If you ride a motorcycle, you may find at times that your helmet is constricting, but you wear one either for safety reasons or because you are required by law. Not surprisingly, deciding not to wear a motorcycle helmet greatly increases your risk of severe injury or death, according to a recent study conducted by the American Journal of Surgery.
For 35 years, the state of Michigan required all motorcycle riders to wear a helmet. After a 2012 repeal of their long-standing helmet law, Michigan now requires that riders, who want to forgo wearing a helmet, must be at least 21-years-old and either pass a safety course or ride a motorcycle for a minimum of two years. The law also requires that the riders “carry $20,000 in medical insurance.”
Immediately following the law, hospitals began seeing an “abrupt“ increase in the amount of patients coming in with severe injuries as a result of riding without a helmet.
Curious about the effects of the new law, the American Journal of Surgery conducted a study on 345 motorcycle accident patients. The study found that since 2012, Michigan has experienced a large increase in the number of serious bodily injuries (including worse neurologic injuries) and “higher in-patient mortality.”
Released just last month, the study compared fatalities from 2011 to fatalities that occurred in the few years following the 2012 repeal. They found:
“Deaths at the scene of the crash more than quadrupled, while deaths in the hospital tripled for motorcyclists. Head injuries have increased overall, and more of them are severe.”
The study specifically discovered:
- Before the repeal, 7% of riders went without a helmet. After the repeal, this increased to 28%.
- Only 3% of patients died in the hospital before the 2012 law. After, in-patient deaths increased to 10%.
- Previously, only 14% of riders died at the scene of the accident. After the repeal, 68% of those not wearing a helmet died at the crash site.
- Before the repeal, injury severity score was only at 14.5; whereas after, it increased to 19.
The study also reveled:
“Non-helmeted riders also had increased alcohol use, intensive care unit length of stay and need for mechanical ventilation. The median hospital cost for the non-helmeted cohort was higher (P < .05).”
The problem with this law is not only the increase in injuries and fatalities, but the fact that “taxpayers and other insurance payers often bear the cost.” Unfortunately:
“Although there is an extra insurance requirement in the law…it is rarely enforced.”
In addition, the the $20,000 minimum medical insurance does not even cover the entire hospital costs that is estimated at around $27,000 for those accident patients who are not wearing a helmet.
With this evidence, it will be interesting to see whether Michigan will revert to their old helmet law. Until any changes are made, the decision to wear a helmet is up to each individual rider who should keep in mind:
“Even if you are the most careful motorcycle driver in the world, if you don’t wear a helmet, you are putting yourself at risk for a significant injury.”
In other words, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Featured image by Eric Schmuttennmaer under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.
