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Deaths up since Florida helmet law repealed

Read the CNN story here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/08/09/mo ... index.html

Following copyright laws, only the first two paragraphs pasted below:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Motorcycle fatalities have risen sharply in Florida since the state repealed its mandatory helmet law.

States that repeal such laws run the risk of increased deaths and mounting health care costs for injured bikers, according to two studies released Monday, one by the government, the other by the insurance industry.

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Food for thought, eh?

There will always be someone who will pop up after reading something like this to say, "well more people are biking, so of course more people are going to die."

So what I would like to see is what % of accidents end up as fatalities, not how many fatalities actually took place. And how many of those fatalities were wearing helmets, as well as what kind (skull cap, beenie, 3/4, fullface, modular).

Just based on what I know of basic anatomy and human fragility I would say that your likelyhood of surviving an accident increases when you have a helmet that covers more of your head, but there will also be people who argue against that... dunno, people will say anything to "protect their freedom." After all it cannot happen to me.

The federal highway bill approved by Congress in late July included funding for the first major study of motorcycle crash data since the late 1970s.

Another Hurt report?

I hope there's another Hurt report. I'd love to see some updated data. I guess I'm a geek but i really like reading about safety studies.

Sevulturus wrote:There will always be someone who will pop up after reading something like this to say, "well more people are biking, so of course more people are going to die."

I'll pop up for that one Motorcycling has, over the past few years, achieved a popularity that hasn't been seen for decades. My observation has been that there are a lot more riders out there, and a large percentage of them are riding very large bikes with little experience. In short, I've seen the number of bikers go up, while general riding proficiency seems to have taken a dive. I think this is having a direct impact on the exploding number of motorcycle related deaths that we've been seeing for the past few years.

Just relating increasing number of deaths to the repeal of a helmet law seems to ignore the big picture.

BTW - I wear a brain bucket 99% of the time and encourage others to do so as well.

Ridership is up to be sure. But it hasn't doubled. The Florida death figure increases cited are most certainly partially (if not mostly) due to the lack of a helmet law. Increased ridership is undoubtedly part of the equation but it would be foolish to ignore the fact that there are many more helmetless riders there than there used to be and that deaths almost doubled. To be definitive one need only look up the ridership numbers for before and after - we already have the other numbers. Ridership would have to be up 100% to account for the higher death totals and I'm certain it's not up anywhere near that amount.

I was just listing my anecdotal observations, but if you look at the "Motorcycle Deaths Rise Sharply" thread the growth is pretty amazing. Some of the more notable stats are that overall deaths are up 89% in seven years and motorcycle sales are up about 300% since 1995.

I agree that some percentage of the deaths are due to the lack of a helmet law, but with the continuing explosive growth in new ridership, it's kind of hard to tell how much.

I just read a different article - I think - a variety of this thing has been posted 4 times now I think - that pointed out that tons of the new riders are 35-50 with very little experience and really big bikes. I bet that has a whole lot to do with it.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

By Christopher Snowbeck, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(copied in part)
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05222/551196.stm

Pennsylvania dropped its mandatory motorcycle helmet law in 2003, but it's too early to say what the overall impact here has been in terms of costs and injuries, said Hank Weiss, a public health researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. The change, however, was noted by Roethlisberger when he was questioned this spring about why a man who wears a helmet on the football field doesn't do so when riding his Harley.

"I think that's my own discretion," he said. "Obviously, Pennsylvania doesn't think people need to."

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reported in May that motorcyclist deaths in the state actually declined during 2004, but the department now says its numbers were in error. During 2003, 156 motorcyclists in the state were killed in accidents, compared with 158 during 2004, according to PennDOT.

Weiss said the impact of the helmet law change in Pennsylvania can't yet be assessed, in part because trends are best studied over several years. A change in the number of fatalities in any given year could be explained by factors, such as weather, that don't stay constant, Weiss said.

Charles Umbenhauer, a lobbyist for ABATE, or American Bikers Aiming Toward Education, which fought to make helmet-free riding legal here, said the Florida report doesn't add anything new to the debate. There are risks to motorcycle riding, so it's not surprising that people die while doing it, he said.

What is surprising, at least to Umbenhauer, is that physicians and hospital groups often trot out financial information to argue for laws that require helmet use. Citing a July report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, Umbenhauer noted that hospital-acquired infections are likely a much bigger source of costs, sickness and death.

When legislators changed Pennsylvania's law in 2003, they also called for a study that looks at two years' worth of data on deaths, injuries and costs -- a study period that will end in September, Umbenhauer said. A report based on that data will likely be released in mid 2006.

"Then we'll see what happens," Umbenhauer said. "This is a never-ending story."

i don't think an increased death rate is the point. of course florida didn't repeal the helmet law because they thought deaths would go down. they probably repealed it because it's an issue of freedom and individual liberties.

i believe in seat belts and helmets, but am totally against laws enforcing their use.

i don't smoke and don't like it, but i'm very much against governments stepping in and telling business owners what they can't allow their patrons to do on THEIR property.

the point is, unless something puts others in involuntary danger, get government the heck out of our business! you can't outlaw stupidity...it's undemocratic.