From my side .. I am also a glasses wearer & have never been asked to remove my lid.   But then again I pull up, get off & then remove gloves & lid.   I can understand people being scared when someone with a helmet on comes towards them, even if its hand out holding a credit card or not, if they feel scared they are not going to see the card in your hand & lets face it, they are there to do a job ... do they need putting on edge every time someone with a helmet comes in wondering is this to pay for fuel or to rob me.   For me its just consideration for the poor soul stuck in a petrol station whilst I get to enjoy the freedom of my bike                                                                                                                                                                              

Shows the scare culture that is being breed into our socity. Whats the percentage of roberies at service stations by people wearing helmets                                                                                                                                                                              

Found within 2 seconds of Googling 'petrol station robbery statistics':   Armed raid terror at service station Monday, August 31, 2009, 14:00   A TERRIFYING robbery at a petrol station in Edenbridge has prompted residents to raise concerns over crime levels. A thug wearing a crash helmet and wielding an iron bar threatened a member of staff at the Esso garage, in Station Road, at 2.25am on Sunday. Police said the man filled a plastic petrol container from the pumps and then went into the garage shop. At the till he threatened a member of staff with the iron bar and demanded cash, fleeing with a small amount of money. Nobody was injured in the raid. People living nearby said they were not surprised by the robbery, saying it was just another indicator that safety levels in the area are in decline. Official statistics show that crime in the northern part of Edenbridge has dropped by 16 per cent in the past year. Station Road resident Clare Beaumont found the facts cold comfort in the aftermath of Sunday's incident. "It's not very nice. You feel quite vulnerable," she said. "I have lived here for 30 years and it has changed tremendously. "I used to feel quite safe here with the garage just over the road and all the lights and everything, but when you hear of it being robbed you think it could happen to anybody. They could just come across the road and rob you." Anthony Perry, also of Station Road, said: "It has definitely got more crowded around here. This sort of thing doesn't surprise me at all." The robber was white, aged between 22 and 28 years old, and 5ft 10in tall. He wore a full-faced white crash helmet with a clear visor, a loose baggy jacket, black trousers and white trainers.                                                                                                                                                                             

Sorry, got distracted from looking for statistics (which will be pretty hard to find to be honest) by similar discussions about helmet removal on other sites.   By reading some of the comments that they are making it would appear the biggest obstruction to removing their helmets is the size of the chip on their shoulders....                                                                                                                                                                               

Wasn't it a little suspicious, in that instance, that the guy turned up and filled a container, wearing a crash helmet ?   No suggestion that he was a biker.                                                                                                                                                                             

Personally, I've never been asked to remove my helmet, as - like Shell - I automatically remove mine when I get off my bike.   In fact, quite the opposite has happened to me quite recently.   Returning from Squires, I found the closest petrol station, pulled up, helmet off, filled up, paid, and was greeted with "Thanks for taking your helmet off, it's nice for a change" (her words, not mine)   Seems it's personal taste whether you take your lid off, but personally, I *always* remove mine!                                                                                                                                                                             

Mr P maybe she was too polite to say please put it back on i havent had my dinner yet !!!!                                                                                                                                                                             

By reading some of the comments that they are making it would appear the biggest obstruction to removing their helmets is the size of the chip on their shoulders....                                                                                                                                                                                  

"By reading some of the comments that they are making it would appear the biggest obstruction to removing their helmets is the size of the chip on their shoulders...."

Isn't that just a little judgmental from you both towards people who take exception to small minded rules being foisted on them?

Everyone is entitled to their view but my counter argument is that by complying with this, you are paving the way for even more arbitrary and petty rules to be imposed by people with nothing better to do.

I'm off for the weekend and will be incommunicado - at least by internet. I hope to see some valid arguments from both viewpoints made on my return! 
                                                                                                                                                                             

Well, I've never considered keeping my lid on when going in anywhere, but was a bit dissapointed once at a local esso when paying at pump that they held the fuel off and tannoyed me to take off my lid, the rational for me using the pump card machine is speedy fuelling without stripping off more than a glove.

i nearly got arrested for showing a petrol pump assistant my shiny helmet !!!!!!                                                                                                                                                                             

Yes, but there is 'taking exception to small minded rules foisted on them' and being paranoid and petty themselves.   If you have a look at the other sites you will see people complaining about another case of bikers being victimised and being treated like potential criminals. I am pretty sure that any form of headgear which disguises or obscures the face would be asked to be removed not just a crash helmet. I am not going to go into the wearing of religious garments, that is another discussion completely. It just so happens that riding our particular form of transport requires the wearing of something that obscures your face and you are being asked to remove it to give peace of mind to the cashiers. Don't take it personally.   Mention is also made, as did Cataraptor, of the enforcement of wearing a helmet when riding a bike (which has been compulsory since 1973). Now whatever your views are on this, it sure wasn't decided by the person behind the till so why should we punish them?   Believe me, I am all against pointless and misleading bureaucracy (and I am in the midst of publishing a website to that effect) but personally I can see good reason for removing my helmet when approaching a cashier, but not so much for just when you are on the forecourt.   If you don't want to go to all the hassle of removing your helmet why not ride to the garage without wearing one - I think it is only a £30 fixed fine. You might just get away with it....   p.s. Have a good time incommunicado, Cataraptor. My cousin lives near there.                                                                                                                                                                               

p.s. I said about riding without a helmet in jest but thinking about it, £30 would be quite cheap to experience that sensation. I very rarely see any police when I am out riding, but you can bet that as soon as I go 'commando'....                                                                                                                                                                             

is that it 30 quid no points ? ill pay that no probs                                                                                                                                                                              

 I think so but I am sure others will be more informed than I. Just pay your fine and don't do it too often or you may end up the new Fred Hill!                                                                                                                                                                             

I think it's down to personal choice, i went to a different garage when i was asked to take my helmet of befor there would start the pump                                                                                                                                                                             

Yep Bill, it seems that is what most people do when asked to do that.   Must admit, even I would probably just ride off after being tannoyed to ask to remove my helmet but probably through a combination of being embarrassed/pissed off rather than principle.   Unfortunately, where I ride there are very few garages and with the size of my fuel tank I can't be too fussy!   NJL - I have only used a Pay-at-Pump system once or twice but don't you have to insert your method of payment BEFORE the fuel starts pumping anyway? I would call making you remove your helmet in this case, as Cataraptor suggests, small minded! (or was it a female cashier and she just wanted to see how gorgeous you were..? )                                                                                                                                                                             

I have a shoei flip front helmet. dont need to take it off. so long as they can see your face in the cameras they seem to be happy.                                                                                                                                                                              

One of my helmet has a flip up too blues, but it makes me look like a hamster trapped in some lift doors! Now that WOULD scare the bejesus out of a cashier....                                                                                                                                                                             

I always had an open faced and now have a flip front so i've never been asked to remove it. Once had to give my reg number first cos "the cameras couldn't see it". I don't mind taking it off and how many times have you spoken to someone with a full face lid on and not understood the muffled sound coming from it? Maybe it has something to do with hearing what you got to say as well.