OFF THE WIRE
http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/editorial/11-23-2010-Helmetless--Editorial Helmetless riding a costly freedom Observer-Reporter
It's a statement of fact as obvious as the sun providing heat and light and food being an excellent source of sustenance. Wearing a motorcycle helmet could save your life.
It seems like common sense that you would want to do something to shield your noggin when you're roaring down our all-too-imperfect roads at 65 mph - or, more likely, much faster than that. It would only take hitting one unfortunately placed pothole to put you in a vegetative state or a casket.
But, despite the fact that laws mandating motorcycle helmets seem like a, well, no-brainer, Pennsylvania repealed its helmet law in 2003, except for beginners and riders under age 21. Predictably, the number of fatalities has increased, and many of those killed were not wearing helmets. In 2008, 49 percent of those killed on motorcycles were sans helmets, compared to 17 percent in 1998.
Rate This Story: 1 the lowest - 5 the highest
1 2 3 4 5 Current rating: NaN Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board put helmet laws on its annual "most wanted" safety improvement list, and urged states to instate, or reinstate, them. Almost all states once had them, when they were part of the requirements to receive federal highway funding, but once Congress scratched that obligation off the list, many helmet laws were significantly watered down or junked. Motorcycle riders and assorted advocacy groups have suggested that helmet laws impinge on personal freedom. Hey, the thinking goes, if someone wants to look like Peter Fonda or Dennis Hopper in "Easy Rider" as they fly down the road (and, undoubtedly, collect whole colonies of bugs in their hair), that's their prerogative. But riders who wind up with brain injuries end up increasing Medicaid costs for states, and that hits taxpayers right in the pocketbook.
"Motorcyclists who believe their right to ride without a helmet is a matter of personal choice ignore the cost to taxpayers and governments of picking up the pieces, and the tab, when they crash," Judith Lee Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said in 2004. "...State coffers are drained by hidden costs of increasing motorcycle deaths and brain injuries due to lack of helmet use."
In its plea last week, the NTSB vice chairman Christopher Hart said people "have to get outraged about this safety issue that is causing so many deaths needlessly."
We agree, and hope that Gov.-elect Tom Corbett and the state legislature consider reinstating Pennsylvania's helmet law when they arrive in Harrisburg in January.
