Surprise, surprise: Helmets save lives
Is anyone out there shocked that the National Transportation Safety Board concluded motorcylists should wear helmets?
I mean, surprise, surprise, motorcycle fatalities have increased in Pennsylvania since 2003, when lawmakers idiotically repealed the state’s helmet law.
Motorcycle fatalities averaged 126 from 1997 through 2003, while the helmet law was still in effect, according to PennDOT statistics. An average of 183 motorcyclists died in crashes from 2004 through 2006, once helmets became optional.
The statistics don’t tell us how many Pennsylvania motorcyclists have slightly more scrambled brains because they didn’t wear a helmet.
But the NTSB notes that non-helmeted riders are three times more likely to suffer a brain injury than someone wearing a helmet.
Motorcycle enthusiasts point to more riders and more miles ridden as the reason behind the increase in fatalities.
Hogwash.
But even with a fresh new recommendation from the NTSB in hand, don’t count on Pennsylvania coming to its senses on this issue.
During an interview with our editorial board prior to his re-election, Gov. Ed Rendell made it clear he wouldn’t support a reinstatement of the helmet law. And he has three more years in office.
So our best bet is federal intervention. Remember a few years back, when federal officials decided the legal limit for drunk driving should change.
Congress didn’t tell states they had to lower the blood alcohol content at which someone could be charged with drunk driving to .08. (Pennsylvania’s legal limit was .10 at the time.) They simply told state governments that those who didn’t comply would risk losing highway funding.
Pretty quickly, Pennsylvania lowered the BAC to .08.
Maybe we need a similar strong-armed stance from the feds on motorcycle helmets.
Of course, drunk drivers don’t have very effective lobbyists.
Motorcyclists do.
Which is how we got into this helmetless mess in the first place.