TN: AAA tries to stop helmet repeal

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AAA  tries to put brakes on motorcycle helmet repeal...

AAA clubs all across Tennessee are trying to put the brakes on an effort they say would "substantially weaken" the state's current motorcycle helmet law. Story 10 Comments Font Size: KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- AAA clubs all across Tennessee are trying to put the brakes on an effort they say would "substantially weaken" the state's current motorcycle helmet law.
The bill, HB2661, is set to be heard by the Tennessee House Transportation General Subcommittee on Tuesday, and, according to AAA, all riders 21 and older to ditch their helmets.
“Multiple studies of states that have weakened their motorcycle helmet laws show marked increases in both human tragedy and financial costs,” says Kevin Bakewell, chief public affairs officer with The Auto Club Group. “We should not let this happen in Tennessee,” Bakewell says.
The auto club pointed to a study that was published in the American Journal of Public Health in August of the effects of Pennsylvania's relaxation of its motorcycle helmet law. According to that study, deaths cause by head injuries soared 66 percent, while non-head-injury deaths jumped 25 percent as well.
Seventy-eight percent more riders were hospitalized with head injuries and non-head injuries increased 28 percent as well, according to the study. Medical costs for treating head injuries more than doubled, while the cost of treating other injuries went up 69 percent.
And AAA said it was not alone in opposing these changes.
“In a statistically representative survey of Tennessee voters conducted by AAA in December, 2011, 92 percent of Tennessee voters favor retaining the state’s motorcycle helmet law in its current form,” says O. T. Wright, president and CEO of AAA East Tennessee.