GREEN KNIGHTS MOTORCYCLE CLUB CHAPTER 1

jtkai007 · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 236 Location: Eastampton, NJ

June 13, 2006, 5:10PM
Motorcycle Helmet Laws Unlikely to Change

By PETER JACKSON Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Ben Roethlisberger's high-profile motorcycle crash riveted public attention on the risks of riding without a helmet, but it is unlikely to bolster the case for state bans on bareheaded bikers.

The trend over the last several years has been to repeal helmet laws, said Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, a leading advocate of laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets.

"The truth is that those who are (proponents) of repeal are far more organized than proponents of mandatory helmet laws," Tyson said.

The 24-year-old quarterback, who was not wearing a helmet when he crashed, required seven hours of surgery to repair multiple facial fractures after his 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa collided Monday with a car making a left-hand turn in Pittsburgh. He was listed in fair condition Tuesday at a Pittsburgh hospital.

Partly because Roethlisberger has been outspoken in defending his freedom to ride without a helmet in Pennsylvania, his accident rekindled the debate over whether helmet use should be mandated to save lives and hold down long-term medical expenses to society.

"If it had been on the expressway, he probably wouldn't have been alive," said Gary Mitchell, a vice president for the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents, which is fighting to preserve that state's helmet law despite the Legislature's vote earlier this month to repeal it. Gov. Jennifer Granholm supports the law and is expected to veto the repeal bill.

Advocates maintain that cyclists should be free to choose for themselves.

Charles Umbenhauer, lobbyist for the 7,000-member Pennsylvania Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education, which led the successful campaign to repeal Pennsylvania's universal-helmet law in 2003, said Roethlisberger's accident is unlikely to spur efforts to restore the law.

"We have accidents every day that are far worse than that one," said Umbenhauer, whose group has long maintained that better rider training is the key to safer motorcycling.

One motorcyclist who doesn't need to be convinced of the benefits of wearing a helmet is Jason Garber, 35, who spent his lunch hour Tuesday shopping for a helmet at the Pittsburgh Cycle Center.

"I hit a deer years ago. If I didn't have my helmet, my face would be gone," Garber said. "You have to be a little bit insane not to wear a helmet."

Only 20 states currently require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Twenty-seven others mandate helmet use for certain riders _ Pennsylvania, for example, requires helmets for novices and riders younger than 21.

In Pennsylvania, the number of motorcycle deaths involving riders who were confirmed not to have been wearing helmets went from 23 in 2002 _ the last full year the state's old helmet law was in effect _ to 87 in 2005, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The total number of motorcycle deaths in 2005 was 205, up from 134 in 2002, PennDOT said.

Umbenhauer said the Pennsylvania fatality statistics are affected by increases in motorcycle registrations, which grew by 30 percent between 2002 and 2005, and an influx of bikers seeking to temporarily escape helmet laws in neighboring states of New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

"It hasn't spiked that much in my opinion," he said.

The NHTSA estimates that helmets saved the lives of 1,316 motorcyclists in 2004 and that an additional 671 lives could have been saved, had all motorcyclists worn helmets that year.

An NHTSA study in Florida found that motorcycle deaths and fatalities increased in the 30 months after that state repealed its universal helmet law in 2002. The same study showed the average head injury treatment cost increased by nearly $10,000 to more than $45,000.

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Associated Press writer Dan Nephin contributed to this report.

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Jeffrey T.
Green Knights Chapter 1
Ride Director
DRAGON RIDER
Cell# 609-880-3312

"RIDE SAFE RIDE SMART"