THE HEADLESS HORSEMEN
Kori Mac
December 20, 2012

Most people that have had the opportunity to own a motorcycle or ride on the back of a one. I can attest to how exhilarating and free the feelings of being one, seamlessly with the motorcycle and nature can be; unfortunately there is a downside to being exposed to nature, without protection of metal and cushion in way a car commonly provides. There is an inevitable risk of serious injury in the event one mistake is made either from the motorcyclist, an operator of a car, bus or truck; ultimately a tragedy may occur if the vehicle operator of either is not paying attention. Congressmen and legislation are not providing the laws, urgency, and incentives to protect the lives of motorcyclist; Congressmen and legislation are contributing to a possible epidemic of “Headless Horsemen” by blindly allowing motorcyclists to have the option of not wearing a helmet while operating these high-speed vehicles. I am a fellow motorcyclist; I have had the pleasure of riding motorcycles since my early twenties (over 17 years). I spent this past year in Orlando, Florida, and coming from Washington, DC, the weather was quite different; it was sunny all the time, and I loved it. I often stated to myself “This is a perfect motorcycle day!” for most of the year, but within the same breath I would see a motorcyclist zoom past me, riding on average 75 miles per hour (mph), without a helmet. My feelings changed immediately from enjoying the beautiful day and wishing I was on my motorcycle to concern for the motorcyclist’s safety. Congressmen and legislation are not providing the laws, the sense of urgency, and incentives to protect the lives of motorcyclist; Congressmen and legislation are contributing to a possible epidemic of “Headless Horsemen”, by blindly allowing motorcyclists to have the option of not wearing a helmet while operating these high-speed vehicles. The statistics alone for a survivor that suffers from head trauma resulting from motorcycle accidents with a helmet and without one should make state officials overturn this law. Laws are created to protect our civil liberties, but it appears the Motorcycle Helmet Law goes slightly above and beyond for some states when it comes to the safety of the motorcycle operator and the passenger. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety provided a video called “Helmet Laws: Whose Freedom?” depicting the impacts and consequences riding without a helmet can cause to the brain (The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, 1991). If the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety produced a video that does not increase the need for the laws to change what will? One problem is the lack of publicized statistics and risks associated with Helmet Laws in order to force lawmakers to take a second look at how the lack of a black and white decision contributing to the epidemic. The nature of the law and whether or not enforcing it for safety is not on the minds of many politicians. The helmet safety law has become a recognizable issue for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) with their motorcycle safety campaign, providing information and hardcore statics on motorcycle safety and the impacts of not practicing safety first. This is another classic example because the problem will remain persistant if the public is not made aware of the severity and life threatening impacts of a motorcycle accident. The biggest problem is the public does not recognize this is a safety risk at all. Without legislative pressure on state and local officials by fellow vehicle operators, the states are still willing to repeal the all-rider helmet laws. As the increase in the death toll and reports of trauma make record highs, the costs the government has to incur to medically provide for a motorist that does not have the proper insurance has increased as well.

