Motorcycle helmets save lives. Gov. Parson, don’t repeal Missouri’s 52-year-old law

More than 52 years ago, lawmakers in Missouri passed an all-rider motorcycle helmet law in response to a costly public health problem on the roadways. Riders were being killed or suffering life-altering injuries from not wearing helmets, and Missouri residents were being saddled with the resulting costs for first responders, emergency room visits, long-term medical care and other related expenses.

Motorcycle helmet use is a proven lifesaver and serious-injury mitigator, but this safety law will be eliminated if Gov. Mike Parson signs House Bill 1963, which is on his desk after being approved by the legislature.

As a former traffic safety researcher with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and an associate college professor in Missouri, I have devoted a significant amount of my career to providing information on the benefits of proven traffic safety laws and bringing attention to dangerous driving behaviors. I have always relied on research, facts and science, and do so now in urging the governor to retain Missouri’s law requiring helmet use by all riders.

According to the Government Accountability Office, “laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets are the only strategy proved to be effective in reducing motorcyclist fatalities.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in 2018, there were nine times as many unhelmeted fatalities in states without a universal helmet law compared to states with a universal helmet law (1,670 versus 177).

Our state must learn from the tragedies that befell Michigan after it erroneously weakened its all-rider helmet law in 2012. The percentage of non-helmeted crash scene fatalities quadrupled, and motorcyclist trauma patients who were hospitalized with a head injury rose by 14%.

Motorcycles are the most dangerous mode of transportation, and riders are especially vulnerable in the event of a crash because bikes lack the safety infrastructure built into vehicles. Per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclist fatalities occurred almost 27 times more frequently than passenger car occupant fatalities in 2017. Wearing a helmet can make the difference between life and death, or between a suffering a lifelong debilitating injury and walking away from a crash unscathed.

Motorcycle helmet use has been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by 69% and lower the risk of death by 42%. Helmet use is estimated to have saved nearly 2,000 lives in 2017, the most recent year for which NHTSA data is available. In Missouri, motorcycle helmet use protected the lives of 66 riders and saved over $673 million in comprehensive costs resulting from motorcycle crashes in 2016 alone, again from NHTSA’s most recent data.

I urge Gov. Parson to pay heed to these salient facts, exhibit leadership for the safety of Missourians and veto this bill. With weakened helmet laws in Missouri, there is no question that people will unnecessarily die and suffer preventable injuries.

This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Motorcycle helmets save lives. Gov. Parson, don’t repeal Missouri’s 52-year-old law."