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Quarterback's
Accident Revs Motorcycle Helmet Debate |
Posted:
06.19.06
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was seriously
injured in a motorcycle accident while not wearing a helmet, has
reopened the debate on helmet requirements and other "safety
laws."
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Ben Roethlisberger, the 24-year-old quarterback of the Pittsburgh
Steelers, who just came off a successful Super Bowl win, was seriously
injured last week while riding his motorcycle without a helmet
in downtown Pittsburgh.
 Roethlisberger,
who suffered a broken jaw and nose, and a mild concussion, had
publicly defended his right to not wear a helmet, saying that
he would "be careful."
But late last week, he made a public statement from his home,
where he is recovering, that he will wear a helmet if he rides
again, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported.
"I never meant any harm to others nor to break any laws.
I was confident in my ability to ride a motorcycle and simply
believed such an accident would not happen to me," Roethlisberger
said.
On Monday Pittsburgh police announced that Roethlisberger will
be cited for failing to have a permit to operate a motorcycle
and for failing to wear a helmet.
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Motorcycle
helmet safety laws |
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But Roethlisberger's change
of heart is unlikely to shift public policy on motorcycle helmet
laws, where more states allow some riders to go without helmets.
Twenty states have laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear a
helmet.
Twenty-six states have laws requiring only some motorcyclists
to wear a helmet, and four states do not have motorcycle helmet
laws.
Most states that allow some riders to go without helmets have
stipulations that riders younger than 18 wear them.
Pennsylvania, where Roethlisberger lives, allows riders 21 and
older to go without motorcycle helmets.
 Universal
helmet laws fell out of fashion after states successfully lobbied
Congress to stop the Department of Transportation from financially
penalizing states without helmet laws in 1976.
State legislators who played a part in loosening helmet requirements
say motorcycle riders lobbied hard for their personal rights.
"If people want to engage in risky behavior ... is it the
state's business to say no?" a former Texas state legislator
told The Dallas Morning News. "If you believe that the legislature
has a responsibility to outlaw things that result in death, then
we have a whole lot of things that we need to outlaw."
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Who is behind
such laws? |
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 But
doctors and safety experts say the trend toward non-universal
helmet laws is leading to increased injuries and deaths.
The nationwide fatality rate -- the number of deaths per 100,000
registered vehicles -- rose from 55 in 1997 to 69 in 2003, according
to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"A helmet is not an absolute guarantee you'll survive a
crash," NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson told the Pittsburgh Post
Gazette. "But helmets are tremendously effective in reducing
the likelihood of getting seriously injured or killed."
Police officers agree.
 "We
get tired of picking them off the ground and tired of going to
a house to say an 18 or 19 or 20 year old died in a motorcycle
accident," state police Master Sgt. David Byrd told the Chicago
Sun Times.
Doctors feel the same way.
"Some of the worst injuries I see happen on a motorcycle.
... I am for helmets ... [they] help take away the intensity and
severity of injuries," Dr. Phillip Puliyodil, who works with
motorcycle victims, told the Chicago Sun Times.
A NHTSA study in Florida also showed that head injuries are getting
more expensive to treat, rising from $10,000 to more than $45,000.
Many believe taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for uninsured motorcyclists
who choose to not wear helmets when they ride.
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Seat belts
and bicycles |
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 Helmet
use is not the only behavior regulated by states. Forty-nine states
have safety or seat belt laws. New Hampshire is the only state
without one.
Most state laws require people in the front seat to buckle up,
although 18 states require back-seat passengers to wear them,
too.
All 50 states require children to use some sort of safety restraint.
Like seat belt and motorcycle helmet use, bicycle helmet use
laws are determined on the state level.
Twenty states require some riders, mostly those under age 18,
to wear a helmet.
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Critics of
requirements |
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Critics of universal helmet and other safety laws don't argue
that seat belts or helmets are safer. Rather, they argue, these
are personal decisions that should not be made by the government.
"Do we want government officials inspecting our cupboards
and refrigerators for 'dangerous' foods? Or checking our cholesterol
and waistlines? No? Then seat belt laws, mandatory helmet regulations
and the like must be rescinded," syndicated columnist Eric
Peters wrote in an editorial for the National Motorists Association.
--Compiled
by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
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