Interesting article regarding helmet laws...

AP: As motorcycle deaths rise, states consider helmet law repeals.

By KEN THOMAS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP, June 13) - Vince Consiglio has tried to get Michigan to repeal its motorcycle helmet law for nearly three decades, urging members of his riders group to pressure lawmakers to give them more freedom.

State lawmakers have resisted the change, but this spring, Consiglio and his supporters reached what they believe could lead to a breakthrough: a bill passed the Senate, home of a long-standing roadblock.

Passage is expected in the House, and the group is lobbying Gov. Jennifer Granholm to sign the legislation or endorse a compromise measure.

"You can wear the best helmet there is, and you can be killed just as easily as the guy who is not wearing one," said Consiglio, president of the Michigan chapter of ABATE - American Bikers Aiming Toward Education.

Under Lansing's Capitol dome and in statehouses across the nation, lawmakers have considered easing laws mandating helmets this spring even as motorcycle fatalities have risen. Most of the proposals have failed, but riders hope their efforts build momentum toward removing helmet requirements.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia require all motorcycle riders to wear protective helmets, but the number has decreased from 40 states in 1976, according to the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Four states - Colorado, Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire - have no type of helmet law, the IIHS said.

Michigan is one of several states that has considered changes this year:

-In Tennessee, a bill that would have made wearing helmets an option for anyone over 21 and who has at least $10,000 worth of medical insurance died in committee. The state has required helmets since 1968.

-In Nebraska, a compromise bill to rescind the state's 15-year-old helmet law for two years while the issue was studied failed in a filibuster. Under the proposal, police would have been barred from stopping riders for not wearing a helmet unless they were committing another offense.

-Missouri lawmakers failed to approve a bill that would have repealed the helmet law for riders ages 21 and older while allowing law enforcement officers to pull over vehicles if a passenger was not wearing a safety belt.

Opponents of the laws say government needs to spend more on rider-safety training instead of forcing them to wear head gear. They say the restrictive rules choke off tourism dollars from riders, en route to festivals and other events, who avoid states with helmet laws.

But safety groups contend the repeals will lead to more fatalities and force the public to pay medical costs for those injured. It also sends the wrong message, they argue, when more than 42,000 people - the equivalent of a crowded baseball stadium - are killed annually on U.S. roadways.

Last year, more than 3,900 people died on motorcycles in the United States, an increase of 7.3 percent from the year before, according to preliminary numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Motorcycle fatalities have increased every year since 1997, and about 60 percent of the deaths since then have involved riders older than 40, NHTSA said. The statistics have been seized by safety groups who see the loosening of helmet laws as a step backward.

"If they're not wearing a helmet and they come off the bike, chances are they're going to be injured or killed," said Col. Jim Champagne, chairman of the Washington-based Governors Highway Safety Association.

The debate even entered professional football this spring when Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher admonished quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle without a helmet.

Since 1997, mandatory helmet laws have been repealed in Kentucky, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Texas and Florida. Louisiana's law was reinstated in 2004.

Before the repeal passed in Pennsylvania, it was rare to treat a motorcycle rider with serious injuries who had properly worn a helmet, said Dr. Daniel Wehner, chairman of emergency medicine at Memorial Medical Center of Conemaugh Health System in Johnstown, Pa.

But on one of the first spring weekends following the bill's enactment in 2003, "we saw several significant head injuries almost on cue after the helmet repeal," he said.

A NHTSA study released in 2003 found motorcycle deaths increased by more than 50 percent in Kentucky and 100 percent in Louisiana in the two years after the repeals. It also found the numbers of motorcyclists wearing helmets declined steeply.

But motorcycle groups say not enough attention has been devoted to rider education, and they cite a lack of credible, nationwide data on what causes the fatalities.

Tom Lindsay of the Ohio-based American Motorcyclist Association said the group encourages the use of helmets but opposes laws mandating adults to wear protective gear. It wants Congress to approve $3 million for a comprehensive study of motorcycle safety.

"The answers that come from research will help us reduce the number of crashes," Lindsay said.

Anne McCartt, vice president of research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, counters that there has been a strong link between the decline of motorcycle deaths and injuries when states enact universal laws. "It's one of the few areas in highway safety where things are so clear from the scientific perspective," she said.

In Michigan, Granholm said she doesn't favor the pending legislation, arguing the state needs to protect its citizens and realize "somebody's freedom ends where my car begins."

"States that have repealed the helmet law have seen a significant increase in serious injury and death," Granholm said. "In the same way I wouldn't be in favor of repealing the seat belt law, I'm not enamored with repealing the helmet law, either."

But Consiglio said supporters are considering compromise language that would increase fees for registration stickers as part of the bill. In the meantime, the group has secured support from the state AFL-CIO and is seeking an endorsement from the United Auto Workers union.

"We want to go to her base and turn up the heat," Consiglio said.

interesting.. and i didnt know that there were only 4 states that didnt have helmet law's.. wierd... i am from colordao and like i have said.. LOTS of people here dont wear helmet's... and i will have to confess.. i go without every once in a while.. mainly when i cannot find the stupid helmet... or when i take someone for a ride.. they get the helmet

Dang, jeep!!! That thing is LONG!!!

I still think that people without helmets look weird on bikes. Spent most of my life in PA with the helmet law in effect, so my brain thinks that helmets look/are the norm.

Does Darwin's gene pool equilibrium work on people above 25+? hehe. It wouldn't, bit too late if they already passed their seeds. I personally don't give a damn about the old generation refusing to wear helmet, they had their chance.

Helmets are for those who value the ability to think for themselves... Thats my take on it.

ok, down here its mandatory in all states.

if the ruling was that its your choice to wear one but you had to pay for your own medical expenses, would it change peoples opinions.

if it was voluntary, i'd still wear one. call me vain, but i like my head the way it is

Within the last few years it has become optional here in Pennsylvania. I still wear mine, all the time. I have seen too many people who didn't and either A. are no longer with us, or B. are no longer fully-functioning.

Personally, I wish (hope) they take the option away and make everyone wear them again.

not as long as Harely riders outnumber other motorcyclists.

Even Harley owners cannot deny the facts. The number will speak for themselves. On top of that, how may old politicians actually ride? They make the laws, and they laws probably will not even effect the majority of them. After a while common sense is hard to battle, even for the brain-less.

one word... FREEDOM... which is often misunderstood and misinterpreted when they appeal for mandatory helmet laws to be repealed.

Agreed.

Some people think that the constitution gives you the right to choose to be an idiot. I would love to have someone show me where in the Constitution it says you have the right to perform stupid and reckless acts without a care to your own well-being. Anyone?

Bueller?

Bueller?