OFF THE WIRE
http://www.patriotledger.com/features/x1622888278/Bill-aims-to-ease-motorcycle-helmet-law Bill aims to ease motorcycle helmet law.
.By David Riley Wicked Local
BOSTON — More than three-quarters of the motorcyclists involved in crashes in Massachusetts last year were wearing helmets, but if the state had already passed legislation currently being considered, the state’s helmet requirement would not have applied to most of them.
The police reports written after 1,150 Massachusetts motorcycle accidents in 2010 noted whether helmets were being worn. In 78.5 percent of those cases, the rider had a helmet on.
Under legislation proposed by state Sen. Stephen Brewer, D-Barre, only motorcycle operators and passengers younger than 21 would have to wear helmets.
Eighty-eight percent of motorcyclists involved in crashes last year were 21 or older and would not have had to wear helmets under Brewer’s proposal, state data show.
“Studies show when helmet laws are weakened or repealed, helmet use usually drops to about 50 percent,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the national Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which supports helmet laws.
Brewer’s bill is the latest salvo in a national debate stretching back to 1967, when the federal government first required states to adopt helmet laws to qualify for highway funding. Congress lifted sanctions against states without such laws in 1995.
Critics do not necessarily question the merits of wearing helmets, but they say the state law overreaches by mandating what ought to be a personal decision. They also say the law fails to address the causes of crashes.
“A motorcyclist gets hurt and killed because of an accident. That is the cause we should go after,” said Rick Gleason, legislative director for the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association. “We would rather advocate (more) rider training, crash avoidance and more motorist awareness.”
Helmet-law supporters say studies show that bikers without helmets generally suffer more severe injuries, resulting in higher costs that the government must cover if the rider has either public insurance or no coverage.
“It is a personal choice, but when people crash, it becomes a weight on society as a whole because there are higher health care costs associated with crash injuries,” Rader said.
The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation held a hearing Nov. 30 on this and several other motorcycle-related bills, including one sponsored by Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, which would allow motorcyclists from states without helmet laws to ride without helmets in Massachusetts.
The impact of helmet laws on injuries and deaths is a subject of debate.
Motorcyclists in Massachusetts die at a lower rate than the U.S. average. Last year, the motorcyclist death rate in Massachusetts was about 2.9 deaths per 10,000 registered motorcycles, based on Registry of Motor Vehicles data.
As of 2007, the national rate was about 7.2 deaths per 10,000 registered motorcycles, and the figure has been rising steadily since at least 1998, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
