Relevant.
I've been riding a motorcycle since 2007. For me, it's a toy, not a vehicle. I've traveled between states. My home state is a wear-a-helmet state. Protective equipment isn't mandatory to make you feel like Big Brother is shitting down your throat, but for the good of society as a whole. Let's say you're Jinn Kai, the second baddest motherfucker on the planet. Well, third. Sam Jackson is always the first. Your most popular quote is "I'd hit it." You ride a superbike worth $91,500. You piss excellence.
Doesn't matter. You aren't the one that will fuck up. That sleep-deprived Kenworth driver will kill you with a truck so big all it'll leave is a grease stain. Or maybe the giggly cellphone-using teenybopper in the Jeep. Or some crotch-coffee guy.
Motor vehicle seat belts are that important. Motorcycle helmets are that important. I'm all for that kinda Big Brother involvement.
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Don't worry, this guy is sympathetic.
This isn't a liberty thing for a lot of people. It's a lame fashion accessory thing. Helmets just aren't cool. Especially DOT cruiser helmets. They're awful. Turn your head into a mushroom. Can't be a badass with that kinda headgear on, amiright? It's funny, all the sportbike guys I know walk around with their $200 spacesuit toppers tucked under their arms like its a tough guy badge. Maybe that is your problem. You just need a cool matching jacket, brah.
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Hilariously ironic.
Helmets are relevant for guys like me that only get to ride maybe 500 miles a year. I'd imagine they're even more relevant for serious riders. Yesterday, for example, I did a pretty long run down the freeways here. I was five minutes from the house when house when road construction started. In order to avoid chipping the paint on their Buick POS, some dipshit cager changed lanes at the last second and cut me off so close that I could have kicked their rear quarter panel. I was thankful that some law told me that I had to wear a helmet. I could have very well died yesterday if I wasn't so lucky and dodged it. Skinning my torso on asphalt, maybe breaking a leg? You walk away from that. You don't walk away from smacking your noggin at 65 MPH.
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TL;DR:
Don't be butthurt. Learn and respect the laws of the states you ride through or just don't ride through them.