TRAFFIC SAFETY - Motorcycle Helmets
DEATHS RISE WITH REPEAL OF HELMET LAW
NINETEEN-year-old Sean Matthew Graves was hunkered down on his 1995 Honda CRB motorcycle, with the warm night breeze whipping through his short, light-brown hair. Only two minutes from home, he was speeding north on the inner lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard when his bike hit a curb about 45 feet north of Oxford Avenue.
Graves lost control of the lightweight bike and was thrown 170 feet. He hit a light standard and slumped onto the grassy medial strip. His motorcycle continued on 262 feet. About an hour later, at 2:20 a.m. on June 24, Graves, of Devereaux Avenue near Castor, was pronounced dead at Frankford-Torresdale Hospital.
Graves' death was one of 17 fatal or near-fatal motorcycle accidents in Philadelphia in the first seven months of 2004 - seven more than last year over the same period.
In all of last year, Philadelphia had 17 fatal or near-fatal motorcycle accidents, most attributable to lack of helmet use. If the trend continues, this year promises to be the bloodiest for motorcycle riders in decades.
Graves' mother was inconsolable when police notified her of her son's death.
"I killed him! I killed him! Arrest me! I bought [the motorcycle] for him! It's my fault!" Nadia Graves, a widow, said she had bought her son the bike only six days earlier.
Nearly a year ago, Gov. Rendell signed the repeal of a mandatory-motorcycle-helmet law. Under the law, signed Sept. 4, bikers who have been riding for two years may ride without helmets. Those with less than two years' experience must wear helmets, unless they complete an optional motorcycle safety course, which has a waiting list of two or three months.
Sean Graves was not eligible to skip the helmet under either rule. But he was among thousands of riders who choose to ride without helmets, legally or not, since state law was relaxed.
Nadia Graves said she had noticed that Sean had left without his helmet that day, and made a mental note to talk with him about it when he came home.
"There are helmets for Rollerblading and riding regular bikes. I just don't understand why they don't require it for motorcycles," she said.
Dr. Eric Zager, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, said, "It was a bad idea to repeal that helmet law."
"It was the biggest step backwards in trauma care in years," said Zager. "The only people it's going to benefit are the people on transplant lists. Helmets and seat belts have been proven to save lives and reduce health-care costs."
Charles Umbenhauer, a lobbyist for Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education of Pennsylvania, said it's unfair to blame the repeal on the increase in deaths. He said more bikers are getting hurt or killed because more people are riding motorcycles, and because Pennsylvania is drawing bikers from New Jersey and New York, where helmets are mandatory.
"A helmet does not prevent an accident," contended Umbenhauer, a Harrisburg-area resident who has been riding a motorcycle since 1968 and who said he wears a helmet 25 percent of the time.
"The problem is and always has been that there are a certain number of people riding motorcycles who are irresponsible. Any motorcycle in the wrong hands is a dangerous situation."
In 2001, only one person of the 127 motorcycle fatalities in Pennsylvania was not wearing a helmet (0.7%).
In 2003, 38 bikers killed in the 171 motorcycle fatalities in Pennsylvania were not wearing a helmet, according to PennDOT (22.2%).
Nationally, the number of motorcycle deaths has increased each of the past five years including an 11 percent boost in 2003, when fatalities rose to 3,592.
Ray Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, attributes this rising death toll to increased motorcycle sales and the repeal of helmet laws in several states.
"There's been a fairly substantial increase in fatalities in every state that has repealed its helmet law," including Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, Tyson said. The number of motorcycle-accident deaths in Louisiana doubled in two years and Texas is not far behind.
"In no state [that has repealed the helmet law] has their safety record improved," he added. NHTSA plans to study the impact of Pennsylvania's no-helmet law.
"We think wearing helmets and protective gear - clothing, boots, gloves - is the way to prevent serious injury and death," said Tyson.
"It's the same reason why we don't have the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Dallas Cowboys without protective gear. Both are risky activities," he added.
Zager concurs. "The road comes a lot faster to your head than the Dallas Cowboys," said the doctor. "When the brain hits the ground, there's a rapid deceleration," Zager explained.
