BIKERS RIGHTS ON LINE, New Look At Helmet Laws and NHTSA

OFF THE WIRE
BIKERS RIGHTS ON LINE
New Look At Helmet Laws and NHTSA
DIGGING INTO THE STATISTICS
"If you really dig down into the statistics, you'll discover 2 things that many bikers already know. First, helmets are only 100% effective up to 13.5 miles per hour, and above that speed their protectiveness rapidly drops off. This is even admitted to by the helmet manufacturers themselves. Second, and most important, as you dig deeper into the facts you'll discover statistics that prove motorcycle helmets cause severe neck injuries.
"...And finally, you need to realize that at 70 mph the only difference a helmet makes, to put it bluntly, is open or closed casket. Then again, statistics are like hookers - once you get 'em down on the sheets you can make them say anything you want them to say.
"...No amount of 'safety' gear can prevent stupidity, whether by the rider or someone in another vehicle. Helmets cause neck injuries. The statistics don't lie. Pardon me, Mr. Lawmaker - I have the right to make the choice to wear or not wear a helmet for myself. My right as an individual who rides a motorcycle - not yours as someone who has never ridden anything but your desk chair or a secretary. You see, I'd rather be dead than become the next Christopher Reeve or Terry Schaivo (no disrespect intended)."
- Bart Daugherty, author of "Things I Hate About America"

HELMET LAW REPEAL for NV (Didn't Pass)
There will be a hearing on Assemblyman Don Gustavson's (R-Reno) proposed bill (AB 300) to repeal Nevada's mandatory motorcycle helmet law this Tuesday. One thing is certain: Nanny-stater after nanny-stater will testify at the hearing that helmets "save lives" and the law should be retained for everyone's own good. But is it true?
"Recent Trends in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes: An Update is 72 pages of charts and analysis from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) based on the 10 years from 1995 to 2004," writes Warren Woodward of Helmet Law Facts in Biker Magazine. "It should have been called Fabricating Trends in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes. Here's why:
"A chart on page 36 of the report shows that the helmet use rate in fatal crashes was basically unchanged over the 10 years, 1995 to 2004. If helmets 'save lives', shouldn't more of the dead be helmetless? Yet helmeted riders consistently comprise the dead-majority at around 54% of fatalities every year. Of course that doesn't stop NHTSA from calling for mandatory helmet laws.
"Ultimately, the helmet numbers are useless because they do not reflect anything except how many were wearing and how many were not at time of death. NHTSA might as well have a chart showing how many riders were or were not wearing wristwatches. How can anyone tell if a helmet would have helped or not? Just because someone died without a helmet does not mean they would have lived with a helmet. And how many of the helmeted dead had snapped necks or basal skull fracture? NHTSA doesn't say.

"The fact is that helmets have not changed the death-to-accident ratio in any state where they have been mandated."
IT JUST DOESN'T ADD UP
A bill to repeal Nevada's mandatory motorcycle helmet law was proposed in the 2007 Legislature. At a hearing on the bill, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that "witnesses said the typical traumatic head injury accident costs $2 million over the lifetime of the survivor and 50 such accidents would be expected a year in Nevada if the helmet law was repealed."
As for the financial estimate - which to the best of my knowledge was never sourced, let alone verified - that's a matter for insurance companies. But it's the claim that Nevada would be "expected" to see 50 such accidents if the mandatory helmet law is repealed that caught my attention.
Our neighbor, Utah, has about the same population as Nevada. And Utah, unlike Nevada, does not have a mandatory helmet law. Motorcyclists in Utah, unlike in Nevada, are treated like free adults and allowed to decide for themselves whether or not to wear a helmet.
Now, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site, Nevada had 50 motorcycle fatalities in 2006, while Utah had 24. And in 2005 Nevada had 56 motorcycle fatalities, while Utah had 23. Seems to me the NHTSA statistics indicate that Nevada's mandatory helmet law is killing more people than it's "saving."
Helmet Law Map

http://www.iihs.org/laws/helmetusecurrent.aspx