The disadvantages to the first problem are having states that have the helmet law in place commit to keeping the helmet law in place. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the federal government began requiring states to institute motorcycle helmet usage laws to qualify for assured federal safety and highway construction funds in 1967. By the end of 1969, 39 states had indoctrined a universal helmet safety law. By 1975, all but 3 stated made helmet usage mandatory for all motorcycles. The impacts of state pressure on Congress and the prerequisite for the government to separate the powers between the federal government and state legislature resulted in Congress revoking the authority of the federal government to financially penalize states that were not compliant with the helmet laws. As a result 20 states between 1976 and 1978 weakened the helmet laws to ages 18 and under. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Org, 2012)
From 1980 to 1993 Congress became more influential in the laws to protect motorcyclist. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, in 1991 the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, signed by President George W. Bush, introduced a new incentive program promoting that “Highway safety is further enhanced by a new program to encourage the use of safety belts and motorcycle helmets.”(Skinner, 1991) Congress created incentives for states to mandate laws for helmet and safety belt use. Unfortunately the patterns to indoctrinate helmet use consistently increase or decrease within state legislature depending on funding incentives by the federal government and Congress. This further supports the why it is apparently obvious state and local legislation is not instituting the helmet no helmet safety laws to protect the motorists, state and local legislation will enforce and mandate the law when there is an incentive to have access to more funding for initiatives that support hidden agendas.
The second problem and impact of motorcyclist not wearing helmets while operating motorcycles is not just a head-scratching issue in terms of politics and why there is a disconnect with the safety of motorists and law makers, the major problem is of the life a motorcyclist lives after survival of such a potentially debilitating accident and the costs for rehabilitation for the injuries suffered from such an accident, if the parties involved survived. According to the CDC, “Preventing debilitating injuries and deaths from motorcycle crashes is a growing public health concern.” ( National Center for Injury Prevention Control, 2012)
We must first understand the statistics behind the number of accidents, deaths, survivors, costs, and preventative methods in order to begin to comprehend why this is a social and public health concern, and why solutions are a critical factor. The death toll for motorcycle related accidents continue to rise; according to the CDC, deaths have increased by 55% since 2000. ( National Center for Injury Prevention Control, 2012) The CDC also reports, motorcycle crashes killed 4,502 people in 2010. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration., 2012) The epidemic of the Headless Horsemen appears to remain on the rise.
The disadvantage of life changes a motorcyclist endures are once again the lawmakers; maybe the cost of a motorcycle accident is less of a concern than the funding lawmakers receive if they establish a sliding door law with a loophole. Maybe lawmakers are willing to turn a blind-eye to the costs associated with the public funds required to send out a crew for clean-up, emergency response, a police officer on duty, doctors, etc., when an accident occurs. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (Research and Statistics), insurance premiums are raised after a motorcycle accident occurs, and according to the CDC “The economic burden from crash-related injuries and deaths in one year alone totaled $12 billion.” ( National Center for Injury Prevention Control, 2012).
One solution is in the destiny of the owner of the motorcycle and the lawmaker. This is the only solution that prevents the Headless Horsemen epidemic from spreading. There is a responsibility the motorcyclist has to society because there is an immediate public health and safety violation if a helmet is not worn during the operation of such a high speed and potentially dangerous vehicle. With minimal protection provided for the motorist operating and carrying a passenger on a motorcycle, the only means of protection offered that minimizes life threatening injuries is a helmet. The only means of protection that can increase the likelihood for a motorcyclist to survive years of riding enjoyment is having lawmakers in positions that care enough about public safety, and see this is a rising issue. Lawmakers have the ability to make helmet wearing a universal helmet law, which means the law covers all motorcycle riders. ( National Center for Injury Prevention Control, 2012) The Universal Helmet Law requires all motorcycle riders and passengers of all ages to wear helmets whenever riding. ( National Center for Injury Prevention Control, 2012) Statistics show the rate of helmet usage before and after enacting the universal helmet law increased in the year after the law was legislated. Examples are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Rate of helmet use before and after enacting a universal helmet law
Unfortunately according to the National Center for Injury Prevention Control, the reverse effects occur when the Universal Helmet Law is appealed or changed to a Partial Helmet Law.

Figure 2: Rate of helmet use before and after repealing a universal helmet law
Statistics have continued to prove that the usage of helmets is reflected by the laws enforced. The usage of helmet decreased when the universal helmet law was appealed, as a result of the repeal the number of motorcycle accidents and deaths increased as well. I am not surprised to see this hold true within the state of Florida. According to the National Highway and Traffic Administration, the number of deaths of riders under the age of 21 in 30 months before an appeal versus after repeal tripled. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration., 2012) The second solution is to publicize the impacts motorcyclists and their families endure after an accident occurs when a helmet was worn and when a helmet was not worn. Most often the news stations and newspapers publicize a motorcycle accident if a well-known or famous person in the media was involved. (The Morning Call, 2006) It is very rare the front page of a newspaper contains an article about a motorcycle safety or an accident of that magnitude unless the accident was tragic due to an extreme cause of the accident or death. If the public has is notified via weekly news channels on television or newspapers of the number of accidents that occur and whether or not the motorcyslist wore a helmet or not due to the laws instantiated would create an increased level of awareness. The persistence of the “Headless Horsemen” will remain in states that are not firm on Safety 1st for motorcycle operators. If lawmakers are not willing to change the law because financial incentives are more important, then the awareness has to be made by fellow motorcyclist that believe in helmet laws, lobbyist that believe in safety and minimizing insurance costs, and by the media in order to bring this issue to the public domain. The days I was in Florida enjoying the beautiful weather will soon remain that way as long has I stay on the course to make this epidemic known.

References
1. Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety. (2011). Motorcycle Helmet Safety Advocates. http://www.saferoads.org/motorcycle-helmets
2. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (Research and Statistics). (2012) Helmet Laws Whose Freedom? http://www.iihs.org/videos/default.html
3. National Transportation Safety Board. (2011) 2011 Most Wanted List Page http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl-10.html
4. Center for Disease Control. (2012). Universal Helmet Laws Increase Helmet Use, Save Money. http://www.cdc.gov/features/MotorcycleSafety/
5. Fair Warning. (2012). A website dedicated to news of safety, health and corporate conduct. http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/06/despite-death-toll-motorcycle-groups-strive-to-muzzle-u-s-regulators/
6. The Morning Call Newspaper, http://articles.mcall.com/2006-06-20/opinion/3663270_1_helmet-law-motorcycle-helmet-motorcycle-fatalities