I looked around on the NHTSA site and couldn't seem to find where it stated that there was no difference in fatalities when wearing a helmet or not wearing a helmet. In fact, I found just the opposite. Many of the reports on this site indicated that fatalities rose when laws were changed to
not having to wear a helmet. I just wonder what that means to insurance rates. Would we see an increase in our rates if Michigan get a no helmet law? Hey I'm all for choice, just as long as I don't have to pay for it out of my own pocket.
Below is some interesting information from Abate of Michigan and NHTSA. This is not all of the information available so please feel free to check out these websites.
Why it makes good sense to amend Michigan’s helmet law
Abate of Michigan
1. NHTSA statistics prove that states with a helmet law are not safer than those with free choice.
2. Amending the helmet law would finally bring Michigan in line with the majority of other states.
3. This would boost Michigan’s economy by $1.2 billion and bring 2700 jobs into Michigan. This includes increasing tourism which has been falling for 7 straight years in a row.
4. Insurance rates will not increase, as no state has ever increased their rates due to a helmet-law modification.
5. This will benefit the Michigan State Troopers and the Deputy Sheriffs.
6. Again in this session there was overwhelming support in both the Michigan's House and the Senate.
http://www.abateofmichigan.org/Reasons%20to%20amend%20Michigan's%20helmet%20law.pdf
Well I looked up the NHTSA
On July 1, 2000, Florida repealed the legal requirement that all motorcyclists wear protective helmets. Instead, state law now requires helmet use only by riders under the age of 21, or by older riders who do not have a minimum of $10,000 medical insurance coverage.
A Florida helmet use observation survey carried out in 1998 before the helmet law change showed that virtually all observed riders were wearing helmets. However, only 59 percent of the observed sample wore compliant helmets (headgear that meets FMVSS No. 218) while 40 percent were wearing noncompliant helmets (headgear that does not meet FMVSS No. 218). These figures compare to 84 percent compliant and 15 percent noncompliant observed in a 1993 survey suggesting that noncompliant helmet use was increasing over time. Following weighting, the 1998 survey results yielded estimated statewide helmet use of 65 percent compliant helmets and 35 percent noncompliant helmets.
A post law change survey, done in 2002, found 47 percent compliant helmet use, 6 percent noncompliant helmet use and 47 percent no helmet use. These results indicate that use of compliant helmets has declined following the law change, while wearing noncompliant helmets has largely been abandoned.
Motorcyclist Fatalities
While Florida’s all-rider helmet law was repealed in July 2000, there was a substantial increase in motorcyclists killed in Florida beginning in the first 6 months of the year, before the effective date of the law. Fatalities in the two years following the law change (2001-2002, N=575) were 71 percent greater than the 337 fatalities that occurred in 1998-1999, compared to an increase of 37 percent for the nation as a whole (4,560 to 6,227). Fatalities in Florida per 10,000 registered motorcycles increased 21 percent compared to 13 percent nationally for the two years before and after the law change.
There was an annual average of 181 motorcyclists killed in Florida in the 30 months before the law change, and an annual average of 280 in the 30 months after the law
change; a 5 Motorcyclist fatalities in Florida have continued to increase. In the three years after the law change (2001-2003), 933 motorcyclists were killed, 81 percent more than the 515 motorcyclists who were killed in 1997-1999. The actual number who died in 2003 was 358.
While the reduction in helmet use observed after the law was repealed would be expected to result in more non-helmeted fatalities, the actual increase was above what would be expected based solely on the decrease in helmet use. Non-helmeted motorcyclists who were killed in Florida increased from 15 (9 percent) in 1998, when observed helmet use was close to 100 percent, to 198 (66 percent) of the total motorcycle fatalities in 2002, an increase of over thirteen times. When the increase in motorcycle registrations after the law was changed is taken into account, the non-helmeted fatality rate per 10,000 registered motorcycles increased from 0.7 fatalities in 1998 to 6.1 in 2002. Helmeted motorcyclist fatalities, on the other hand, fell from 7.6 per 10,000 registered motorcycles in 1998 to 3.2 in 2002.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/motorcycles/pdf/809849.pdf
While this is old data, I fould it very interested.
