Regarding "Beware the fake helmets" (Nov. 6), I never leave my driveway without wearing a full-face, DOT-approved, Snell-approved lid. I paid more than $300 for it (I guess my head is worth that much). Nevertheless, I am continually annoyed by all of the hype that I hear about helmet safety.

Yes, helmets are important, but they are only one part of the safety package: They protect just one part of your body -- a vital part -- but don't you also feel somewhat of an attachment for your arms and your legs and your spine and your skin? Every time I don my lid, I tell myself, this might keep me alive, but it won't keep me from spending the rest of my days in a wheelchair that I move about by blowing into a straw.

The most important piece of safety equipment that I bring on a ride is not something I wear. It's not my jacket or my pants, it's not my armor inserts or my gloves, nor is it the heavy boots that cover my ankles, or my helmet: What's INSIDE my helmet is more important than all of the rest of that stuff put together.

If someone were to appoint me Motorcycle Safety Czar, I wouldn't waste much time or money helping riders to SURVIVE accidents. I would focus on trying to PREVENT accidents. I would ask, "How can we make bikes that are easier to control, more forgiving in a dangerous situation?" I would ask, "How can we make riders more visible? How can we encourage drivers to be aware of their surroundings and, to be more considerate of other motorists?" I would ask, "How can we get sport riders to go to the track instead of stunting and racing on streets and highways?"

The biggest part of my budget would go to rider education and safety indoctrination. There's a lot to know about riding: how motorcycles work, how to operate them safely, what to do in emergencies. Many of those facts are better to learn from other people's mistakes than from personal experience. (Ever see a high side? Look one up on YouTube some time.)

If you ride, have you taken a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class? We're lucky to be able to take them for free here in Pennsylvania. In just a few hours of classroom time and a few hours in the saddle, you'll learn skills that might keep you from having to discover for yourself whether or not your helmet really works. Those classes teach stuff that even some "experienced" riders may not know (either because they never learned it or because they have become complacent).

Motorcyclists sometimes wish one another to "keep the rubber side down."

Helmets can't fulfill that wish, Helmet LAWS can't fulfill it, but rider education can.

Jim Large

Squirrel Hill