In 2000, Florida Legislature repealed their mandatory helmet law for motorcyclists. Today, it turns out that getting rid of helmets did in fact save lives, just not the lives of the motorcyclists. Michigan State University researchers found an unanticipated, life saving benefit that resulted in Florida’s abandoned helmet laws, “Our central estimates show that organ donations due to motor vehicle accidents increase by 10% when states repeal helmet laws.”
Helmet-less bikers have become so “generous” with their organs that the medical community have designated these bikes as “donorcycles.” These statistics have been fortuitous for people in need of a liver, kidney, heart or other organ transplant.
Reports done by the Centers for Disease Control state that while motorcycles make up about 3% of the registered vehicles on the road, they now account for 14% of all traffic fatalities. And while the over all number of traffic fatalities has fallen since 1949, motorcyclist deaths have been on the incline, up 4% in Florida alone.
In just the past week, the Centers for Disease Control found a correlation between the reversal of motorcycle helmet laws and deaths among bikers without helmets. Helmet-less fatalities showed to be 5 times more frequent in states without mandatory helmet laws. The Centers for Disease Control stood by the fact that it’s safer to ride with a helmet than without. However in 2000, biker groups in Florida argued exactly the opposite -- that helmets were in fact hazardous despite all of the evidence proving otherwise. The bikers cited a study claiming that helmets increased the risk of a spinal injury however researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine state otherwise.
Professor Adil H. Haider led a study in 2011 that found helmeted riders were 22% less likely to suffer cervical spine injury. “We are debunking a popular myth that wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle can be detrimental during a motorcycle crash,” says Haider. “Using this new evidence, legislators should revisit the need for mandatory helmet laws,” Haider said. “There is no doubt that helmets save lives and reduce head injury. And now we know they are also associated with a decreased risk of cervical spine injury.”
To add insult to injury, taxpayers are getting the bill when these bikers ride sans helmet and end up in public hospitals. A study done in California found that biker accidents result in the public paying for 72% of the medical costs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that $1.3 billion per year could be saved if motorcyclists could be coaxed into wearing protective head gear.
In the mean time, organ recipients will continue to be the only beneficiaries to the bikers repealed helmet law.
