The Importance of Wearing Riding Gear
Riding motorcycles is fun, but it’s also quite dangerous. It’s often said, and it might even be correct, that a motorcycle rider protects his vehicle with his body, and not the other way around (as is the case for car drivers, for instance). While that may be an exaggeration, the fact that a rider needs to protect his person while on his cannot be overstated. Even if he has a perfect riding safety record, others who share the road with him may not be so gifted, and if they should make a mistake and it spills over to him, the rider is the one who will suffer. To this end, there are several pieces of equipment a motorcyclist should invest in, in order to keep himself safe on the streets.
Helmet: By far the most important piece of riding safety equipment, the helmet protects the head, which is often the most easily injured part of the body in motorcycle accidents. Studies show that riders who wear helmets are twice as likely to survive a crash as their bareheaded counterparts. It’s no wonder the government mandates helmet wear for all motorcyclists; they’ll give the thumbs up to anything which reduces the lethality of accidents. In addition, a helmet usually incorporates a face shield, which keeps the blustering wind out of the rider’s face and his eyes, significantly reducing the chance of an accident caused by the rider being blinded by a piece of airborne debris.
Body armor: Not a knight’s plate harness or a SWAT team member’s tactical armor, armored outerwear is essential for a rider, because the road will tear up ordinary clothing if a rider is sent sprawling across the tarmac by an accident. In addition, armored riding clothes also protect a rider against collisions with the curb, pavements, and various other hard objects, for which crashing into them at 30 miles per hour is decidedly a bad idea.
Gloves: It’s human nature to break falls with our hands, and as a result the hands tend to bear the brunt of crash-related injuries. A pair of heavy leather gloves with armored palms will go a long way to keep a break fall from resulting in broken hands, and they can also serve to improve one’s grip on the vehicle. Ideally, a good pair of riding gloves should extend past the wrist, like a medieval gauntlet.
Boots: The humble boot serves many functions in protecting a rider: it helps him to brake, stay mounted and grip onto the motorcycle, in addition to looking rather stylish. A well-chosen pair of boots will not only look good, but may even outlast the motorcycle it’s meant to be used with!
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