Safety

P.P.E. (Personal Protective Equipment) is required 100% of the time while operating any O.H.V. on the facilities. Minimum P.P.E. is as follows: Helmet, goggles, long pants, long sleeve shirt, and boots. It is highly recommended that you utilize the best equipment you can afford. Various companies manufacture equipment specifically designed for this type of activity and it is recommended that the equipment you choose is also specifically designed for O.H.V. use. There are many companies that offer protective equipment for motocross. See our Moto Links page a few good distributers.

O.H.V. safety involves a number of issues. The first thing that most people think of when safety is discussed is the gear that a rider wears. You should never ride without proper safety gear. At the very least, you should be wearing a properly fitted helmet, long sleeves, long pants, gloves, goggles,and boots. A neck protective collar, chest protector, elbow guards, knee guards, a kidney belt, and a well-fitted mouthpiece are also advisable.

A helmet made for motocross is a necessity. The helmet should fit snugly, be lightweight, and have a Snell M95 rating on it. If it doesn’t, don’t buy it. Avoid buying used helmets, too. Why? A helmet is only as good as its structural integrity. You don’t know what stresses a used helmet has been under. It doesn’t have to have visible cracks or chips in it to make it unsafe. During a hard crash, a helmet that already has stress wear, but shows no outward signs of it can fail to provide adequate protection. Your head can’t be replaced. Treat it right.

Any helmet that has been tested and certified by the Snell Foundation has undergone rigorous testing and is proven to provide a standard of protection not guaranteed with any other rating.

Many helmets carry a DOT rating; the Department of Transportation has set a minimum standard that helmets must exceed in order to be tagged with the DOT rating. Unfortunately, there is no testing required, and certification is based on the honor system. Some helmets with DOT certification that have been independently tested have been found to fail. Because of this, the DOT program may lack the kind of integrity anyone would want to trust his or her head to. If helmet has both the Snell and the DOT rating, that’s terrific.

A good helmet does not need to be expensive, but it needs to provide adequate protection. In today’s market you don’t have to make a compromise between quality and your bank account. There are many helmets on the market that are low-priced but still meet the highest safety standards.

When you choose goggles, take the helmet with you. They should fit snugly over the face, leaving no gaps for dirt or rocks to slip through.

A protective neck collar can literally save your life and keep you from permanent paralysis. Most people avoid them because they assume they are uncomfortable. So is a wheelchair. Besides, once riding, the collar is quickly forgotten. The neck bones are the weakest bones in your spinal column. The collar prevents the head from crushing down on the vertebrae by filling the gap between your helmet base and your shoulders.

PCSSafety.com

A chest protector should cover the entire breastbone and upper rib cage. It should not be so long that it interferes with your sitting position. Ideally, it should also provide protection for the shoulders and upper arms.

When purchasing gloves make sure that they don’t have excess room at the tips of the fingers. Extended material off the end of your fingers can can become trapped under your palm while riding making it hard to roll off the gas. They should be comfortable, with no inner seams that chafe.

Knee and elbow guards provide a level of protection that can make the difference between a minor bruise or a major injury. The best off-the-shelf knee guards are made of molded plastic and are articulated between the knee cup and the shin guard. For very aggressive riders, custom knee braces are definitely worth considering. Not only do they provide better protection, they fill the space between your knees and your bike allowing a better bike grip with your legs. Knee joints are extremely vulnerable and once injured, can provide a lifetime of pain. The time to consider custom knee braces is before an injury occurs, not afterwards

Very young riders can usually get away with wearing a good pair of high-top hiking boots. For any rider who is racing, motocross boots are a necessity. Do not buy them too big. While the rider will eventually grow into them, a boot that’s too big isn’t going to provide support in the ankle area; this will make it difficult for the rider to use the shifter and rear brake levers. You’re better off buying used boots that fit than new boots that are too big.

Motocross jerseys are not a total necessity, but most have padded elbow areas that offer some additional protection against scrapes.

Motocross pants offer far better protection than jeans. Almost all come with hip pads that cushion the hipbones during a crash. They are also highly tear resistant.

A kidney belt is a must for a rider that has gone past the beginner level. These are worn between the pants and the shirt and can help reduce the chance of a lower back injury. Many new riders experience kidney pain after long day trip rides. The continued "joggling" shakes the body and your muscles/kidneys get sore from the effect. This usually goes away through conditioning.

Mouthguards not only provide protection to teeth (which are at the very least are expensive to repair;) they have been shown to provide some protection to the brain during a crash. During a crash, the jaws can snap together with incredible force. This may cause the brain to be slammed against the skull, which can result in a concussion. With a mouthguard in place part of the impact is absorbed. While it may not totally prevent concussion to the brain, it can lessen the effects. Custom-made mouthguards work best. They can be made by your dentist, or by an after-market company that specializes in them.

Buying safety gear is not an inexpensive proposition, but then no one will claim that this is a cheap sport. Other than a helmet, most gear can be purchased used; surf newsgroups and on-line motorcycle boards.

Original article written by Marva Montierth