The deaths of two motorcyclists on Oahu Sunday underscore the importance of wearing proper safety equipment and riding within one’s limits, a safety expert said Monday.

"We as a state need to promote the proper use of safety gear," said Bill Labby, interim coordinator of the motorcycle safety education program at Leeward Community College. "We need to promote lifelong learning in terms of safety."

Motorcyclists also need to ride within their own limits, he emphasized.

Two riders were killed in separate accidents within a two-hour period Sunday afternoon. Police said neither man was wearing a helmet and that speeding was a factor.

The 48-year-old motorcyclist who died in Waimanalo was identified as Benedict Tabar of Pukalani, Maui, the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said. Tabar died of head injuries after he crashed into a fire hydrant.

Positive identification is pending for the 67-year-old motorcyclist fatally injured when he crashed into a rock wall after speeding on Nuuanu Pali Drive and failing to negotiate a bend in the roadway.

Attempts to establish mandatory helmet laws for adults have failed at the Legislature because of fierce resistance, said Dan Meisenzahl, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, adding that the department continues to encourage riders to wear helmets. State law requires only that people under age 18 wear helmets while operating or riding as a passenger on a motorcycle or motor scooter.

Twenty-one people have died in motorcycle accidents in Hawaii so far this year, slightly higher than last year’s total of 18, according to the Transportation Department. Hawaii had 30 motorcycle fatalities in 2009, 22 in 2008 and 27 in 2007.

Some motorcyclists, such as Gary Lloyd, say they have a right to choose whether to wear a helmet.

Lloyd, director of the Windward Oahu Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) Chapter, said he and his wife, also a motorcyclist, wear helmets depending on traffic and weather conditions.

"Sometimes I wear a helmet. Sometimes I don’t," he said.

Larry Holu, member of Waipahu Hawaii Country H.O.G. Chapter, echoed Lloyd’s sentiment of a rider’s right to choose. Holu said he doesn’t wear one because he can see and hear better while traveling on the roadways.

"You always want to be aware of what’s around you," he said.

And he cautioned against riding faster than one’s skills and reflexes can handle.

"You could be asking for problems," he said.

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