Do you wear a helmet when riding an ATV ?

[fasteddie]

I often see grownups riding bicycles with their kids . The kid is wearing a safety helmet but not the adult .
Do you practice safety or just preach it ?

[shadow]

When I am out hauling firewood or any other task alone I tend never to wear one.
When I am sport riding or trailriding with my kids I will always wear a helmet. I pretty much preach safety to my kids but tend to not practice what I preach while alone or even at times riding around the house while the kids are in my presence.
I really need to start wearing my helmet whenever I am out, I definetly do not want to become a statistic.

[vipertech]

Never when hunting.  Always when sport riding. 

When hunting....I putt along to my spot.  The needle doesn't even register a speed 99% of the time.   Probably still not an excuse but....whatever.  I sometimes do bring along goggles.  I hate when my eyes tear up from the cold wind. 

When sport riding, I always wear one and I always insist on others wearing them too. Actually, I dress up pretty good...gloves, thick coat, boots, etc. For one thing, I HATE being slapped with tree branches or pricker bushes in the woods when cruising along!!  LOL. 

[passin through]

I never wear one now.  Don't even own one.  I had one when I was 10, that came with my Honda 110 3 wheeler but after a year or so I quit wearing it.  Not the best practice in the world I know.......

[mndeerslayer]

plowing snow no
 
riding trails always - i have hit enough trees to know my helmet has saved my life a few times over  

[fasteddie]

Thanks for the reply . I was wondering how many folks practiced safety versus just talked safety . Not meant to be a putdown , just curious . I know folks that hollar at their kids to put a helmet on but then ride with them without any sort of head protection . I have a 14 speed bike that I took camping several years ago and always wore a helmet when riding it . I almost left the helmet at the cabin when going out as "no one" was wearing one but decided to wear it anyway . As I was riding up a hill , I was pedaling hard and put a lot of tension on the chain . The back wheel pulled out of the frame and I got dumped . My helmet smacked the pavement hard but no damage to the head . So , I am protective of my noggin !
 
As for the hunting , I will walk a half mile or more to my stand so I don't spook anything or have the ATV smell in the woods and then walk back to where I am parked to get the ATV when I get my deer . In a farming area that might not matter as they seem to be used to the noise and visibility of farm equipment . I have parked my pickup along the edge of a field and had deer walk right past it so smell and visibility didn't matter . So much for getting off topic .

[MDV WI hunter]

My 2 cents.
 
I've been riding and racing professionally for over 20 years.  Always wear a helmet as well as my kids - bikes, quads, dirtbikes, doesn't matter. 
 
I was t-boned by a dopey kid trail riding in 2002, he was passing his buddy on a two way trail, 5 gear tapped on his KX250.  He hit my NEW 400EX so hard when his front tire pushed passed my nerf bars it ripped his forks off.  Having raced for many years I had full gear on so I managed with just some extreme soreness and a totaled quad.  Actually cracked my engine case where the pivot shaft goes thru the engine and frame. (anyone wondering it was the trail system in Black River Falls, WI)
 
A good friend of mine was tooling around on his TRX300EX, 1st gear no helmet in the yard.  Tie rod bent for no apparent reason but sent him over the bars and the quad following.  Luckly no damage but could have been worse.
 
Do as you will but remember ATV's aren't safe from legislation just as hunting isn't.  There are plenty of groups out there trying to ban them and sue the pants off the manufacturers based on the fact people can get hurt.  We just had a ban come thru on small displacement machines because of lead paint on the frame.  I don't know about you but I don't let my kid chew on his footpegs.....