Evaluation of the Reinstatement of the niversal Motorcycle Helmet Law In Louisiana - May 2008
The 1999 helmet law repeal in Louisiana dramatically decreased helmet usage from almost complete usage by all motorcyclists to approximately 50 percent. The years following repeal showed a sharp increase in the number of motorcyclist fatalities in Louisiana. Observed helmet use doubled upon reinstatement of the law in August 2004.
Crash data showed that the odds of wearing a helmet in a crash after the Louisiana motorcycle helmet law compared to pre-law was extremely high. This increase in the compliance of helmet use after the reinstatement of the universal helmet law also led to significantly lower proportion of fatalities, severe injuries, and moderate injuries during the post-law period compared to the pre-law reinstatement. A time series analysis indicated that there were also fewer severe and fatal crashes following the law change.
Data related to hospital stay by people in motorcycle crashes were limited, and conclusive results could not be determined. Prior to the law change, there were 43 drivers with brain injuries with an average cost of $23,669 per injury at this Shreveport trauma facility. Based on the observational data, it is likely that only about 50 percent of those riders would have been unhelmeted. NHTSA has estimated that the helmet is 67 percent effective at reducing brain injury (NHTSA, 2004). Given that nearly 100 percent of riders were helmeted after the law, we can estimate that nearly all of those riders would have been helmeted had there been a helmet law. Thus, at Shreveport alone an additional 21.5 riders would have been helmeted with 14.4 of them avoiding brain injury.
The first decrease in the occurrence of motorcyclist fatalities since the original repeal occurred when the universal helmet law was reinstated in Louisiana. These results support the supposition that the decrease in fatal motorcycle crashes in Louisiana after the helmet law was reinstated was directly impacted by the law change.
Nationally, there is a relationship between the passage and repeals of helmet laws and the number of registrations. As a greater proportion of the population was not required to wear a helmet, so did a greater number of motorcycles become registered. The relationship has been used as an argument for why fatalities increase following repeal of helmet laws. However, further analysis suggests that regardless of this relationship the lack of a helmet requirement is still related to fatalities well beyond what might be expected from an increase in registrations.
Evaluation of the Reinstatement of the niversal Motorcycle Helmet Law In Louisiana - May 2008
The 1999 helmet law repeal in Louisiana dramatically decreased helmet usage from almost complete usage by all motorcyclists to approximately 50 percent. The years following repeal showed a sharp increase in the number of motorcyclist fatalities in Louisiana. Observed helmet use doubled upon reinstatement of the law in August 2004.
Crash data showed that the odds of wearing a helmet in a crash after the Louisiana motorcycle helmet law compared to pre-law was extremely high. This increase in the compliance of helmet use after the reinstatement of the universal helmet law also led to significantly lower proportion of fatalities, severe injuries, and moderate injuries during the post-law period compared to the pre-law reinstatement. A time series analysis indicated that there were also fewer severe and fatal crashes following the law change.
Data related to hospital stay by people in motorcycle crashes were limited, and conclusive results could not be determined. Prior to the law change, there were 43 drivers with brain injuries with an average cost of $23,669 per injury at this Shreveport trauma facility. Based on the observational data, it is likely that only about 50 percent of those riders would have been unhelmeted. NHTSA has estimated that the helmet is 67 percent effective at reducing brain injury (NHTSA, 2004). Given that nearly 100 percent of riders were helmeted after the law, we can estimate that nearly all of those riders would have been helmeted had there been a helmet law. Thus, at Shreveport alone an additional 21.5 riders would have been helmeted with 14.4 of them avoiding brain injury.
The first decrease in the occurrence of motorcyclist fatalities since the original repeal occurred when the universal helmet law was reinstated in Louisiana. These results support the supposition that the decrease in fatal motorcycle crashes in Louisiana after the helmet law was reinstated was directly impacted by the law change.
Nationally, there is a relationship between the passage and repeals of helmet laws and the number of registrations. As a greater proportion of the population was not required to wear a helmet, so did a greater number of motorcycles become registered. The relationship has been used as an argument for why fatalities increase following repeal of helmet laws. However, further analysis suggests that regardless of this relationship the lack of a helmet requirement is still related to fatalities well beyond what might be expected from an increase in registrations.
References:
http://www.abateofmichigan.com/
http://www.abateofmichigan.com/
www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles
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