We'll be the first to admit it: we can strike a nerve with a lot of people sometimes. Take last week: A story ran (written by yours truly), reporting that while fewer people per registered motorcycles are dying in Maine, biker fatalities continue to rise, likely due to not wearing protective gear, alcohol consumption or lack of experience.

We expected a barrage of phone calls from avid area motorcyclists telling us we were being unfair toward them. As expected, there was a plethora of e-mails and phone calls, but they were from folks who drive cars, vans and trucks (or implied they did so, at least).

One reader e-mail struck our interest: "If it's a law that we have to wear safety belts in Maine, why aren't motorcycle riders made to wear helmets?"

We were curious about the same thing, so we called up Jim Maloy, a rider of 30 years and the Kennebec County Director for United Bikers of Maine.

Maloy said while many believe a helmet is a must-have for a motorcyclist, it can pose several hazards that otherwise would not exist for the rider.

"Your visibility is limited," said Maloy, who chooses to not wear a helmet unless he's riding in "a torrential downpour."

"It's a distraction."

This helmet talk reminded us of the time when we were 10 years old and we wiped out big-time while trying to pop a wheelie on a neighbor kid's brand-new Schwinn (no one let us take their bike for a spin ever again).

Many parents make their children wear helmets while they're burning rubber down the sidewalk on a tricycle; why wouldn't a biker -- riding a two-wheel vehicle that can go just as fast as car -- wear a helmet, too?

"Helmets are only good for up to 15 to 18 miles per hour," Maloy said. "If you are going faster and have an accident, that helmet will not save your life."

Only four states in the U.S. are completely helmet-exempt: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa and our neighbor, New Hampshire. Maine's law requires riders under the age of 15 to wear a helmet.

"It is everyone's own choice if they want to wear a helmet or not," Maloy said. "It's nothing people look down on; if someone does want to wear a helmet, that's fine, too."

The United Bikers of Maine, founded in 1975, stands up for Maine's biking community by "fighting anti-motorcycle legislation" and "protecting the rights of Maine motorcyclists," according to their Web site, which includes the biker's right to wear a helmet if they so choose.

"We like our freedoms and rights to not wear a helmet and to modify our motorcycles as we please," Maloy said.

Members are expected to follow all traffic laws and the group emphasizes safe riding and using caution while on the road, Maloy said.

Maloy said riders can ensure a safer ride by doing the following:

* Ride in a group with other motorcyclists, if possible.

* Wear eye protection.

* Wear florescent colors.

* Have your motorcycle inspected annually.

Maloy agreed inexperience, alcohol use and speeding are some reasons why Maine motorcyclists die in accidents, but added people often overlook another factor: car, truck and van drivers.

"There have been accidents because cars turn in front of motorcycles," he said. "I won't say (motorcyclists) get picked on, but when you read about a motorcycle accident, (the rider) sounds like the bad guy when the car is the one pulled in front of them."

Such maneuvers by "closed vehicles" (a fancy phrase for "car") are all the more reason motorcyclists should use more caution than usual, Maloy advised.

"I really think the most important thing is education for the biker," he said. "Bikers need to know the laws and rules of the road, and never take for granted they can just pull into an intersection."

Follow Meghan Malloy's commuter blog and track the cheapest gasoline prices in town daily at www.kjonline.com.