Wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle is very important, as head injuries can be devastating, often lasting for a lifetime. These are very serious and helmets can drastically reduce the amount that are suffered. For instance, one study found that, out of 562 people who did wear a helmet, only 24 suffered head injuries. On the other hand, out of just 142 people who did not wear helmets, a full 38 of them suffered head injuries. That's a higher total and a vastly higher overall rate. However, this same study showed that those who suffered from head injuries did not die as often as you may have assumed. This doesn't mean they weren't seriously and permanently injured, but they simply survived more often than those who were injured in other ways. The study examined 332 people who had head injuries, and only 20 of them passed away. At the same time, just 302 people suffered thorax injures, but there were 34 deaths. Similarly, 242 people had injuries to the abdomen, and 15 of them died. In each case, the rate of death when compared to injury was higher than it was for head injuries. It is worth noting that the people in the study did not include individuals who were dead at the crash site. The study only had data for those who had been taken to the hospital. In this sense, studying crash-site deaths could actually paint a bit different picture. When you are injured and facing high medical bills, or when a loved one passes away, check out your rights to compensation in New Jersey. Source: RideApart.com, "What body parts will you most like injure in a motorcycle crash?," Wes Siler, accessed July 30, 2015