MICHIGAN - Editorial: Dumping motorcycle helmet law a bad trade

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http://www.detnews.com/article/20110705/OPINION01/107050315/1008/Editorial--Dumping-motorcycle-helmet-law-a-bad-tradeEditorial: Dumping motorcycle helmet law a bad trade

Governor hints at swapping auto insurance revisions for ending cycle helmet mandate The Detroit News Gov. Rick Snyder says he's willing to consider the elimination of Michigan's motorcycle helmet requirement in the context of general auto insurance reforms that he is getting ready to propose to lawmakers. With all due respect, dumping the helmet law is a bad idea in any context.
The negative move of combining a bill ending the helmet requirement for motorcyclists with intelligent auto insurance revisions won't turn it into a positive. It's a backward step, even if it is paired with reforms in insurance laws that might cut premiums in a way that could stem Detroit's spiraling non-compliance rate.
The governor has been coy, but it's believed his reforms will include ending the requirement that all auto insurance purchasers buy unlimited personal injury coverage — which drives up costs. Reforming this provision makes sense all on its own.
A helmet-law dismantling bill has passed the Senate and seems likely to pass the House after the summer recess. Snyder would be under pressure to please his GOP colleagues by signing it, rather than veto the bill as then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm did the last time lawmakers tried to ditch the helmet requirement.
As it now stands, the measure would allow adult bikers — those older than 21 — to ride without helmets provided they invested in an additional $100,000 worth of insurance coverage to pay for crash injuries they might suffer.
Republican Sen. Roger Kahn of Saginaw, a physician and one of 14 opponents, tried to tack on an amendment that would have boosted the additional insurance requirement to $250,000 but said even that change wouldn't make it good legislation. During Senate debate, he said the minimum cost of a trip to the emergency room for treatment of a serious crash injury averages $20,000. It can go way past $250,000 in cases where debilitating injuries result in the need for lifelong medical care, Kahn said.
Ending the helmet requirement has been strongly and consistently opposed by the Insurance Institute of Michigan, an association representing 90 property-casualty insurers and related organizations, covering 73 percent of the state's auto insurance market. The institute estimates that freeing bikers to ride without the protective headgear will result in 30 additional fatalities and 127 more incapacitating injuries each year on the highways.
The Insurance Institute also says motorcycle accidents already account for a disproportionate share of the annual money paid out by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. The association was created in 1978, under the state no-fault insurance law, to continue funding necessary care for any crash victim whose medical costs exceed $480,000. It adds an annual assessment of $125.89 to each vehicle insurance policy to fund that coverage. Bikers account for 2 percent of the revenue flowing into its kitty but 5 percent of the annual total paid out in claims, the Insurance Institute says.
Some see motorcycle helmet mandates as a "nanny state" issue — regulations imposed by an overprotective government. But there's a legitimate public benefit in reasonable safety measures such as speed limits, stop signs, seat belts and — yes — motorcycle helmets. The mandate should remain.