It’s now a fact – for motorcycle safety, universal helmet laws are the most effective way to reduce the number of deaths and traumatic brain injuries that result from crashes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motorcycle-related deaths have increased by 55 percent since 2000 with over 4,500 having occurred in 2010. What’s more, unhelmeted motorcycle riders are twice as likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries (a major cause of disability and in some cases, death) as a result from crashes.
Motorcycle Helmets approved by the Department of Transportation, though, are estimated to reduce the likelihood of death in a motorcycle accident by 37 percent and the risk of head injury by 69 percent. Despite these facts, many states have repealed motorcycle helmet legislation.
But what is the real dispute? Those who oppose motorcycle helmet laws will undoubtedly refer to an individual’s right to choose. While personal autonomy in choosing to accept the consequences of a decision holds merit for the individual, the result of this "personal" decision has significant consequences for our communities as a whole.
Our families, our communities, and our medical and social support system bear the collective burden when an accident occurs, and a potentially preventable injury results. The argument should not be about choice, but, rather, about consequences.
The reality is that a traumatic brain injury sustained from a motorcycle-related accident not only impacts the individual’s physical health, but the public’s financial health too. It’s estimated that the economic burden of injuries and deaths from motorcycle-related crashes in one year totaled $12 billion. What influences the cost burden of that $12 billion price tag? Motorcycle helmet use, hospital, and long-term care costs.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that median hospital charges for riders hospitalized with severe traumatic brain injuries were 13-times higher than costs incurred for those with limited injuries.
Unhelmeted riders involved in a crash are met with substantially higher hospital costs compared to helmeted riders. In addition, they demand a greater amount of hospital and long-term care resources. Unfortunately, unhelmeted riders are less likely to have health insurance, leaving government-funded healthcare (and taxpayers) to shoulder the burden for this "personal" decision made by the rider.
Ohio has upheld a partial motorcycle helmet law (which requires those 17 years-old and younger to wear a helmet), but it’s not enough. The fact is that partial helmet laws are not motivating enough riders and they are difficult to enforce.
Universal motorcycle helmet laws require that all motorcycle riders and passengers of all ages wear helmets when riding. Evidence shows that when a state enacts a universal helmet law, helmet use increases; conversely, when a universal law is repealed helmet use decreases and motorcycle deaths and injuries increase.
On average, states with a universal law save 8-times more riders’ lives per 100,000 motorcycle registrations per year. Total costs saved within those states with universal motorcycle helmet laws were nearly 4-times greater than in states without the law. The use of seatbelts in motor vehicles offers similar life- and cost-saving outcomes, yet society tends to favor the efficacy of a seatbelt over that of a helmet.
According to the CDC, more than 2.2 million adult drivers and passengers were treated in emergency departments as a result of being injured in an automobile accident in 2012. Seatbelt use, however, has been recognized throughout our communities to be the single most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes.
Because of this, Ohio law requires front-seat passengers to wear a seatbelt. The only measure shown to improve motorcycle safety and limit health care costs as a result of motorcycle-related deaths and injuries is a universal motorcycle motorcycle helmet law.
Requiring a motorcycle helmet for riders and passengers limits disability, death, and costs to our communities. Save a life. Help someone recover from a motorcycle accident. Wear a helmet.
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