Fla. motorcycle fatalities reportedly soar

[deadparrot]

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Motorcycle fatalities involving riders without helmets have soared in the nearly six years since Gov. Jeb Bush repealed the state's mandatory helmet law, a newspaper reported Sunday.

A Florida Today analysis of federal motorcycle crash statistics found "unhelmeted" deaths in Florida rose from 22 deaths in 1998 and 1999, the years before the helmet law repeal, to 250 deaths in 2004, the most recent data available.

By comparison, Florida logged 270 deaths of riders without helmets during the 1990s, when riding without a helmet was illegal, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports.

Total motorcycle deaths in the state have increased 67 percent from 259 in 2000 to 432 in 2004, statistics show.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060618/ap_on_re_us/motorcycle_helmets

[hwmnbn]

1. I'm telling ya, the reflexes on them old folks ........

just aren't what they used to be. They should stick to driving Cadillacs and Lincolns.

[bullimiami]

2. meantime they set up roadblocks to check for seatbelts.

what a crock.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. It's called "thinning the herd"

...and yes, I rode for many years, and yes, I always wore my helmet and leathers. ALWAYS.

Anybody who rides on two wheels and doesn't protect themselves deserves to paint the pavement with their brains.

Flame on!

[The Magistrate]

6. Indeed, Sir: A Self-Correcting Problem....

[DoYouEverWonder]

40. Since Jeb passed this law to get the biker vote

this law might not be a bad thing after all?

:sarcasm:

[VegasWolf]

7. Exactly. I have ridden for 30 years and always wear a helmet, and a real

full face helmet, not one of those toy little nazi helmets. I agree with you completely.

[wakeme2008]

8. the gene pool do not need this ppl

I remember see riders in Ca with no shirts, shorts and flip flops on and thinking these ppl are CRAZY....

[Danieljay]

9. agreed..that and it costs millions to pay for medical bills for head

injury patients of those that actually survive. How much does it cost the health care system to keep these patients alive because they didn't wear a helmet!

Helmets save lives AND money.

[niallmac]

45. I was corrected on this point months ago...

A DUer posted that helmets cause more of the expensive chronic care head injuries by preventing fatalaties.
I have always thought this a bizarre state of affairs if true. I could not challenge the theory as I have
no stats.

[bettyellen]

54. seatbelts and airnags do too, head and knee and lower leg injuries.....

but basically those people would be dead without the belts or bags, so....

[pokercat999]

31. 37 years ago I had a head on with a 68 Chevy

my baby Harley (250 dirt bike made in Italy) didn't survive the crash. I did thanks to the helmet I was wearing. I ended-up under the car my helmet wedged between the underside of the car and the pavement, the chin strap broke but the helmet stayed on. My left femur (upper leg bone) was broken clean and I had some road rash (no leathers). Had it not been a state law at the time I'm sure (at age 18) I would have ridden helmetless. Two operations and almost a year on crutches could have been much worse.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

38. You make an excellent point...

When young people are presented with the option of being recklessly free or safely restrained, they'll often select the more daring choice. Maybe it's better if they don't have a choice, so they can grow up to be wiser.

I'm glad you survived... :-)

[redqueen]

52. My sentiments exactly!

I would only have a problem with children riding without helmets.

We could at least protect the innocents from paying for their parents'/guardians' stupidity, no?

[Turbineguy]

4. Increasing the death rate

by what ever means available is a Bush family tradition. That's why they are so popular with the Culture of Life people.

[kestrel91316]

20. You are SOOOO correct.

[orwell]

5. Who would have thought...

...that wearing a helmet would make you safer.

That's like suggesting seatbelts would reduce car fatalities.

The most important thing is to get rid of all regulations because they impinge on someone's freedom. Of course, if you are injured, any cost not born by you will be subsidized by the public either through direct payment or increased insurance rates for all motorists, but that doesn't matter to the party of "personal responsibility..."

[napi21]

10. You need a lot more info before deciding the increased death toll

is all because of not wearing a helmet.

Who is getting killed on these bikes? Has there been a steep increase in bike sales? What was the cause of death...head injury, or severe body trauma?

I think it would be interesting to find out those answers first before condemning the rider for not wearing a helmet.

