Essay on The Government Should Mandate Helmet Use for All Cyclists

Motorcycle Wrecks: The majority of motorcycle wrecks are caused by others in larger vehicles. Recovery includes maximum compensation for what are often serious injuries.

State and national motorcycle rights organizations are strong advocates of rider education and motorist awareness. I agree this is an important issue but not enough. The Journal of Trauma conducted a study to investigate motorcycle collisions with animals. Based on the results they concluded, “Deer Motorcycle Crashes (DMC) are a significant public health issue in mid-western states.” A deer darting in front of

3. On the other hand, motorcycle enthusiasts believe increased fatality rates are caused by the increased number of motorcyclists on the roads; however, the number of deaths has grown faster than the number of registered bikes (Wlazelek 1). Motorcycle fatalities have increased even after the increase in the number of bikers was accounted for. Helmets save lives and there is nothing that can change that fact. Riding 65 mph on an open bike with cars and trucks all around is dangerous in itself, so what is it hurting to take a little extra precaution not to end up dead or with severe brain damage. Fatality rates of motorcycle accidents were declining for two decades until the new law was passed and now they have increased dramatically (Berenson 2).

3. Conclusion a. Brief summary of five main points Most of the accident fatalities are motorcyclist and cyclist who do not wear a helmet. To prevent serious injuries and death, a helmet is needed to protect our brain from the crashes and it also helped to decrease the costs of

The main goal of this study was to “analyze how motor vehicle collision factors influence incidence, severity, and outcome of traumatic brain injury” depending on whether or not the driver was wearing a seatbelt or not. Through their findings they wanted to understand the collision factors that effect rehabilitation and functional outcome. The largest focus of this study was to find out more about causes that resulted in moderate to severe brain injuries. The original hypothesis was “failure to use a seatbelt would result in increased frontal lobe injury” and the original prediction was “increased rates of frontal lobe injury in the unrestrained (non-seatbelt wearers) would result in more compromised functional outcome.

When most people think about traffic accidents, they think about collisions between motor vehicles. However, it is estimated that a pedestrian dies every two hours in the United States in a crash related accident. During 2013, 150,000 pedestrians were treated for injuries resulting from traffic crashes and 4,735 pedestrians lost their lives in traffic accidents. In fact, pedestrians are about one and half times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident compared to the occupants of passenger vehicles.

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.

In chapter 18, I learned that almost 75 percent of deaths among Americans 15 to 24 years old are caused by unintentional injuries. This worried me because I happen to fall within that age group. The chapter also said that certain behaviors can increase the risk of getting injured. But by not doing those behaviors and staying safe I can help reduce my risk for accidental injury. In this essay, I reflect on two things that I do daily that can put me at risk for accidental injury. Then I also come up with simple ways to reduce the risk so I can stay safe and healthy.

The 1981 Motorcycle Accidents Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, better known as the Hurt Report has saved countless lives. His 55 point findings produced some startling results such as, helmets significantly reduce the risk of brain injury and death, two-thirds of accidents involving other vehicles were because the other driver did not see the motorcycle and weather conditions played a part in 90 percent of all motorcycle accidents. You can keep yourself safer while riding by making yourself more visible to other drivers with brightly colored clothing, get trained by taking a motorcycle riding class and wear a helmet. Make sure your bike is in good operating order before you ride and follow all driving

Bike riding is a lot of fun, but accidents happen. The safest way to use your bike is for transportation, not play. Every year, about 300,000 kids go to the emergency department because of bike injuries, and at least 10,000 kids have injuries that require a few days in the hospital. Some of these injuries are so serious that children die, usually from head injuries.

(User, 2016) The main factors that result in paraplegia are motor vehicle accidents, trauma, falls, degeneration and osteoporosis. The consequences because of injuries can impact the individual for their whole lives. Many people are engaged in drinking activities, thus many of them drink drive which leads to road accidents. Especially in youth their risk-taking nature results in the sustaining injuries which can lead to become wheelchair bound. In young people aged between 15 to 24 years’ injury is the leading cause of death and disability. (User, 2016) Youth aged 15-19 years are at most risk of sustaining traumatic brain injury (TBI); the rate being 399 per 100,000 in relation to 189 per 100,000 for the whole community. (User, 2016) According to AIHW 2012 the risk of sustaining TBI on the road is due to speeding, under influence of alcohol or drugs and fatigue driving. (User, 2016) Young drivers worldwide under 25 400,000 people die every year and many others sustain life threatening

In 2002, a rounded 288,900 children under the age of 14 were treated in an emergency room for a bicycle related injury, 47 percent diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. (Safe Kids Coalition , 2004) According to John Hopkins Injury Prevention Center, “for the population as a whole, there are approximately: 1.8 billion bicycle trips, 300 injuries per million trips and 1 death in every 2 million trips” (John Hopkins Injury Prevention Center, 2012). Because of the correlation between the low percent of helmet usage and the high number of traumatic brain injury, it is obvious that the public is not aware of this necessity and many people will continue to die or be seriously injured unless something is done. Bicycle helmets save lives and should be required by law for riders of all ages.

According to Bike Helmets (1990), in more than 1000 bicycling mortalities annually, three-fourths are generated by head injuries. Fifty percent of those fatalities are school-age children. An analysis concluded that wearing a bike helmet can decrease the likelihood of head injury by 85 percent. Furthermore, when an accident occurs, a bike helmet absorbs the impact and cushions the

Along with accidents not only comes a little headache or a broken bone, but injuries that stay with you forever such as whiplash and brain damage. Most brain damage incidents occur when you are involved in a side impact collision and the side of your head hits the glass (brain injury). Side impact airbags are just one of the many ways in which this type of life threatening injury can be avoided (whiplash). There is also whiplash, which hurls your head violently, and usually results in long term disability. Since whiplash is so hard to avoid, it can only be avoided by reducing the number of accidents on the streets. Also one of the most painful and most traumatizing injuries that we encounter in accidents are bone fractures, which occur in 65% of all accidents (Bush 11). So in turn by making these cars safer we can all avoid these painful, traumatizing, life-threatening injuries.

According to the Kansas Department of transportation, there were, 1,087 motorcycle crashes in 2016. Of those, 860 people involved in the crashes were injured, 52 people died; while only 21 of those people were wearing helmets (Kansas Department of Transportation). There are only 17 states in the United States that require helmets be used always, 19 states say that you must wear a helmet if you are under the age of 18, while 11 states say you must wear a helmet if you are under the age of 21, leaving only four states that have no helmet laws at all (Motorcycle Helmet Laws)