talk to them, and I have heard of a few people getting written up. So, as far as Baja goes - probably illegal to not wear one, and enforcement is probably quite lax.

805gregg - 4-3-2008 at 07:07 AM

You only need a helmet if you have something to protect, so if you ask that question, no you don't need one. Maybe go for the Darwin awards.

KurtG - 4-3-2008 at 11:37 AM

Mexican law does require helmets but like other laws enforcement is inconsistant. Several years ago a buddy and I were ticketed in Cabo San Lucas and went to the station to pay the peso equivalent of $7.00 each and then got our pics taken with one of the officers and his shotgun. It was worth the small fine!

BMG - 4-3-2008 at 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vgabndo
He lived because he wound up hanging limp from his captured helmet after being dragged for a quarter mile.

Very gruesome pictures and the rider did not live.

We do see riders here in La Paz riding frequently without helmets. Not sure about the laws though.

DianaT - 4-3-2008 at 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by thebajarunner
I have a young friend, Baja bound on his bike in Sept.
I have given him maps, all the border info, gas stops, the whole nine yards.
His only question???
"Do I have to wear a helmet?"
Well, I told him "only if you need to use your brain in the future" but he persisted in the question.

So, simple question (no more lectures needed)

"Are helmets required while operating a motorcycle in Baja?"

Since there seems to be no straight answer, or at least one that is applied in all areas, and you obviously know the wisdom of wearing a helmet----fib to your young friend. :yes:

Tell him that it is definitely against the law and if he is caught without a helmet it will be a very large fine and one week in a Mexican jail.

My sister and her nursing friends always called young males riding without helmets donors.

If your young friend finds out you fibbed, just smile.

JMHO
Diane

Diver - 4-3-2008 at 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jdtrotter
---fib to your young friend. :yes:

If your young friend finds out you fibbed, just smile.

JMHO
Diane

Great answer ! There is wisdom on Nomads !! :biggrin:

.

[Edited on 4-3-2008 by Diver]

DanO - 4-3-2008 at 01:17 PM

And their vehicles were referred to by some ER doctor friends of mine as "donorcycles."

tripledigitken - 4-3-2008 at 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hose A

My sister and her nursing friends always called young males riding without helmets donors.

JMHO
Diane

You must also consider that there is a shortage of donors.
His riding without a helmet may benefit many others.

Hose A,

Very true, but given a choice for a donor I'll take the one wearing a helmet!

Ken

vgabndo - 4-3-2008 at 02:31 PM

Funny Ken...however, if I am really in need of an organ, I would probably take one that was laced with dummy DNA.

BMG...where did you find the info about the rider being killed?I'd like to send that to the guy who sent me the false info, and to my biker friends who got a forward from me.

DianaT - 4-3-2008 at 02:35 PM

Oh dear---looks like a started a bit of a hijack. Do you think that Super Moderator will be unhappy? :lol:

vgabndo - 4-3-2008 at 03:40 PM

BMG...I found the link to a hoax site quite easily when I looked. The accident did (obviously) happen. The rider's helmet did him no good and he paid the price for his outlaw behavior.

Parental guidance recommended...

http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/tulsacrash.asp

BMG - 4-3-2008 at 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vgabndo
BMG...I found the link to a hoax site quite easily when I looked. The accident did (obviously) happen. The rider's helmet did him no good and he paid the price for his outlaw behavior.

Parental guidance recommended...

http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/tulsacrash.asp

I also received the email with the photos saying he lived, but I already knew the story of the motorcycle rider. Not sure what the motivation was in saying he lived in that email. I think helmets save lives even though there are other injuries caused by the extra weight on the head, but that's another thread on a different forum.

This thread did get me interested in the helmet laws in Mexico and I found quite a few references to such a law but never any statement of fact as to what that law is. I'll go along with Diane, tell him it is the law. If he comes back later and says you fibbed, plenty of websites will back you up.

vgabndo - 4-4-2008 at 11:53 AM

I forwarded the original as well as the hoax report to most of my motorcycling buddies. It is interesting that none of them responded. In my judgement it has something to do with the "there but for fortune...concept.

As a lifelong rider, such images are sobering and still have the same effect as the movies they used to show us in Driver's Education in high school.

I'm so proud of our little community where our public service cable channel has produced a program in which a drunk driving highschooler kills a friend. All those involved, the police, the firefighter/EMTs, the parents of the victim, the funeral director are all local people who are not actors. It is VERY VERY powerful stuff. It is so unsettling that it took me a couple of tries to watch it all the way through. It just HAS to help.

Still, I believe my old claim that teenagers and chipmonks are going to have a certain number of roadkills and there is little we can do about it. Sad on both counts.