NEW GREEN, Manchester — From likening operating a bike without a helmet to having sex without a condom, to raising an alarm about the use of uncertified versions of the headgear, road safety advocate and former stunt rider Marlon “Crazy Cutter” Fletcher is urging motorcyclists to increase their chances of survival by wearing the protective gear.

His appeal comes amid debate among bikers about the effectiveness of helmets.

“It is important to wear a certified helmet, not them likkle chimmey business. I see everybody deh pon bout the German-looking helmet, dem sumn deh fi go a bush. Dem nuh good,” he told a group of motorcyclists last Thursday at a biker safety launch at New Green Primary.

The initiative, organised by businessman and Jamaica Labour Party representative for Manchester North Western Damion Young, is being supported by the Heart/NSTA Trust, Jamaica Motorcyclists Association, and JN Foundation. Sixty helmets were distributed to bikers at the event.

“Every helmet has a distinguishing mark from the manufacturer in the US, it is called DOT-approved. They carried it [helmet] through rigorous testing… before they approved it. In Europe, there is the EU certification, and even if your helmet comes from China, there is a certification because every country in the world has a road safety organisation that certifies these things,” he said.

Fletcher added: “If it is not certified, it is not good.”

A former president of the Jamaica Motorcyclists Association, he told his audience the importance of wearing a helmet.

“It is the law to wear a helmet, but most man put on a helmet to prevent themselves from getting a ticket. A helmet must be your personal responsibility. As a stunt man, a nuh likkle crash me crash offa bike and I challenge anyone of you to find a video with me at a stunt show not wearing a helmet,” he said.

He also encouraged them to be safe on the roads so they can continue providing for their families.

“Wah gwan wid you likkle daughter and son when you nuh deh yah nuh more? Wah gwan when you’re inna hospital for three months with a brain injury and dem a try draw down the swelling and dem haffi bore your skull several times?” he reasoned.

While admitting that there is a chance of death for a helmeted motorcyclist during a crash, Fletcher stressed the higher chance of survival.

“Yes, you can crash and dead with a helmet, too, but at the same time there is a 70 per cent chance of you living after an accident if you have on a helmet. Each if you bruk up. Most times the death is caused by a head injury, not a broken foot, not a broken hand; it is not because dem haffi put pin inna you foot,” he said.

“The two most important things on your body are your head and your heart,” he added.

The road safety advocate also told the motorcyclists that once their helmets are damaged during a crash, they are no longer effective.

“There is a rule of thumb that if your helmet drops one time, it nuh good again and me nah talk about just let it go and it drop. I am talking about you having an accident and you have a severe impact with the helmet, it is not good again.

“Once you make an impact with it, the protective coating is compromised, so if you should make that impact again…it can’t save you a second time,” he said.

Fletcher recounted a serious crash involving his motorcycle, crediting his helmet for saving his life.

“Me a come from Ochi one night, and at that time the toll never build yet, and me wire it through Flat Bridge and me buck up in a Townace [minibus]. You see when me lick, me nuh memba nutten. Spanish Town Hospital me wake up. The doctor look pon me and say, ‘You did a wear a helmet?’ Me seh, ‘Yes.’ Him say, ‘If you did a wear a helmet and suffer such a concussion, wah happen if you never did a wear the helmet,’” Fletcher recounted.

“The next day me go back pon the scene with me helmet inna me hand. There was a dig out in the curb wall at Flat Bridge and I could fit my helmet right into it, and the colour of the paint in the hole same way,” he added.

He then compared wearing a helmet to practising safe sex.

“Riding without a helmet is like having sex without a condom, you may catch AIDS…or you may not ketch AIDS, but if you ketch AIDS there is no coming back. Same thing as riding a bike without a helmet, you may crash and dead or you may nuh crash and dead,” he said while highlighting that if not worn properly, the helmet is ineffective.

“Your helmet must be securely fit to your head. Slack helmets don’t work. Also your helmet is no good without the strap; if you nah go strap the helmet, nuh bother wear it,” he said.

The former stunt rider emphasised the devastating effect a motorcycle crash can have on the human body.

“The same speed the bike is travelling is the same speed the bike is travelling on impact; if yah run the machine down the road 70 miles per hour (mph) and you lick a stable object — a wall, a car — your body is going to propel from the bike at 70 mph — it is called the laws of motion,” he said.

“If the helmet nuh strap, it is going to go east and you go west, so you a lick the ground without a helmet. Me a ride with one of my friends [and] him have on a Timberland [shoes] fully lace up, and when him lick and we go pick him up, him barefoot — that’s what the impact does to you on a motorcycle,” he added.

Fletcher also reminded motorcyclists that, unlike cars, motorcycles have no protection for occupants.

“Cars are designed to cushion impact… that nuh deh pon bike, so it is important to wear a certified helmet,” he said.