You probably know you should wear a helmet. However, just because you know you should do something doesn’t mean you do it. Helmets can be ugly, uncomfortable, and inconvenient. It’s a lot easier to hop on your bike without one.
Instead of telling yourself, you’ll work on wearing a helmet later, you should find ways to encourage yourself to wear a helmet now. Your life could depend on it.
1. Get Familiar With the Facts
Everyone knows that helmets can save lives, but most people don’t really know what that means.
“Each year, U.S. motorcycle accidents kill more than 5,000 people and injure more than 85,000,” according to Jacoby and Meyers Personal Injury Attorneys. However, multiple states have seen a dramatic decrease in fatalities when helmet laws are in place and people actually wear them. For example, “When California passed its universal helmet law in 1992, the state reported that helmet usage jumped from 50 percent to 99 percent. Meanwhile, motorcycle accident fatalities dropped by 37 percent.”
When you familiarize yourself with facts like these, you can see how important helmets are. The more obvious it is that they can prevent you from getting injured or from dying in an accident, the more motivated you will be to wear one on a regular basis.
2. Get the Right Helmets
Not all helmets are created equal. A helmet that might work in one situation may not effectively protect your head in another.
Sports helmets are all different from bicycle helmets, and motorcycle helmets provide more protection than bicycle helmets. It is important to have the right helmet for the right situation.
For example, a bicycle helmet will not protect you if you’re in an accident while riding a motorcycle. A motorcycle helmet is needed. If you’re riding a bicycle, a motorcycle helmet will protect you, but it severely limits your vision, which can be dangerous when you’re riding on trails where there are walkers, families, and pets. It’s best to wear a specialized bicycle helmet.
Whether you’re riding a bike, a motorcycle or you play a sport, it’s important to have a helmet for everything you do.
3. Buy a Helmet That You Actually Like
Once you have determined what kind of helmet you need, it’s time to go shopping. Cost is always a big consideration, but that doesn’t mean it should be the only thing you consider.
If you buy the cheapest helmet you can find, chances are, you won’t look forward to wearing it. Even if it costs a little bit more, you should spend the money on a helmet you actually like so you’re motivated to wear it every day.
There are a lot of really great safe and stylish helmets out there, so do your research. Some helmets are all black, while others have designs. Some are designed after beloved characters, like Star Wars storm troopers and the twins from The Matrix, while others are simply designed with decals.
Don’t be afraid to zhoosh up your helmet yourself! Put stickers on your helmet or paint it to make it all your own.
4. Consider a Portable Helmet
If you’re riding a bicycle to work, dealing with a bulky helmet can be a pain. Traditional helmets don’t fit into bags very well, so it’s easy to just to leave your helmet at home.
Consider a collapsible helmet instead. These helmets provide the same protection as a traditional bicycle helmet, but they can be folded down and they fit inside a bag, making them much easier to carry around at work or school.
Many of them don’t look like traditional helmets either, which makes them a bit more fashionable. For example, one collapsible helmet looks like a baseball cap and not a helmet at all!
5. Make It Easily Accessible
If you’re on a diet, you know how important it is to place healthy items, like apples and bananas, on the counter so they can be reached easily while tucking things like candy and cookies away in a cupboard.
If you want to use your helmet on a daily basis, it has to be out where you can reach it easily. If it is tucked away in the garage, you are likely to leave it behind.
Hang your helmet from the handle bars of your bike or leave it on the seat of your motorcycle. You can also consider hanging it with your keys or even hanging it from the door knob. Just pick a place you can’t ignore!
6. Reward Yourself for Wearing a Helmet
Wearing a helmet takes some getting used to. You have to wear it over and over again in order to build a habit. If you don’t really want to wear a helmet, but it’s an important habit you want to establish, it might be a good idea to reward yourself every time you wear one.
Rewarding yourself for reaching your goals can be an effective way to encourage you to continue working towards those goals. If wearing a helmet is your goal, a few ways you can reward yourself include:
- Get coffee from your favorite coffee place every day you wear it
- Buy something you want after wearing your helmet for an entire week
- Take a road trip with the only stipulation being that you have to wear your motorcycle helmet
7. Encourage Others to Wear Helmets Too
The only thing more uncomfortable than wearing a helmet when you aren’t used to it is being the only person wearing a helmet when everyone else isn’t!
Not only should you encourage yourself to wear a helmet, but you can also encourage others to wear a helmet too. Just make sure you encourage others carefully. Avoid preaching, and instead, be honest about how it will be easier for you to wear a helmet if they wear a helmet too!
Wearing a helmet every time you’re supposed to isn’t necessarily fun, but it is important. If you want to wear a helmet more, follow these tips, and you will slowly but surely establish this life-saving habit.
