NTSB Urges Stronger Helmet Laws

The National Transportation Safety Board is calling on states to enact stronger motorcycle helmet laws. The NTSB motorcycles make up only 3% of the vehicles on the road, but 13% of all fatalities. While the vast majority of states have some sort of helmet law, not all of them require federally approved helmets and the NTSB wants states to change that.


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/11/17/131383859/ntsb-urges-stronger-helmet-laws?


(Should I have posted this in JM? )

Nooo...what fun would that be

Well, it might be more fun in JM.


Here's an interesting page about helmet laws:

http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/helmet_use.html


One really astonishing fact:

"Helmet use laws may lead to a decline in motorcycle thefts, possibly because some potential thieves do not have helmets, and not wearing a helmet would attract police notice. After Texas enacted its universal helmet law, motorcycle thefts in 19 Texas cities decreased 44 percent between 1988 and 1990, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Motorcycle thefts dropped dramatically in three European countries after the introduction of laws that fined motorcyclists for failure to wear helmets. In London, motorcycle thefts fell 24 percent after Great Britain enacted a helmet law in 1973. The Netherlands saw a 36 percent drop in thefts in 1975 when its law was enacted. And in former West Germany, where on-the-spot fines were introduced in 1980, motorcycle thefts plummeted 60 percent."
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The theft thing is an interesting new take on it. I for one would never ride lidless. I did in my youth but the helmets back then were truly aweful and offered little protection anyway.

That said, I am opposed to a national mandate of helmets. If it happens it happens I don't really care. I just think people should be free to make their own decisions.

Next it will be ABS brakes. That I adamantly oppose.

Yep, go after the wallet and suddenly everyone thinks it's a grand idea.
The helmet laws in the home country are pretty strict and the majority rides with 'em. I've never had a problem with them...it seems to me that if you like American football and think it's a grand idea that those dudes wear a helmet, but you after the game ride home without one because "it's not cool, dude, and I can't see anything and it gives me claustrophobia and it's heavy and it doesn't really help cause I know a sisters uncles nephews colleague boss that once fell off his bike and the Doctors told him that if he had been wearing a helmet...a.s.o".
I don't really care anymore since common sense isn't valued high anymore it doesn't really matter what you're saying or what the NTSB is saying, I mean, can we really trust those people that have helped making air travels so safe it's a non issue to fly nowadays? Off course we can't

I think it has become your pet peeve, Dakez....I might be wrong, but I think it has

On a serious note I think they should start looking into rider education as with the ABS issue, the reason why it got installed on cars was because people were shit drivers and didn't know how to brake, same with the front wheel drive thing, it's a shit system compared to a rear wheel drive car, but hey.....my pet peeves have a right too and now we're seeing the same BS being spewed with the bikes. There's a lot of seriously shitty riders out there that thinks they are Gods gift to motorcycling and while they try to fix the symptoms they still refuse to do anything about the sickness that is poor rider/driver education.
Oh, well, like yelling at a wall, right!?

I would not oppose better rider and driver education. (and I hear you on the front wheel drive thing)

The theft part is an interesting side effect. Probably doesn't hurt insruance rates.

Not everybody who rides without a helmet for those reasons. I ride with a half helmet or no helmet (where legal) and on a faired bike because I enjoy riding more that way. I'm fully aware of the risks. Motorcycling is fairly dangerous in the first place and a helmet makes it a little safer but we've all got different levels of acceptable risk. (Also, I don't have a wife or kids depending upon me.)

The thing I don't get is riding in AZ where I saw lots of young guys riding squid bikes lidless. There's no guarantee you'll crash but there is a guarantee you'll get smacked in the face with bugs. But hey, it's their preference. No skin off my back.

It's not their choices that I was ranting about, Duck, as I said, I really don't give two shits anymore, it's their argumentation for their choice that seems...you know, idiotic, maybe!?
It's your melon, smash it anyway you want

Little ad on to your AZ thing: My friend got hit in the head by a bird while we were riding in BC. I saw him get almost knocked off the bike (it was my bike he was riding, so I was very concerned ) when we pulled over he said he almost passed out from the impact:huh
Oh, BTW, he likes helmets too

The argument is really quite complex. We Americans like our freedom, and we don't like government telling us what to do. On the other hand, motorcycle accidents carry a heavy societal cost, considering medical care, lost work and all that goes with it. So we as a society should be allowed to dictate minimum safety standards.

We Danes love our freedom and we have long realized that the government is us and that when common sense suggest that something should be done to mandate a law, we should pass it and save people from themselves.....sometimes Other times, F... 'em

And mandating helmet use will increase costs. Only the survivors get to go to the hospital.

From 2008 stats:

TOP TEN STATES FOR MOTORCYCLE THEFTS

*California 9,110
Florida 6,324
Texas 5,755
*North Carolina 3,053
Ohio 2,573
Arizona 2,464
*New York 2,195
Indiana 2,186
*Georgia 2,159
Pennsylvania 2,021

* States that have helmet laws.

Says nothing. How much higher would they be w/o the helmet laws?

IMO, helmet laws are a good idea, because:

#1: They're a proven life-saver. 40% decrease in fatalities. That's huge.

#2: Law would eliminate one of the biggest reasons people don't wear helmets: Fear of being ridiculed by your idiot friends.

What are you attempting to say here? CA also has year around riding and many more motorcycles.

Stop it, Dakez. If you don't, you're just going to have to teach him statistics. And, logic.

I love this section of the above page:

From 1968 to 1977, Texas had a universal helmet use law estimated to have saved 650 lives, but the law was amended in 1977 to apply only to riders younger than 18. The weakened law coincided with a 35 percent increase in motorcyclist fatalities. Texas reinstated its helmet law for all motorcyclists in September 1989. The month before the law took effect, the helmet use rate was 41 percent. The rate jumped to 90 percent during the first month of the law and had risen to 98 percent by June 1990.17 Serious injury crashes per registered motorcycle decreased 11 percent.18 But in September 1997, Texas again weakened its helmet law, requiring helmets only for riders younger than 21. Helmet use in Texas dropped to 66 percent by May 1998, and operator fatalities increased 31 percent in the first full year following the repeal.
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Freedom.

I don't buy the "social burden" argument. I seriously doubt that injured motorcyclists are burdening us with a "heavy societal cost" compared to many other activities.

You will never see me riding without a helmet though.

Social burden example: said motorcyclist with a traumatic brain injury. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. No health insurance, everyone pays. The dumbshit has health insurance: you pay too.

The freedom chant gets tiring when it is backed up with only a mantra "freedom, freedom, freedom" and no logical argument.

Ask a 8 year old girl who's daddy is riding off without a helmet whether she thinks dad should wear a helmet. She'll probably say yes. If show her what can happen she will surely say yes (especially that there may be no dad). If Daddy doesn't want wear one she'd probably agree that someone should make him wear one. But hey, it is freedom.

Honestly, this argument, to me, is so simple (like a few other no brainers we have in this society that come up again and again) its no wonder we can't go forward and solve somewhat more complex problems.


Don't worry, I still have a few friends who ride bicycles without a helmet and I have no problem telling them they are just flat out stupid. Somehow they are still my friends. Maybe I'm stuipd too.