The doctor explained that the brain hits one side of the skull, then bounces in the opposite direction, causing severe bruising of the brain. This is called a severe hemorrhagic contusion.
Often there is an acute severing of the nerve-cell processes. This frequently causes severe neurological damage and death. The brain swells and there's usually delayed additional injuries.
"No doubt helmets can help to reduce the injuries," Zager said.
Since 2001, there's been an explosion of new bikers - 16,000 - on Pennsylvania roads, after increasing by only about 1,000 a year before that. Many more bikers drive without motorcycle licenses.
"There's more bikes on the road. And these are the cheaper bikes, easy to buy. And the insurance is cheaper," said Police Captain Bruce Capriotti.
Cops call the bikes "crotch rockets." They have small handlebars; you crouch over them. They have big engines but weigh much less than the standard Harley Davidson, whose drivers tend to be more mature and careful with their expensive investment than other motorcyclists.
Indeed, the lightweight Hondas, Yamahas, Kawasakis, Suzukis - cycles built for speed - are most popular with young, new bikers.
"Like Sean Graves, most bikers in serious accidents are new drivers," Capriotti said. "Kids 20 years old think they're immortal, " said Capriotti. "But with these bikes, there's no room for error."
Of the 17 bikers killed or seriously injured in Philadelphia so far this year, 11 were in their teens or 20s.
Umbenhauer, the lobbyist for Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education, said he chooses not to wear a helmet because it's uncomfortable and detracts from the riding experience.
"People don't buy a motorcycle because they're concerned about safety. You buy it to have fun, and if you're wearing a helmet, it cuts down on that fun."
Connie Greenberg, 50, a biker from Sicklerville, N.J., said she doesn't wear a helmet when she rides if she doesn't have to.
"I take it off as often as I can," she said. "I think it should be a right of choice. The whole idea of being on a bike is the freedom," she said. "Wearing a helmet just drags you down."
Juan Diaz, 38, of New Castle, Del., disagrees. He said he always wears a helmet for his safety, even though he legally doesn't have to.
"Those that don't," he said, "I think are fools."
By Kitty Acaparella
Submitted by Atlanta Federal Safety & Health Council
NINETEEN-year-old Sean Matthew Graves was hunkered down on his 1995 Honda CRB motorcycle, with the warm night breeze whipping through his short, light-brown hair. Only two minutes from home, he was speeding north on the inner lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard when his bike hit a curb about 45 feet north of Oxford Avenue.
Graves lost control of the lightweight bike and was thrown 170 feet. He hit a light standard and slumped onto the grassy medial strip. His motorcycle continued on 262 feet. About an hour later, at 2:20 a.m. on June 24, Graves, of Devereaux Avenue near Castor, was pronounced dead at Frankford-Torresdale Hospital.
Graves' death was one of 17 fatal or near-fatal motorcycle accidents in Philadelphia in the first seven months of 2004 - seven more than last year over the same period.
In all of last year, Philadelphia had 17 fatal or near-fatal motorcycle accidents, most attributable to lack of helmet use. If the trend continues, this year promises to be the bloodiest for motorcycle riders in decades.
Graves' mother was inconsolable when police notified her of her son's death.
"I killed him! I killed him! Arrest me! I bought [the motorcycle] for him! It's my fault!" Nadia Graves, a widow, said she had bought her son the bike only six days earlier.
Nearly a year ago, Gov. Rendell signed the repeal of a mandatory-motorcycle-helmet law. Under the law, signed Sept. 4, bikers who have been riding for two years may ride without helmets. Those with less than two years' experience must wear helmets, unless they complete an optional motorcycle safety course, which has a waiting list of two or three months.
Sean Graves was not eligible to skip the helmet under either rule. But he was among thousands of riders who choose to ride without helmets, legally or not, since state law was relaxed.
Nadia Graves said she had noticed that Sean had left without his helmet that day, and made a mental note to talk with him about it when he came home.
"There are helmets for Rollerblading and riding regular bikes. I just don't understand why they don't require it for motorcycles," she said.
Dr. Eric Zager, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, said, "It was a bad idea to repeal that helmet law."
