To: letters@nytimes.com
Subject: "Rise in Motorcycle Deaths Renews Helmet Law Debate"

Despite sounding statistical, your statement that a combination of
reduced helmet use and increased ridership have raised motorcycle
fatalities "more than 100 percent" simply squeezes two independent
factors into one useless factoid. It says nothing quantitative about
the risks of motorcycling.

Your "Fatalities per 100,000 registered motorcycles" graph does a bit
better by correcting for the rise in motorcycle ownership;
incidentally, it brings the increase from "more than 100" to about 35
percent.

I'm a long-time motorcyclist and a great believer in training and
safety gear, including helmets, and am duly alarmed at the rise in
unskilled and underprotected riders. However, your somewhat innumerate
stab at this issue does little but reinforce preconceptions and make
responsible motorcyclists grumpy.

Paul Bissex
Northampton MA

My current helmet is an HJC Symax, a flip-up model — that is, one where the chin bar can be lifted up so that your face is clear.

I really love having a flip-up. It's about talking to your pillion, talking to store clerks, talking to other riders at a quick stop, talking to the driver you're pulled up next to. I also flip it up when I'm doing a quick gas stop or other task where I want a little more vision but don't want to pull the helmet off.

When I was looking at the various affordable flip-up models several years ago, one of them, the Nolan, required you to work catches on both sides of the helmet to open it and maybe even to close it. I consider this a pretty serious usability flaw, especially after hearing the story of the guy who accidentally clamped down on his gloves while in motion (low-speed) and fell over. The HJC and many (most?) other models have a single-hand, center latch. That's a good thing.

I think there are still no Snell-certified flip-ups, mostly by definition — no flip-up helmet is Snell certified because Snell does not test flip-up helmets.

When I replace my Symax I'm definitely going to get another flip-up. Before I buy I plan to read some tests and reviews from European bike mags, since I'm sure there are differences in provided protection even if our official testing regimens don't address them.

Note for shoppers: Since my purchase many years ago, the Symax has become the "CL-Max" -- a name which looks like part of a porn spam subject line, now that I type it.

Motorcycle Cruiser magazine's website has a good rundown of common motorcycle safety myths. It's kind of sad that they have to spend four of the twelve points convincing people that, hey, wearing a helmet actually makes you safer. It would also be nice to see some actual sources cited (I sent them an email to that effect).

If you boil these down to recommendations, you get:

• Be visible
• Don't pretend your loud pipes are a safety feature
• Wear a helmet
• Really, wear a helmet, dummy
• Your awesome evasive skills are not enough to protect you
• Don't drink and ride
• Don't "lay it down"
• Don't worry about lanesplitting
• Don't worry about riding on the interstate
• You are not better than ABS