Motorcycle Helmets can Help to Save Lives

• Each year more than 2,200 people are killed in motorcycle accidents and more than 55,000 are injured. Head injuries are the leading cause of death with motorcycle accidents. A motorcyclist is 16 times more likely to die in a crash. These numbers are greatly reduced by one-third if the cyclist is wearing a helmet (Safe and Sober, 2015).

• I feel that most of us would like to see a mandatory rule to wear helmets. I’m sure at sometime in your lives you have seen a motorcycle weaving in and out of traffic at an elevated speed and held your breath hoping that nothing would happen.

• I have been a nurse for eight years working in the emergency department of a trauma hospital. I have seen motor vehicle accidents involving motorcycles

with people who do not wear helmets.

• . I have witnessed many people who have been pronounced brain dead at the scene and many others who have lasting deficits of broken cervical bones and spine injuries. I also witnessed a friend of the family who was killed on a motorcycle at the age of 21 due to not wearing a helmet.

Proposal:

I believe that the law of motorcycle helmets should be reversed and helmets should be mandatory to wear while riding motorcycles.

• One of the many questions that I ponder with, is if motor vehicle riders have to wear a seat belt for protection; why then do we feel that it is not necessary for motorcyclist to wear helmets?

Who makes these decisions?

• Who decides what age is a safe age?• The law for wearing a helmet while riding a

motorcycle vehicle is different in every state.

• I live in Pennsylvania where the law is that motorcyclist have to wear helmets until the age of 21 and then the helmet is optional (Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania, 2008).

• When under 21 and wearing a helmet it must be a specific helmet with dot verification and worn with the sticker on the back of the helmet (Department of Transportation, 2015).

1. The helmet must have the manufacture name, date and time of inspection on the helmet.

2. The dot with verification of the helmet must be worn on the back of the

helmet.

• Motorcycle helmets can help to save lives.• From 1984 through 1995, helmets saved the

lives of more than 7,400 motorcyclists. If all motorcyclists and their passengers had worn helmets during those years, more than 6,300 additional lives could have been saved (Safe and Sober, 2015).

• When state law enforces the use of helmets, costs to family and society decrease because motorcycle deaths and injuries also decrease.

Helmet Safety Prevents A. 80 percent of all accidents involved with a

motorcycle end in death. B. A motorcyclist is 16 times more likely to die

on a motorcycle than an automobile accident. C. Head injuries are the leading cause of death

in motor cycle accidents (Safe & Sober, 2015).D. States that do not require helmet use, have a

20 percent higher rate in fatalities

How are helmets manufactured to save lives?Design of helmet for safety• Thick foam inner liner• Helps to cushion the head on impact• Head injuries are the leading cause of death in

motor cycle accidents (Safe & Sober, 2015)• Hard outside shell• Helps to keep the inner liner in place and

decrease impact.

Conclusion

I would like to stress the importance of wearing a helmet while on a motorcycle. Make the choice for life and wear a helmet.