No Helmet, No Problem... Actually, Yes Problem
JULY 5, 2011 TAGS:
A motorcyclist riding in upstate New York died on Saturday after he flipped over the handlebars of his 1983 Harley Davidson and struck his helmetless head on the pavement. Why was Phillip A. Contos of Parish, N.Y. piloting his hog without a helmet in New York State, which requires brain buckets be worn by all of its two-wheeled warriors? To protest the law, of course, which some argue infringes upon individual liberty and is based on flawed science about the efficacy of helmets in motorcycle crashes.
A case of cruel and ironic coincidence or of fate's implacable hand? You decide. But here's some stats to fill you in.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2009, 4,462 people died in motorcycle crashes, down 16.0 percent from 5,312 in 2008. The 2008 deaths were the most since NHTSA began collecting data in 1975. Motorcycle crash fatalities increased every year for the 11 years ending in 2009.
Whether that decrease in fatalities is related to helmet usage is of some debate. Despite the overall decrease in the whole of the country. some states saw an uptick in fatalities between 2008 and 2009.
According to a report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, 21 states reported an increased number of fatalities between 2008 and 2009. While higher ridership due to a slightly better economy might account for some of that increase, the report cites a decrease in helmet usage as a possible causal reason for the rising number of fatalities in those states.
The NHTSA reported in 2008 that 42% of fatally-injured bikers were not wearing helmets. The group estimated that 822 of the unhelmeted deaths would have been averted had the rider been wearing a helmet. The local medical examiner in Onondaga, N.Y., where Contos died, found that had he been wearing a helmet, he might have lived.
A case of cruel and ironic coincidence or of fate's implacable hand? You decide. But here's some stats to fill you in.According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2009, 4,462 people died in motorcycle crashes, down 16.0 percent from 5,312 in 2008. The 2008 deaths were the most since NHTSA began collecting data in 1975. Motorcycle crash fatalities increased every year for the 11 years ending in 2009.
Whether that decrease in fatalities is related to helmet usage is of some debate. Despite the overall decrease in the whole of the country. some states saw an uptick in fatalities between 2008 and 2009.
According to a report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, 21 states reported an increased number of fatalities between 2008 and 2009. While higher ridership due to a slightly better economy might account for some of that increase, the report cites a decrease in helmet usage as a possible causal reason for the rising number of fatalities in those states.
The NHTSA reported in 2008 that 42% of fatally-injured bikers were not wearing helmets. The group estimated that 822 of the unhelmeted deaths would have been averted had the rider been wearing a helmet. The local medical examiner in Onondaga, N.Y., where Contos died, found that had he been wearing a helmet, he might have lived.
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