ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512090007
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-20 EDITION: METRO
A READER called our reader-comment line recently to protest: ``There is not one shred of evidence or proof that a motorcycle helmet has ever saved anyone's life.''
We're not sure about proof. But, of evidence, there is plenty.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says this:
``From 1984 through 1993, it is estimated that helmets saved the lives of 6,400 motorcyclists. If all motorcycle operators and passengers had worn helmets during those years, it is estimated that approximately 5,700 additional lives would have been saved.''
The federal Government Accounting Office, based on its own study, also finds convincing evidence that motorcycle helmets save lives. So, incidentally, do more than a few motorcycle riders who have been involved in accidents and credit their survival to protective head gear.
What's more, the NHTSA estimates are backed up by numerous studies performed by various states that have enacted motorcycle-helmet laws. Recent studies -in California, Maryland, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and Washington - determined that, in the first year after motorcycle-helmet laws were put on the books, motorcycle fatalities decreased, respectively, by 36 percent, 20 percent, 32 percent, 33 percent, 23 percent and 15 percent.
A couple more shreds from the data files of NHTSA:
nPer mile, a motorcyclist is about 20 times more likely to die in a crash than an automobile occupant.
nMore than 80 percent of all motorcycle crashes result in injury or death to the motorcyclist, and head injury is the leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes.
nCompared to a helmeted rider, an unhelmeted rider is 40 percent more likely to incur a fatal head injury.
This subject has taken on more relevance of late because Washington has seen fit to do away with federal helmet laws, allowing states to retreat from common sense and safety if they so choose. Let's hope Virginia doesn't so choose.
Motorcyclists, after all, cannot reasonably claim their foolishness is their own business. The public shares health-bills of accident victims.
It may be that some cyclists would prefer not to wear helmets - the sensual pleasure of the wind in hair, the easy-rider image unfettered by concern for safety, etc. But even the most hardheaded cannot sensibly deny that helmets are a precaution against having their brains splattered over the roads.
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB