Stricter Motorcycle Helmet Laws: A Focus for the NTSB in 2011

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Stricter Motorcycle Helmet Laws: A Focus for the NTSB in 2011
North Carolina law requires all bikers to wear an approved helmet while riding. This requirement was signed into law in 1968 after the federal government tied the receipt of federal highway funds to the passage of a state's universal helmet law.

February 04, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As we already know, North Carolina law requires all bikers to wear an approved helmet while riding. This requirement was signed into law in 1968 after the federal government tied the receipt of federal highway funds to the passage of a state's universal helmet law. If you or someone you love has been injured in a motorcycle accident, contact a North Carolina motorcycle accident attorney experienced in handling motorcycle accident cases.

The helmet law has withstood challenges from motorcyclist rights advocacy groups over the years, and even survived after Congress removed the tie between federal highway funding and state helmet laws. The helmet requirement survived another recent attempt to repeal the law in 2004.

However, many states have no universal helmet law or have only a partial law - South Carolina only requires riders younger than 21 years old to wear helmets. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) seeks to change this and prompt the passage of strict, universal helmet laws in all 50 states.

NTSB's 2011 Agenda

NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher Hart is pushing for stricter helmet laws, explaining that head injuries are the most common cause of death in the 12 biker accident deaths occurring each day in the US. He believes that the motorcycle fatalities will significantly lower if every rider is wearing a helmet.

North Carolina government tends to agree with Hart. In 2008, North Carolina tightened up its helmet law by requiring every helmet to meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. Officials pointed to the fact that motorcycles account for only 2 percent of the vehicles on the roadways, yet account for 10 percent of all traffic fatalities in the state.

Anti-Helmet Law Opposition

Anti-helmet-law motorcycle advocacy groups, such as Bikers Rights Online, argue that as a whole, motorcycle fatalities have substantially lowered over the past several decades - why would you force helmet use when biker safety is on the rise? These folks believe that the proper avenue for increased motorcyclist safety is through motorcycle safety education courses and education of other motorists on how to share the roads with bikers.

The biker rights advocacy groups typically do not attack the fact that helmets make a rider safer - although they claim that many of the pro-helmet studies and statistics improperly manipulate the data to support their agenda. These anti-helmet-law groups focus on a biker's right to choose whether he or she wants to wear a helmet. They fear a future where all riders will be forced to wear full-face helmets.

What it means for the North Carolina Biker

It is likely that little will change in North Carolina. The biggest impact may be upon those North Carolina riders that like to cruise into South Carolina and ditch their helmets, it remains to be seen if South Carolina will pass a new law. Other folks who remove their helmets on their trip to Sturgis should check the laws for each state they are travelling through to make sure they are complying, it is likely that some of the Midwest states will conform to universal helmet laws in the coming riding seasons. If you have been injured in a bike accident, contact a North Carolina motorcycle attorney today.