Top

BMC Public Health

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Debate

Federally mandating motorcycle helmets in the United States

Authors: Adam E. M. Eltorai, Chad Simon, Ariel Choi, Katie Hsia, Christopher T. Born, Alan H. Daniels

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2016

Abstract

Background

Motorcycle helmets reduce both motorcycle-related fatalities and head injuries. Motorcycle crashes are a major public health concern which place economic stress on the U.S. healthcare system.

Discussion

Although statewide universal motorcycle helmet laws effectively increase helmet use, most state helmet laws do not require every motorcycle rider to wear a helmet. Herein, we propose and outline the solution of implementing federal motorcycle helmet law, while addressing potential counterarguments.

Conclusions

The decision to ride a motorcycle without a helmet has consequences that affect more than just the motorcyclist. In an effort to prevent unnecessary healthcare costs, injuries, and deaths, public health efforts to increase helmet use through education and legislation should be strongly considered. Helmet use on motorcycles fits squarely within the purview of the federal government public health and economic considerations.

Goodwin A, Kirley B, Sandt L, Hall W, Thomas L, O’Brien N, Summerlin D. Countermeasures that work: A highway safety countermeasures guide for State Highway Safety Offices. 7th edition. (Report No. DOT HS 811 727). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 2003.

Kraus JF, Peek C, McArthur DL, Williams A. The effect of the 1992 California motorcycle helmet use law on motorcycle crash fatalities and injuries. JAMA. 1994;272(19):1506–11.CrossRefPubMed

Fatality Analysis Reporting System: 2011. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. (Accessed July 23, 2013, at http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx).

Traffic Safety Facts 2010 Data: Motorcycles. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 2012. (Accessed July 24, 2013, at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811639.pdf).

Cook LJ, Kerns T, Burch C, Thomas A, Bell E. Motorcycle helmet use and head and facial injuries: Crash outcomes in CODES-linked data. Washington: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation; 2009 (Accessed July 23, 2013http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pubs/811208.pdf).

Whitlock JA, Hamilton BB. Functional outcome after rehabilitation for severe traumatic brain injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1995;76:1103–12.CrossRefPubMed

US Inflation Calculator. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/(Accessed November 6, 2015).

Eastridge BJ, Shafi S, Minei JP, Culica D, McConnel C, Gentilello L. Economic impact of motorcycle helmets: from impact to discharge. J Trauma. 2006;60(5):978–83. discussion 983–4.CrossRefPubMed

Max W, Stark B, Root S. Putting a lid on injury costs: the economic impact of the California motorcycle helmet law. J Trauma. 1998;45(3):550–6.CrossRefPubMed

10.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Helmet use among motorcyclists who died in crashes and economic cost savings associated with State Motorcycle Helmet Laws — United States, 2008–2010. MMWR. 2012;61:425–30.

11.

McSwain Jr NE, Belles A. Motorcycle helmets—medical costs and the law. J Trauma. 1990;30(10):1189–97. discussion 1197–9.CrossRefPubMed

12.

Naumann RB, Dellinger AM, Zaloshnja E, Lawrence BA, Miller TR. Incidence and total lifetime costs of motor vehicle-related fatal and nonfatal injury by road user type, United States, 2005. Traffic Inj Prev. 2010;11(4):353–60.CrossRefPubMed

13.

Rivara FP, Dicker BG, Bergman AB, Dacey R, Herman C. The public cost of motorcycle trauma. JAMA. 1988;260(2):221–3.CrossRefPubMed

14.

Hundley JC, Kilgo PD, Miller PR, Chang MC, Hensberry RA, Meredith JW, et al. Non-helmeted motorcyclists: a burden to society? A study using the National Trauma Data Bank. J Trauma. 2004;57(5):944–9.CrossRefPubMed

15.

Liu BC, Ivers R, Norton R, Boufous S, Blows S, Lo SK. Helmets for preventing injury in motorcycle riders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;1:CD004333.PubMed

16.

Derrick AJ, Faucher LD. Motorcycle helmets and rider safety: a legislative crisis. J Public Health Pol. 2009;30(2):226–42.CrossRef

17.

Muelleman RL, Milinek EJ, Collicott PE. Motorcycle crash injuries and costs: effect of a reenacted comprehensive helmet use law. Ann Emerg Med. 1992;21(3):266–72.CrossRefPubMed

18.

Auman KM, Kufera JA, Ballesteros MF, Smialek JE, Dischinger PC. Autopsy study of motorcyclist fatalities: the effect of the 1992 Maryland motorcycle helmet use law. Am J Public Health. 2002;92(8):1352–5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

19.

Rowland J, Rivara F, Salzberg P, Soderberg R, Maier R, Koepsell T. Motorcycle helmet use and injury outcome and hospitalization costs from crashes in Washington State. Am J Public Health. 1996;86(1):41–5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

20.

Ellison-Potter P. Evaluation of the reinstatement of the motorcycle helmet law in Louisiana. Washington (DC): National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation; 2008.

21.

Ulmer RG, Preusser DF. Evaluation of the repeal of motorcycle helmet laws in Kentucky and Louisiana. Washington: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation; 2003.

