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New Study Shows Motorcycle Helmets Could Have Saved 20,000 Lives

A new study on motorcycle safety from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is reigniting a push for stricter safety regulations.

The IIHS conducted this research, analyzing fatal motorcycle crashes over several decades.

The results are eye-opening.

Roughly 22,000 motorcyclists might still be alive if stricter helmet laws had been in place between 1976 and 2022. This represents 11% of all rider fatalities during this period.

Only 17 states and Washington D.C. require all riders to wear helmets. In 2021 and 2022, over 6,000 motorcyclists lost their lives each year.

In a different report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), it was found that 37 percent of motorcyclists killed in 2022 were not wearing helmets. It is also noted that 63% of those killed were wearing helmets. 

This data contradicts the IIHS data which implies that most deaths are due to not wearing helmets. 

The IIHS report shows the following states as having the highest number of motorcycle deaths. None of these states have an all-rider helmet law in place. 

  • Florida – 90 lives lost 
  • Texas – 64 lives lost
  • Ohio – 51 lives lost
  • Arizona – 35 lives lost
  • Pennsylvania – 32 lives lost

Requiring all riders to wear helmets is a commonsense rule not that different from requiring people in cars to buckle up,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “We have an obligation to protect everyone on our roadways through smart policy.

The IIHS believes that universal helmet laws could reduce these deaths by as much as 10%.

The study’s author, Eric Teoh, acknowledges that mandatory helmet laws might be unpopular. However, he emphasizes that such laws could save hundreds of lives annually. “These aren’t just numbers,” Teoh says. “They’re friends, parents, and children.”

Interestingly, helmet use has increased everywhere, regardless of local laws. But, states with mandatory helmet laws see two to three times higher usage rates.

The IIHS is now pushing for stricter road safety laws across all states. This push also includes crash prevention technology and mandatory antilock brakes.

In 1975, Washington D.C. and 47 states had helmet laws. These laws were due to a prerequisite the National Highway Safety Act had for project funding. When the funding restriction was removed in 1976, many states chose to remove or restrict the law. 

Their goal? To reduce the devastating impact of motorcycle crashes and save more lives.

Source: IIHS and Department of Transportation

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