Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Missourians Support Motorcycle Helmet Law By A Nine To One Ratio

MODOT issued the following press release this morning:

May 20, 2009

9 to 1
Missourians Support Motorcycle Helmet Law by nine to one ratio

JEFFERSON CITY - Nine to one.

That's the ratio by which Missourians support the state law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets according to a new telephone survey. The survey revealed 84 percent of Missourians support the state's current law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. Only nine percent opposed the helmet requirement. At the same time, 75 percent of those who have ridden a motorcycle in the past year support the law requiring helmet use.

All motorcycle riders and passengers are currently required by law to wear helmets. The Missouri General Assembly recently amended Missouri's all-rider motorcycle helmet law, which has been sent to the governor for his consideration. The current law has been in effect for more than 40 years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 42 additional lives were saved in Missouri in 2007 because of motorcycle helmet use.

"By a nine to one ratio, Missourians know this simple fact: motorcycle helmets save lives," MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said. "I urge Gov. Nixon to veto Senate Bill 202 and save precious lives."

Rahn said changing the motorcycle helmet law couldn't come at a worse time - motorcycle crash deaths in Missouri are on the rise. In 2008, there was a 13 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities from 93 in 2007 to 107. In fact, even though traffic fatalities as a whole are down significantly in Missouri, motorcycle fatalities have nearly doubled since 2004.

Repeal of the helmet law will cause even more senseless loss of lives. A recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Study of 10 states found that when the helmet laws were repealed, helmet-use rates dropped from 99 percent to 50 percent and motorcycle fatalities increased significantly.
What happens when a state repeals its helmet law? Read this. This site also has some information about motorcycles and accidents.

7 comments:

admin said...

I am a biker and a helmet supporter. I am not a fan of traumatic brain injuries. Go helmet law! However, you need to be aware of some information.

Most bikers who do not support the helmet law do not wear helmets anyway. This happens to include a large percentage of the Harley riders.

They wear little plastic brain buckets that offer no protection. I used to wear that same "helmet" and I think a bicycle helmet provides more protection.

However, the police do not stop them because they have something on their skulls. I doubt the motorcycle fatalities would increase as much as the reports state because those anti-helmet bikers (and there are a lot of them) don't wear real, DOT approved helmets.

Sara said...

My officemate bragged about going to Eureka Springs with her husband on their motorcycle, and how they didn't wear their helmets all weekend.
I think that is idiotic. When I said "That is a good way to die" She replied "A helmet didn't save "that one guy" or "that other guy"..."
Gee, so I guess I won't wear one either! What a great argument!Good grief!

Unknown said...

It is great that Missourians are supporting motorcycle helmet law in such a huge number. Even the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration encourages states to have and enforce laws requiring the use of motorcycle helmets by the operators and the passengers. The passage of such laws has been the most effective method of increasing the number of riders wearing motorcycle helmets. It has been shown that motorcycle helmets provide the best protection from head injury. As strange as it sounds, surprisingly there are only 20 states that have universal motorcycle helmet laws today & the motorcycle fatality rate keeps on increasing in all those states not enforcing the universal motorcycle helmet laws. If you have obeyed to it but still met with an accident then consult with a personal injury lawyer who will help you make compensation claim for it. For more information visit accidents at work .

Autumn said...

i think it's great that everyone has an opinion and everyone has a right to express theirs. And it's very interesting to hear other opinions. But in my opinion, if the person is dumb enough not to wear one, then they should have to deal with the consequences if anything happens.

Road traffic accident claims said...

Helmet for biker is actually desired objects due to it assign not only guard but also safety from accident like Road Accident,etc,
this is nice blog on this topic

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