Current State Motorcycle Helmet Laws and Fatality Rates The percentage of people killed in motorcycle crashes in 2011 who were not wearing helmets is higher in states without a mandatory helmet law. More than 8 million motorcycles were registered in the United States in 2011, and nearly 500,000 motorcycles were sold in 2012. In 2011, 4,612 motorcyclists were killed in crashes and 81,000 were injured. Per miles travelled, motorcyclists are 30 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash. Wearing helmets and getting the proper licensing and training have been shown to reduce injuries and deaths from motorcycle crashes. Nineteen states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands currently require all riders to wear helmets. Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire do not require anyone to wear a helmet, regardless of age. The remaining 28 states require riders of a specific age—usually those under age 18 or 21—to wear helmets.

According to a 2012 National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) Survey, conducted by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; In states with universal helmet laws, 89 percent of the motorcyclists observed were wearing helmets. In states with partial helmet use requirements or no laws, 49 percent were observed wearing helmets.motorcycles for sale near antioch ca Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Conference of State Legislatures 2014.motorcycle shops in grovetown ga Complete Post Card PDF160-70-zr 17 motorcycle tire Get Involved With NCSLmotorcycle shop bozeman mt

Tel: 1-800-659-2656 or 711 NCSL in the News 7700 East First Place 444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 515In the three years after Michigan repealed a mandatory motorcycle helmet law, deaths and head injuries among bikers rose sharply, according to a recent study.motorbike shop bendigo Deaths at the scene of the crash more than quadrupled, while deaths in the hospital tripled for motorcyclists. 170 80 motorcycle tire bridgestoneHead injuries have increased overall, and more of them are severe, the researchers report in the American Journal of Surgery.motorcycle trail rides sunshine coast Senior author Dr. Carlos Rodriguez decided to do the study after noticing an abrupt change in the trauma unit at Spectrum Health Hospital in Grand Rapids, where he works.

The first week after the law was repealed in April 2012, he told Reuters Health, “I just could not help but notice the number of patients that had been in motorcycle crashes with no helmet on, which was enormously different in number and volume than we had experienced the weekend before.” The study team looked at records for patients admitted to Spectrum Health Hospital and at state transportation department records of fatalities at crash scenes for the seven-month motorcycleseason (April to November) in 2011, before the law was repealed, and for the same period in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Among the accident victims brought to the hospital, the proportion of riders who had not been wearing a helmet rose four-fold, from 7 percent to 28 percent, the researchers found. About 10 percent of non-helmeted riders brought to the hospital died there, compared to 3 percent of those who had been wearing helmets. Among riders who died at the crash scene, the proportion not wearing helmets rose from 14 percent before the law was repealed to 68 percent afterward.

“These are the kinds of things that we wanted to look at to hopefully make legislators see that this was a mistake,” Rodriguez said in an email. Riders without helmets also drank more alcohol after the law was repealed, based on blood tests at hospital admission The severity of injuries increased for non-helmeted riders, as well as the number of life-threatening head injuries. Non-helmeted patients tended to stay longer in the Intensive Care Unit and to need machine assistance with breathing. Overall, hospital costs averaged $27,760 for non-helmeted riders versus $20,970 for patients who had been wearing helmets. In the U.S., 19 states and the District of Columbia require all motorcyclists to wear a helmet, while 28 states require only some to wear them and three states have no helmet laws at all. Since the repeal of Michigan’s 35-year-old helmet law, riders can go without a helmet if they are over 21, have had their license for at least two years and purchase at least $20,000 in additional medical insurance coverage, the researchers note.

Dr. Ben Zarzaur, a surgeon who studies motorcycle helmet laws, said that riders may choose not to wear a helmet because they say it is less restricting and they may claim to see or hear better without one. “The other argument (riders make), based on a flawed study several years ago, is that wearing ahelmet can increase the risk for a cervical spine injury,” Zarzaur said by email. He noted, however, that there is no real-world evidence for this claim, while there is plenty of evidence that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of death and head injury. As the study points out, the cost of injuries and deaths from motorcycle crashes is extremely high, Zarzaur said, adding that taxpayers and other insurance payers often bear this cost. “So, choosing not to wear a helmet has consequences for many more people than just to the person who decided not to wear the helmet.” Although there is an extra insurance requirement in the law, Rodriguez said, that it is rarely enforced.