22.

Ulmer RG, Northrup VS. Evaluation of the repeal of the all-rider motorcycle helmet law in Florida. Washington: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation; 2005.

23.

Mertz KJ, Weiss HB. Changes in motorcycle-related head injury deaths, hospitalizations, and hospital charges following repeal of Pennsylvania’s mandatory motorcycle helmet law. Am J Public Health. 2008;98(8):1464–7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

24.

Traffic Safety Facts Laws, Motorcycle Helmet Use Laws. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006. (Accessed November 20, 2013, at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Rulemaking/Articles/Associated%20Files/03%20Motorcycle%20Helmet%20Use.pdf).

25.

Anonymous. An inside look at outlaw motorcycle gangs. Boulder: Paladin Press; 1992. p. 3.

26.

United States Congress. Public Law 89-563. National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. September 9, 1966.

27.

Institute of Medicine. National Academy of Sciences. Healthy People. The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Background Papers. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, DHEW (PHS) Publication No. 79-55071A; 1979.

28.

Knowles JH. The responsibility of the individual. Daedalus. 1977;106(1):57–80.PubMed

29.

Simon v. Sargent, D.C. Mass. 346 F. Supp. 277, affirmed 93 S.Ct. 463, 409 U.S. 1020, 34 L.Ed.2d 312 (1972).

30.

American Motorcycle Association v. Department of State Police. Docket No. 4445. Court of Appeals of Michigan; April 30, 1968.

31.

Jones MM, Bayer R. Paternalism and its discontents: motorcycle helmet laws, libertarian values, and public health. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(2):208–17.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

32.

Geoffrey W, Zador P, Wilks A. The repeal of helmet use laws and increased motorcyclist mortality in the United States, 1975–1978. Am J Public Health. 1980;70:579–84.CrossRef

33.

McSwain Jr NE, Petrucelli E. Medical consequences of motorcycle helmet nonusage. J Trauma. 1984;24(3):233–6.CrossRefPubMed

34.

Scholten DJ, Glover JL. Increased mortality following repeal of mandatory motorcycle helmet law. Indiana Med. 1984;77(4):252–5.PubMed

35.

Chenier TC, Evans L. Motorcyclist fatalities and the repeal of mandatory helmet wearing laws. Accid Anal Prev. 1987;19(2):133–9.CrossRefPubMed

36.

Lloyd LE, Lauderdale M, Betz TG. Motorcycle deaths and injuries in Texas: helmets make a difference. Tex Med. 1987;83(4):30–3.PubMed

37.

Evans L, Frick MC. Helmet effectiveness in preventing motorcycle driver and passenger fatalities. Accid Anal Prev. 1988;20(6):447–58.CrossRefPubMed

38.

Hartunian NS, Smart CN, Willemain TR, Zador PL. The economics of safety deregulation: lives and dollars lost due to repeal of motorcycle helmet laws. J Health Polit Policy Law. 1983;8(1):76–98.CrossRefPubMed

39.

Curtin WT. Focus + Unity = Repeal of Federal Helmet Law. Motorcycle Riders Foundation White Paper, September 1996. (Accessed November 20, 2013, at http://www.mrf.org/pdf/whitepapers/volume4-1996/repealoffederalhelmetla.pdf).

40.

Motorcycle Helmet Law Repeal Evaluated In Texas And Arkansas. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2000. (Accessed December 23, 2013, at http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Traffic+Techs/current/Motorcycle+Helmet+Law+Repeal+Evaluated+In+Texas+And+Arkansas).

41.

Grossman GM, Helpman E. Special interest politics. Cambridge: The MIT Press; 2002.

42.

Posner RA. The ethical significance of free choice: a reply to Professor West. Harv Law Rev. 1986;99(7):1431–48.CrossRef

43.

Why the gun lobby is winning; lexington. (2015, Apr 04). The Economist, 415, 31.

44.

Smith B. Financial education: financial education: what makes a successful what makes a successful public awareness campaign? New Delhi: OECD and PFRDA International Conference on Financial Education; 2006.

Title: Federally mandating motorcycle helmets in the United States
Authors: Adam E. M. Eltorai
Chad Simon
Ariel Choi
Katie Hsia
Christopher T. Born
Alan H. Daniels
Publication date: 01-12-2016
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2914-3

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Federally mandating motorcycle helmets in the United States

Abstract

Background

Discussion

Conclusions

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Discussion

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2016

Motivations to participate in a Phase I/II HIV vaccine trial: A descriptive study from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Critiquing the response to the Ebola epidemic through a Primary Health Care Approach

Pedometer-determined physical activity among youth in the Tokyo Metropolitan area: a cross-sectional study

Understanding the impact of area-based interventions on area safety in deprived areas: realist evaluation of a neighbour nuisance intervention in Arnhem, the Netherlands

Two colliding epidemics – obesity is independently associated with chronic pain interfering with activities of daily living in adults 18 years and over; a cross-sectional, population-based study

Does education level affect the efficacy of a community based salt reduction program? - A post-hoc analysis of the China Rural Health Initiative Sodium Reduction Study (CRHI-SRS)