Wearing a Helmet II by Mark J. Assenberg I commute to work regularly on my bike. One morning I was pulling into work riding at about 5 miles an hour right behind a car also entering the lot. The entrance has a dip for rain runoff and apparently unbeknownst to me, sometime during the night someone had an oil leak. Since the car was directly in front of me, I didn't see the oil spill. As soon as my front tire hit the oil it was as if someone yanked the front end over to the right. There was no time to even say *@#$%! I went down so fast. The day before I'd bought my first full face helmet. When my front end lowsided me, I hit the ground face first so hard the visor cracked in two. Had I been wearing an open face type helmet, I would have needed surgery to repair my face. To this day I won't get on the bike without a full face helmet. It may not be "cool" in some circles, but I'll never stop wearing my helmet. You don't have to go fast to get hurt.
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Every rider has a favorite story about a lesson learned on the road. We'd like to hear yours. Whether you are a new rider or an old hand, tell us your story. What safety tips can you pass on to others? Stories should be limited to about 250-500 words. E-mail them to kglaser@msf-usa.org. Call (800) 446-9227 for the rider course nearest you. | 
nearest you.