Motorcycle Helmet Laws 1
Running Head: Motorcycle Helmet Laws
Impact of Mandatory Motorcycle Helmet Use Laws
CariAnne Kestrel
July 15, 2012
Utica College
SOC 376-Z1 Criminological Research Methods
Professor Gregory Fulkerson
Summer 2012
Motorcycle Helmet Laws 2
Over the past 30 years, many states have enacted mandatory helmet laws for motorcycle drivers. There have been many states that have rescinded these laws for reasons that may not be known by those most interested – the motorcycle rider him/herself. Currently, less than half of all U.S. states require helmets for motorcycle operators. One who is interested in this topic may wonder how those that are in positions to give the thumbs up or thumbs
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The author is interested in discovering the reasoning that the “powers that be” chose to allow her to have the freedom
Motorcycle Helmet Laws 4 to decide whether or not she will don a helmet prior to embarking on a journey. Her hypotheses as to the reasons are probably so far off base that she would be hesitant to admit them to another. Ultimately, her quest is to evaluate the writings and attempt to discover if mandatory helmet laws do, indeed, decrease injuries and deaths as a result of a motorcycle crash. There are a variety of reasons a motorcycle driver makes the decision as to whether to wear a helmet while riding vs. not wearing one. Some of the factors that influence this decision appear to be age, demographics (urban vs. rural living), and style and size of motorcycle. Other factors involved are where the person is riding (highway, city, side streets, rural areas, etc.) Weather conditions and time of day (early morning, rush hour, nighttime) also should be taken into consideration. Maneuvering through hundreds of vehicles on the road and the rising or setting sun in one’s eyes have a bearing on how well a driver can see. The incidence of accidents that result in injury and fatality has fluctuated with the enactment and rescinding of mandatory helmet use. The United States federal government has had a vacillating approach to the use of motorcycle helmets since 1967, when the National Highway Safety Act (NHSA) was first
the helmet covers your whole face and head in order to protect you face from getting kicked in the face after getting bucked off. wearing a helmet is required if you are under 19 years of age. i feel that the helmet should be required for all ages.( in bull-riding you try to stay on a wild, 2,000 pound bull, some with horns the size of my arm. These bulls have tight straps around there butt to make them kick and jump harder. And all you have to hold on to is a single rope. if you fall of, the bull can stomp, trample, or horn you, and you could break bones from the fall (bull riding, 2015). So in the case of safety i feel that helmets should be required for all ages and at all
3 states (Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire) that do not have any helmet requirements at
Should people under the age of 18 be required to wear a protective helmet while skateboarding, in-line skating, bicycling, snowboarding and skiing? I believe truly believe so. The thrill in these activities, are to speed jump tricks and ride.
I don't see any reason to wear a helmet when I ride a bike. Everyone bikes without a helmet.
Helmet laws throughout the U.S. have always created a great deal of controversy. Currently there are two types of helmet laws in the United States; a universal helmet law, which requires all motorcyclists to wear a helmet and partial helmet law that has age requirements. The helmet debate has been a long battle between free-rights organizations and government officials.
The governor of Michigan just signed a law that overturned the state’s long-standing helmet requirement for motorcyclists. Senate Bill 291 overturned the 35 year old safety requirement that was created to protect motorcycle riders from traumatic brain injuries and fatalities in the event of a crash. This decision has sparked national controversy and debates about the costly affects that the repeal will have on the lives of motorists in the state.
In regulation to further address helmet safety, The National Operating Committee on Standards or Athletic Equipment(NOCSAE) discussed by Vian and Halstead implemented standards that has so far eliminated skull fractures. As well as conducting safety through scientific research, education, and performance standards. Despite the movement for development of safer helmets, NOCSAE test standards have changed very little.
Across the United States, every year millions of license drivers choose to ride motorcycles rather than drive automobiles for a variety of reasons; Reasons range from individual pleasure to a much more cost effective way to travel. The universal motorcycle helmet law debate over the past forty years has revolved around whether the federal government should adopt a universal helmet law that mandates all motorcyclists to wear helmets at all times when riding to reduce societies economic cost, or whether the individual rider should have the right to choose rather to wear or not wear a helmet.
4. Although helmets are important for the bikers themselves, the most important reason for repealing this new law is the increased burden placed on the shoulders of the taxpayers. Helmetless riders are three times as likely to need hospital care because of head injuries and four times as likely to have sustained severe or critical head trauma (Rowland 3-4). Brain injuries caused by riding without a helmet are extremely expensive when it comes time for treatment and rehabilitation. Motorcycle insurance policies do not usually cover the injuries sustained by a rider involved in an accident (Wlazelek 3). Treatment for a motorcyclist with
Many people think that to wear a helmet should a personal desition and should be not mandatory. After all, if harm is cause for not wearing a helmet, it will be a personal harm and no a general harm for society, “People have the right to chose their own poison” (Rosenstand, 255).
Helmets are meant to help protect the head from injuries such as concussions and trauma during falls and crashes, in doing so saves lives. When wearing your helmet keeping it on straight and fastening all the straps will help absorb much of the force of impact with the obstacle. Also, In Kathy Jenson’s article “Preparedness, Vigilance Keys to Motorcycle Safety” she says, “staying safe on a motorcycle or a scooter is mostly common sense. It starts with wearing appropriate gear” (Jenson). Using your common sense and riding with a leather jackets or other safety gear is all that is necessary to decrease the risk of injury. Making sure to never skip out on wearing safety gear in order to save time is a way to stay safe while
People of every age should be required by law to wear a helmet when they’re cycling. At the moment the law states that people 18 and under must wear bicycle helmets, but I think everyone should be wearing one.
The compulsory wearing of helmets does reduce the number of fatalities associated with motor cycling and pedal cycling accidents. Data from a variety of studies overwhelmingly supports this fact. When discussing motorcycle helmets, there is a 40% prevention of fatal and 13% prevention of nonfatal serious injuries associated with their use, according to Adam, et al. (1453). After Florida repealed its mandatory helmet law in favor of one that allowed helmets for those over 21 with $10,000 in insurance to be optional, motorcycle fatalities increased across the state (Hooten and Murad, 1329). According to Boone, et al., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that the use of helmets prevented 1,630 deaths in 2013 and could have prevented 715 more if all motorcyclists wore helmets (3). In a study of almost 17,000 patients admitted to the hospital for motorcycle crashes, 37% of the riders were not wearing helmets. These 37% accounted for 69% of the deaths among these patients (Dua, et al. 1184).
While some may argue that motorcycle helmets take away their freedom on the road and oppose their constitutional rights; helmets should be required to be worn by all motorcycle riders because they prevent skull, brain, and spinal cord injuries. Helmets prevent wind and debris from getting in the driver’s eyes, and its costs tax payers less money to treat helmets wearers than non-helmet wearers.
Legal factors: Legislation enforces all the motorcycle riders to wear a helmet when on a motorcycle and if found without one, fines are applied. Financial incentives for the states were repealed by the Congress wherever universal helmet laws were not enforced. Licensing of motorcycles is required to be done again in the city even if it had been done once in the suburbs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulation of automobile and motorcycle emissions.