Helmet Safety

Julie Drexler
November 08, 2008
Varner, ADV-1103

Let the wind blow through your hair. Experience the intense power and speed. Feel the excitement and adrenaline run through your finger tips as you grasp the handle bars. Just you and the open road; the ultimate freedom. This is why they ride. Increasingly, though, this is how they die. As use of motorcycles and scooters increases, so do head injuries. In 2006, 41 percent of fatally injured motorcycle operators and 55 percent of fatally injured passengers were not wearing helmets. That same year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that helmets saved the lives of 1,658 motorcyclists and that 752 more could have been saved had they been wearing helmets. Making helmet use mandatory for all motorists, bicycle, scooter or motorcycle, should be a law nationally enforced to protect all citizens from danger.
Compared with cars, motorcycles are an especially dangerous form of travel. Per mile traveled, the number of deaths on motorcycles in 2004 was about 34 times the number in cars. Motorcycles often have excessive performance capabilities, including especially rapid acceleration and high top speeds. They are less stable than cars in emergency braking and less visible. Motorcyclists are more prone to crash injuries than car drivers because motorcycles are unenclosed, leaving riders vulnerable to contact hard road surfaces. The law requires all individuals to buckle a seat belt while riding in an automobile. The same law should be applied to all individuals who drive a single track vehicle to wear a helmet. The definition of a seatbelt describes it as an safety accessory; a part of an overall occupant restraint system intended to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the vehicle or other passengers and by preventing the passenger from being thrown from the vehicle. Helmets are defined as a safety accessory as well; used to protect a rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury. Seat belts and helmets are principal countermeasures for reducing crash-related injuries, both should be equally enforced to all motorists.
Some motorists claim that helmets do more harm than good to a rider by restricting vision and leading to neck injuries in the event of a crash. One rider even suggests that it is not safe to wear helmets during hot and humid weather because riders can pass out due to the excessive heat. The overwhelming theme across most of the motorist community is wearing a helmet should be a freedom of choice. While some of those arguments might have a little merit, I feel the benefits of wearing a helmet far outweigh the risks of not wearing a helmet. Riders who do not wear helmets and are involved in crashes often have higher medical bills than riders who do wear helmets. As a society, that has an adverse effect on our medical costs and insurance costs. Beyond that, a rider’s death or disability because of a head injury can be very taxing emotionally, physically and financially for families and companies.
In 1975, the majority of states in the U.S. required motorists to wear a helmet. Today in 2008, only 20 states have universal helmet laws that require all riders to wear helmets; 26 states have partial coverage laws and four states have no helmet laws. Pennsylvania being one of the states that has a partial law. Our government makes laws to protect us. A recent study showing an increase in motorcyclists’ head injuries points out the need to restore the helmet law as high gas prices boost the use of motorcycles and scooters. The study supports the need to restore the parts of Pennsylvania's motorcycle-helmet law that were repealed in 2003. There are many groups that support this universal helmet law: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, numerous American Medical Associations, Insurance Associations, Wellness Councils of America, and many more including celebrity figures. For example, the Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who spent two days in a hospital in June 2006 due to injuries from a crash where he was riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Roethlisberger pledged to wear a helmet from then on if he rides a motorcycle again.
Data from the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) in three States with universal helmet laws showed that without the helmet law, the total extra inpatient charges due to brain injury would have almost doubled from $2,325,000 to $4,095,000. Without a Universal Helmet Law we all pay the price. The life and cost-saving benefits of motorists helmets and the effectiveness of helmet laws. Helmets save lives and reduce head injuries to motorists in crashes; helmet laws for all riders increase helmet usage; helmet laws reduce the societal costs resulting from injuries and fatalities in motorcycle crashes.
The benefits of wearing a helmet decrease the likelihood of death, severity of injuries and reduce the cost of medical care required. The degree your head is injured is significantly reduced when you are wearing a helmet during a motorcycle accident. Helmets are designed to cushion and protect the head from the impact of an accident. A helmet may be the only protection you have if you experience an accident while riding. The reasons people don't wear motorcycle helmets are trivial: expensive, hot, restrictive, messy hair, freedom of choice. 
 The reality is that each of these reasons can't bring back someone's life if it is lost in a motorcycle accident. The motorcycle helmet laws are different in every state. Some require it and some do not. I believe that no matter what state that a helmet should be required when riding a motorcycle, scooter or bicycle. It can save your life if in a serious accident. Wearing a helmet does not limit motorcycle drivers' ability to hear or see what is happening around them. A helmet is the single most important piece of protective equipment you can have when riding a motorcycle.