Head injuries rise since repeal of biker helmet law
by MATTHEW SPOLAR, For The Patriot-News Wednesday June 25, 2008, 9:30 PM
The message at Appalachian Harley-Davidson on the Carlisle Pike was as loud and clear as the engines roaring outside: Leave the decision to us.
It has been a common mantra among motorcyclists since the 2003 repeal of the law that required all riders to wear helmets in Pennsylvania.
Now faced with two reports released in a span of two weeks that show a sustained jump in serious motorcycle-related head injuries since the repeal of the law -- the most recent was released Wednesday by state lawmakers -- they might have to raise their voices louder.
"I think you should have the option -- your freedom," David Cressler, 58, said, adding that no study would change his opinion on the subject.
Cressler said he usually rides with a helmet, opting to hop on his 2007 Kawasaki Nomad without it only if he's taking short trips around his Shippensburg neighborhood on a hot day.
The study released Wednesday by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee shows head injuries spiking from 15.3 per 10,000 registrants in Pennsylvania in 2003 to 18.1 in 2007.
Motorcycle-related crashes in the state are up 45 percent since 2000. The number of motorcycle crash fatalities reached a high of 225 in 2007, a 50 percent increase since 2000.
But motorcycle registrations have increased nearly 70 percent in the same time pan.
While trying on a helmet in the spacious Silver Spring Township store, Paul Withun, 41, of Newville, said the crash data are a matter of simple logic. Withun said he always wears a helmet but doesn't think it should be required.
"One would think that the more people there are on motorcycles, the more motorcycle accidents there are going to be," he said.
But the number of head injuries since the 2003 repeal is a much more telling analysis of the consequences from relaxing the law, said Rep. David Levdansky, D-Allegheny County.
Additionally, a larger percentage of patients with motorcycle-related head injuries -- 56.3 percent -- were found to have been riding without helmets last year than any other year since the turn of the century. By comparison, 8.3 percent of patients were not wearing helmets in 2000.
A study released this month by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh compared motorcycle-related injuries two years before and two years after the repeal. They found that head-injury deaths increased 32 percent and head-injury hospitalizations jumped 42 percent after accounting for the increase in registrations.
Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny County, said the study showed the need to support a bill that he has sponsored that would reinstate a helmet requirement for riders 21 and older. Currently, all Pennsylvanians 21 and older who have been licensed for two years and have completed a training course can ride without a helmet.
John Rowe, chief analyst for the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, said that although the committee report used different data sources than the Pittsburgh study, both found that the state has seen substantial increases in serious motorcycle-related head injuries since the repeal.
Sen. John Wozniak, D-Cambria County, who sponsored the bill to repeal the helmet law, said the report does not look at the involvement of speed or alcohol in crashes.
Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre County, a licensed motorcyclist, said he rides with a helmet but supports the free will of others.
"I think, basically, we're still where we were three years ago. ... Both sides are able to use what information they have to debate the issue in their favor," he said.
On his way to a biker rally in Johnstown, Bill Antal, 42, tried to understand why some riders choose not to wear helmets. In Antal's native New Jersey, helmets are required.
"Maybe it's the freedom," he said. "Not a lot of freedom when you're in the hospital with a broken skull."
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/06/head_injuries_rise_since_repea.html
anyone know if thats the right way to measure?