"It was the biggest step backwards in trauma care in years," said Zager. "The only people it's going to benefit are the people on transplant lists. Helmets and seat belts have been proven to save lives and reduce health-care costs."
Charles Umbenhauer, a lobbyist for Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education of Pennsylvania, said it's unfair to blame the repeal on the increase in deaths. He said more bikers are getting hurt or killed because more people are riding motorcycles, and because Pennsylvania is drawing bikers from New Jersey and New York, where helmets are mandatory.
"A helmet does not prevent an accident," contended Umbenhauer, a Harrisburg-area resident who has been riding a motorcycle since 1968 and who said he wears a helmet 25 percent of the time.
"The problem is and always has been that there are a certain number of people riding motorcycles who are irresponsible. Any motorcycle in the wrong hands is a dangerous situation."
In 2001, only one person of the 127 motorcycle fatalities in Pennsylvania was not wearing a helmet (0.7%).
In 2003, 38 bikers killed in the 171 motorcycle fatalities in Pennsylvania were not wearing a helmet, according to PennDOT (22.2%).
Nationally, the number of motorcycle deaths has increased each of the past five years including an 11 percent boost in 2003, when fatalities rose to 3,592.
Ray Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, attributes this rising death toll to increased motorcycle sales and the repeal of helmet laws in several states.
"There's been a fairly substantial increase in fatalities in every state that has repealed its helmet law," including Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, Tyson said. The number of motorcycle-accident deaths in Louisiana doubled in two years and Texas is not far behind.
"In no state [that has repealed the helmet law] has their safety record improved," he added. NHTSA plans to study the impact of Pennsylvania's no-helmet law.
"We think wearing helmets and protective gear - clothing, boots, gloves - is the way to prevent serious injury and death," said Tyson.
"It's the same reason why we don't have the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Dallas Cowboys without protective gear. Both are risky activities," he added.
Zager concurs. "The road comes a lot faster to your head than the Dallas Cowboys," said the doctor. "When the brain hits the ground, there's a rapid deceleration," Zager explained.
The doctor explained that the brain hits one side of the skull, then bounces in the opposite direction, causing severe bruising of the brain. This is called a severe hemorrhagic contusion.
Often there is an acute severing of the nerve-cell processes. This frequently causes severe neurological damage and death. The brain swells and there's usually delayed additional injuries.
"No doubt helmets can help to reduce the injuries," Zager said.
Since 2001, there's been an explosion of new bikers - 16,000 - on Pennsylvania roads, after increasing by only about 1,000 a year before that. Many more bikers drive without motorcycle licenses.
"There's more bikes on the road. And these are the cheaper bikes, easy to buy. And the insurance is cheaper," said Police Captain Bruce Capriotti.
Cops call the bikes "crotch rockets." They have small handlebars; you crouch over them. They have big engines but weigh much less than the standard Harley Davidson, whose drivers tend to be more mature and careful with their expensive investment than other motorcyclists.
Indeed, the lightweight Hondas, Yamahas, Kawasakis, Suzukis - cycles built for speed - are most popular with young, new bikers.
"Like Sean Graves, most bikers in serious accidents are new drivers," Capriotti said. "Kids 20 years old think they're immortal, " said Capriotti. "But with these bikes, there's no room for error."
Of the 17 bikers killed or seriously injured in Philadelphia so far this year, 11 were in their teens or 20s.
Umbenhauer, the lobbyist for Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education, said he chooses not to wear a helmet because it's uncomfortable and detracts from the riding experience.
"People don't buy a motorcycle because they're concerned about safety. You buy it to have fun, and if you're wearing a helmet, it cuts down on that fun."
Connie Greenberg, 50, a biker from Sicklerville, N.J., said she doesn't wear a helmet when she rides if she doesn't have to.
"I take it off as often as I can," she said. "I think it should be a right of choice. The whole idea of being on a bike is the freedom," she said. "Wearing a helmet just drags you down."
Juan Diaz, 38, of New Castle, Del., disagrees. He said he always wears a helmet for his safety, even though he legally doesn't have to.
"Those that don't," he said, "I think are fools."
By Kitty Acaparella
Submitted by Atlanta Federal Safety & Health Council
posted by Fedsafe at 3:05 PM
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