SCARBOROUGH, Maine — A 26-year-old South Portland man suffered serious, life-threatening injuries early Saturday morning when the motorcycle he was driving went off the road in Scarborough, according to a report from WGME 13. Jonathan Hebert was taken to Maine Medical Center after the accident on Pleasant Hill Road around 5:30 a.m. Saturday. State and Scarborough police are investigating the accident.
South Portland man seriously injured in motorcycle accident
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Helmet???? Speed??
A helmet wouldnt have anything to do with the fact that he went off the road. Speed? Maybe. Or animal. Or another driver. Rain? Or perhaps something went wrong with his bike, hit the soft shoulder of the road, didnt negotiate a corner, whatever. Same reasons as with a car, or truck. People get stuck on helmets because you are told to be. Just like seatbelts, sometimes they help, sometimes they dont. With ANY vehicle, you take your chances. I have known people to get bees in their helmet, or even a bird. Yes, a bird. A helmet didnt help that person, right? How about instead saying….gee. I hope this young man pulls through this.
My prayerss for recovery go out to this fellow rider.
I hope this young man pulls through.
Also, I wonder if he was wearing a helmet and, if not, whether his serious and life-threatening injuries would have been prevented or mitigated by wearing a helmet.
A helmet may or may not have helped him. The circumstances and events that occur during the accident will dictate whether or not something helped or could have helped.
Others tell us what is good for us. Think about that for a minute…….. Are you a sensible person? Do you know what is good for you? On those items that you dont know, do you listen to others and research the issue and then make up your own mind? Of course you do – with everything from politics to baby food to what you want for supper tonight. But, if it is good for YOU, is it good for EVERYONE?
Instead of letting us take responsibility for our choices, we have someone else dictating what is good for us and how we MUST respond. (wear a seatbelt, have an airbag, wear a helmet, etc). The reality of it is that what is good for one is not necessarily good for all. Those of us that do not fit the statistic that the mold is based on just don’t matter. My ONE life isnt as important as their TWO lives. I beg to disagree.
I am a motorcycle rider and was in a pretty bad accident but fate was on my side and I walked away without serious injuries – I wasnt wearing a helmet. You just thought “you got lucky” didnt you? Yes, I was lucky, anyone who walks away from any accident is lucky, regardless of helmet or not, seatbelt or not. I took the soft shoulder of the road and slid down it on my face, stomach and hands. Had I been wearing a full face helmet, it probably would have broken my neck as the chin/mouth bar would have bit into the soft dirt and my momentum would have carried my body over my head, but had I hit the TAR, maybe the outcome would have been different. It was luck that I hit the dirt on the side of the road, it was luck on that particular day, that I was NOT wearing a helmet. Some days, I just dont ‘feel’ right and I wear a helmet. But it’s MY choice.
A seatbelt could trap you in a burning vehicle. A helmet could cause you to snap your neck. People die wearing helmets and seatbelts and having airbags, too. I could reach for something on the top shelf and it could fall out and hit my in the head and kill me, or I could use a step stool get it off the shelf, and fall off the step stool and die.
I task all of you to think for yourselves sensibly, and make your own decision and most importantly, ACCEPT responsibility for the decision you make, but do NOT force it on others. Your personal needs, or the needs of the majority, are not always in my/your best interest. The first time majority rules takes precedence and it goes against your personal needs, you WILL change your tune. Because you ARE important in this life. We all are.
I say kudos to the BDN for not making whether or not he was wearing a helmet the point of the story. Good job.
As a PROFESSIONAL driver for all my life I say no. First seat belts save lives. I drove wreckers for quite a few years and have seen many wrecks. I have only ever seen ONE where the seat belt not being worn would saved a guy. Conversely I have NEVER seen one example of a helmet used by a motorcycle rider causing them greater injury.
There is a VAST difference between professional drivers and drivers. Pro’s do not have “accidents” there is no such thing. Every incident could have been prevented. Using the word accident is a easy way out as all one has to do is look and think to see that if the driver had or had not done X there woudl have been no problem at all.
You can say no. I take no offense at that. I do take offense at the capitalizaton of the word ‘professional’ however, as you seem to be stressing the point as if to say that somehow makes you better than me.
I say that you are not entirely right. I know of people in accidents because a bee flew into their helmet, even a bird once. My aunt died according to the coroner of a broken neck due to airbag impact. She only had a bruise on her pinky from the accident and if not for the air bag, would have lived another day.
And so I say to you, the PROFESSIONAL driver, that your choice is yours. Leave me to mine. I dont care what you do, wear it or not. It isnt any of my business what you do, and it is none of yours what I do.
All accidents are not preventable. You certainly may have an opportunity to make a better choice, but if it occurs it is still an accident. And to say “using the word accident is an easy way out” is kind of silly really. The word accident means unintentional. If it were intentional, wouldnt it be murder or suicide?
You cannot control the piece of wood that just flew out of someone’s vehicle, or the animal that just ran across the road, nor can you control the driver who just had a heart attack and struck you head on (that happened here too 2 years ago). Just because you havent seen it doesnt mean it doesnt happen.
I have been riding motorcycles since I was 12. I am now 47. I have had one accident and yes, it was an accident. A real one. Not a made up one. It was not intentional on my part nor was it negligent on my part that someone else lost control of their vehicle and took me down. Could I have done something differently? Sure. I could have been miles away, but I wasnt. I could have chose to stay home that day, but I didnt. I could have sped up instead of slowing down when I knew and saw it coming. Did I intend to be involved? Nope. It was an accident.
Seat belts may save SOME (or according to you, most) lives at some times, but not all. Helmets may save some, but not all. Why not leave the choice up to the individual? Does it somehow hurt YOU that someone chose to not wear them? Are you trying to tell me that you have the right to dictate your choices onto me? And that my life is somehow worth less than yours? Who cares if it DOES kill one person, because it saved many? Remember that when it is your turn. Something will happen one day and you will be the ‘odd man out’ and I wonder if you will remember that it really doesnt matter because it was better for most.
theres still dirt on the road from this winter in places people gotta take it easy on a bike i hope this guy makes a full recovery.
I’m not saying that it’s the case in this incident but if the TIRE PRESSURES on your Bike aren’t up to specs the Bike isn’t going to go where you aim it. Early each season there are always many articles like this about Bikes leaving the road on curves.
Good point.