[achtung_circus]

11. Riiiigggghhhhttttt.

[VegasWolf]

13. If you have ever ridden for any period of time, you would know the value

of a good helmet. And it is not just for the case of dropping the bike, I have have sparrows almost knock me out because they hit me in the face plate.

[Critters2]

15. Yikes! I never even thought of that

Imagine if that pheasant who flew into my windshield last month had hit a biker without a helmet.

Yet another reason!

[Gormy Cuss]

21. You are right that there needs to be more info here.

I am convinced that riding motorcycles without a safety helmet is reckless but this 'study' doesn't provide any detail that would allow one to compare the rate of motorcyclist deaths pre- and post- the helmet law change. It may not have statistical significance if the raw totals are in line with increases in the state population or increases in the number of motorcycles in the state and the average number of miles driven.

I suspect that comparing the death toll against other data would show that there is an increased death rate, but I wouldn't publish that hunch as a valid statistic.

[Thor_MN]

25. Yes, it's likely that the population of FL increased 20 fold...

or that there are 20 times more motorcycles coinciding with the repeal of the helmet law...

You are correct that there is not enough data to pin it only on a helmet law, but 22 deaths in 2 years compared to 250 in 2004 alone... I would call that a significant increase,

[Gormy Cuss]

28. The article says that there has been an 87% increase in registrations

and that coupled with an overall increase in the population of the state, the average number of miles driven, et cetera might diminish the statistical significance of the increase in deaths. And 22 deaths in 2 years may reflect an anomalous period for a variety of reasons.

I really hate it when media publishes shoddy 'study' results. It's not that hard to find a few people who know how to analyze data using rigorous methods.

[PeaceProgProsp]

55. Registrations less than doubled; deaths up 1000 percent.

[Shipwack]

43. Good point.... here's another data point

Bike ridership has increased 80%* since the helmet law was repealed.

So, if the increased ridership was solely the factor for the increased fatalities (not that you were claiming it was), the death toll would be...

/e opens calc.exe

about 40.

*no link this early in the morning, stat comes NPR (WMFE) news item this morning

[Eurobabe]

12. Riding without a helmet is a 'no-brainer'

get it?

Take it from one who survived a frontal crash and lived to tell because of a full-face Shoei helmet.

[shain from kane]

14. Traffic deaths went up after people refused to fly following 9/11. n/t

[HysteryDiagnosis]

16. Mebbe so, but aeroplane crashes went down... heh, heh... n't

[CAcyclist]

56. No they didn't.

Show me your stats to prove that.

[shain from kane]

58. Here's one article. There was another article quoted on DU several

days ago that claimed a direct correlation between the attacks on 9/11 and increased vehicular traffic which resulted in more deaths than the passengers and crews on the 4 airplanes.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-04-23-bottomstrip-usat_x.htm

I don't know if this was the exact article, but it addresses the issue.


http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-04/sfra-df041206.php


Edited to add 2nd article.

[Trillo]

17. Another phenomenon of increasing gas prices?

Are more people riding motorcycles more of the time because they mostly get better MPG than most cars?

[mzteris]

18. 'organ donors,'

From the article.......

"We used to call (helmetless riders) 'organ donors,' because they break their head and not their body," said Dr. David Harbour, who works in the emergency room at Wuesthoff Medical Center in Rockledge. "You can actually fix a broken bone. But if you hit your head and hurt your brain, there's little we can do to fix that."




(though to be "fair" to those who are anti-helmet-law, motorcycle registrations increased 87% and deaths increased 67%......... but - IMHO - Dead is Dead - regardless of the stats.)

[Turbineguy]

26. A friend of mine

was on the waiting list for a heart-lung transplant. He told me, putting it bluntly, that if California made helmets mandatory, he was a dead man. They did and he was.

You can prove anything with statistics.

[mainer]

48. "Donor-cycles" is what we used to call them

[LostinVA]

49. That's what the EMT's in my family call them n/t

[the other one]

19. More Bullshit statistics. Inexperienced riders...

The number of riders is up by a huge amount over the same period. Did the increased fatalities keep pace with the increased ridership? What was the percentage of riders who were inexperienced? What increase did helmeted riders experience?

