- ABATE of New York
Inc. encourages the voluntary use of helmets, gloves,
sturdy footwear, and
- protective garments
by adult motorcyclists, as part of a comprehensive
motorcycle safety program. We
- do not support laws
mandating use of helmets at all times by all
riders.
-
- ABATE of New York
Inc. believes that accident prevention and avoidance
are more important to
- significantly
reducing injuries and fatalities than any mandatory
equipment laws. Mandatory helmet laws
- do nothing to
prevent accidents.
-
- It is generally
recognized and acknowledged that a motorcycle helmet
is a legitimate piece of safety
- equipment under
optimal circumstances. Unfortunately, all crashes
involving motorcycles do not fit the
- controlled
laboratory conditions under which helmets are tested.
The presence of a number of variables
- can create
situations in which a user can be severely injured.
Improper fit, rapid deceleration, the angle of
- impact, and roadside
hazards which are unlike those found in a D.O.T.
Laboratory, can all contribute to
- severe injuries that
would not have been incurred by an unhelmeted rider.
Because the possibility of
- death or injury as a
result of helmet use exits, ABATE of New York Inc.
believes the individual rider is
- best suited to weigh
the benefits and risks associated with that use. The
amount of risk one accepts in
- any activity is a
matter of informed personal choice.
-
- Mandatory helmet use
laws were initiated by the Federal government in the
Highway Safety Act of 1966,
- and subsequently
repealed by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1975. Most
states repealed the imposed
- mandatory helmet use
laws for adults after the Federal pressure was
removed, yet motorcycle safety
- statistics improved
dramatically throughout the 1980's. National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
- (NHTSA) figures show
a 30 percent decline in motorcyclist fatalities during
that decade. (1)
- More recently,
Federal "incentives" to require state compliance with
passage of mandatory helmet use
- laws were attempted
again in the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. Only
- one state (Maryland)
complied with these "incentives", which were also
repealed by the National Highway
- Systems Act of 1995.
There is currently no Federal penalty against states
which do not have or
- modify existing
mandatory helmet use laws.
-
- Motorcyclists
generally exhibit a high rate of voluntary compliance
with use of helmets. Where law does
- not require helmet
use, rates of use typically range from 60 to 75
percent. Rates as high as 82 percent
- have been achieved
with active promotion of voluntary use, and never does
voluntary use fall below 50 to
- 55 percent. (2)
-
- In states lacking a
mandatory helmet law, riders who had opted for
certified helmets
- alleged by the
manufacturers to meet federal safety standards,
continued voluntary use of those helmets
- after modification
of the law. A recent study shows there is a higher
rate in overall motorcyclist fatalities
- between states that
require helmet use and those that do not. (6.12 vs.
5.09 fatalities per 10,000
- registrations).
(3)
-
- Some advocates of
mandatory helmet use laws believe that uninsured costs
of injured motorcyclists
- which must be borne
by the public would increase if voluntary use is
permitted. This is not supported by
- the experience of
states which have repealed mandatory use laws. As for
any burden that uninsured
- motorcyclists may be
thought to place on health care resources, it has been
consistently found that
- motorcyclists are as
likely to be privately insured as any other motor
vehicle accident victim and in some
- cases more likely to
be privately insured than the general population of
trauma patients.(4)
-
- Motorcyclists do not
represent any greater potential cost to taxpayers than
a person driving a car or
- engaging in any
other activity with a potential risk, be it skiing,
horseback riding, or climbing the stairs in
- the house.
Motorcycle accidents represent less than one percent
of all vehicular accidents. Compared
- with automobile
drivers, motorcyclists represent a minuscule part of
all motor vehicle accident costs.
- Finally, the problem
of prejudicial treatment of motorcyclists needs to be
addressed. Most people do not
- ride motorcycles,
and tend to look upon those who do as different from
themselves. Motorcyclists
- struggle under a
negative public image, largely fostered by
entertainment media constantly in search of
- stock villains. Only
a small number of motorcyclists fit the negative media
image. A small number of
- luxury car owners
may be engaged in illegal activities, but the majority
of big car drivers are ordinary,
- hard working,
prosperous citizens. The same is true of the vast
majority of motorcyclists. They deserve to
- be treated as such
by the state.
-
- CONCLUSION:
- Laws mandating
helmet use at all times have no significant effect on
the safety of motorcycling in
- general, although
use of a helmet may or may not be beneficial in
individual accident circumstances. The
- decision on when to
wear a helmet while operating a motorcycle should
remain with each responsible
- adult rider.
-
- Toward improving
motorcycle safety, ABATE of New York Inc. makes the
following observations:
- Helmets do not
prevent accidents.
- Mandatory helmet use
does not result in lower fatality rates.
- Thirty-six percent
of fatal motorcycle accidents involve alcohol use.
(5)
- Thirty-two percent
of all fatally injured motorcyclists are unlicensed.
(6)
- Ninety percent of
all motorcycle accidents involve riders who have not
taken a motorcycle safety course.
- (Source: Motorcycle
Safety Foundation)
-
- With the increased
popularity of motorcycling as evidenced by the rising
trend in sales throughout the
- country, ABATE of
New York Inc. strongly favors increased funding for
the Motorcycle Safety Program
- so that a larger
percentage of new riders can receive the training
required to successfully operate safely.
-
- 1 "Motorcyclists
Lead Nation in Casualty Reduction," American
Motorcyclist. Westerville, Ohio (October
- 1989)
- 2 A Review and
Analysis of Government Claims About the Effect of
Motorcycle Helmet Laws, American
- Motorcyclist Assn.,
Westerville, Ohio (April 1981)
- 3 National
Motorcyclist Fatality Statistics Evaluated in
Relationship to Voluntary Helmet Use, William
E.
- Gannon (March
2001)
- 4 An Analysis of
Injury Outcome and Insurance Status of Hospitalized
Motorcyclists, Stutts, Rutledge and
- Martell, University
of North Carolina (1991)
- 5 National Agenda
for Motorcycle Safety, National Highway Traffic Safety
Admin., U.S. Dept. of
- Transportation
(November 2000)
- 6 National Agenda
for Motorcycle Safety, National Highway Traffic Safety
Admin, U.S. Dept. of
- Transportation
(November 2000)
- ~Brought to
you by Long Island Chapter~
- ABATE of NY,
Inc.
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