AND How many riders died of broken necks because the helmet saved their skull? How should those deaths be counted?

[Roland99]

41. That makes a lot of sense. Esp. w/gas prices doubling. More are riding

to save some bucks on gas.

[rzemanfl]

22. Anybody who rides a motorcycle in the city traffic down here,

helmet or not, is risking their life for a ride that can't be much fun. Stop, go, stop, go in the Florida sun, what's the pleasure in that?

[nosillies]

23. If you're riding w/out a helmet in FL, you must have at least a $10,000

insurance policy. How far do you think $10,000 goes toward paying for care for someone with a traumatic head injury? I live in the Daytona area, and I get seriously pissed after bike week to read about all the bikers in my local hospital that had accidents, knowing that I have the privilege of paying for the rest of their medical care through my taxes that support the hospital.

Unfortunately, the links on this page don't work (probably because they're so old), but the headlines give you a peek at some of the bike fatality totals around here during Bike Week.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/bikeweeks/

[flvegan]

24. Worthless without overall motorcycle crash statistics.

How many more riders are there?

How many total accidents have there been?

THEN, how many deaths?

THEN, how many deaths with/sans helmet?

Doesn't surprise me, though. I live in Tampa, a/k/a traffic hell. In the last couple years, I can't say that a month has gone by that I haven't seen some assclown on a crotch-rocket pulling a wheelie at 50 mph. Helmet? Yeah, right. NEVER saw that in the decade plus prior to that that I lived here.

I mountainbike a lot, and I wouldn't be caught without my brainbucket and I'm doing 10 mph log hops in the dirt.

[Robb]

27. Helmet laws are no solution here

...and I say that as an "all the gear, all the time" guy.

Education is key. People with helmets can still kill themselves on a bike. Teach people how to ride, teach them about injuries, let them make the right choice -- if they know enough, they will. Plus all the ancillary benefits of knowing more.

I feel like a Saturday morning PSA. :D

[dysfunctional press]

29. each time one bites the dust, our aggregate IQ goes up a bit...

i fail to see how this can be seen as anything but a GOOD thing.

[Redstone]

30. Well, no shit, Sherlock.

Redstone

[Kingofalldems]

32. The GOP solution to this problem:

Let motorcyclists carry guns.

[arewenotdemo]

36. lol

[steely]

33. Would love to compare/contrast to PA's law on same subject.

Not sure when the same law change was made in Pennsy - within the last 6 years(?)

I wonder if the ratios (of the number of fatalities to riders) between the 2 states are comparable.

Maybe I'll go digging.

On Edit:
Interesting and possibly dated extract from a National Highway & Traffic Safety evaluation of the Repeal of Motorcycle Helemet Laws...

<snip>
In 2000, there were 719 more motorcyclists killed nationally than were killed in 1997. All states except Alaska, Delaware, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Vermont recorded increases. The five states that repealed universal helmet laws during this period experienced 230 of the increased fatalities - Texas (108), Florida (63), Louisiana (38), Kentucky (12), Arkansas (9). Other states with substantial increases were Pennsylvania (59), California (41), Illinois (37), Colorado (35) and Maryland (25). A recent NHTSA examination of trends in motorcycle fatalities (Shankar, 2001) suggests that much of the increase has involved older motorcyclists (age 40 and older), motorcycles with large displacement engines, and more motorcyclist fatalities on rural roadways.
<snip>

interesting factoids:
Southern states have more warmer driving months - hence more fatalilies.
More motorcycles bought per capita in states where helmet laws were repealed. (in 2000)

[TallahasseeGrannie]

34. I rarely see motorcycle riders

with helmets anymore. Two weeks ago my kids lost a good friend. No helmet. 26 years old.

[Mountainman]

35. I've put over 20,000 miles on my 1500 CC bike and all with a helmet.

It's the stupid fucks that care more about what other riders think of them then they do about their own safety that get killed riding without a helmet. They also think that loud pipes save lives when all they do is piss people off and make them more aggressive against bikers. Good riddance you stupid fools.

[chookie]

37. Silly question: Why do some people choose not to wear a helmet?

Everytime the bike/helmet thing gets talked about here, there are always passionate "IT'S MY CHOICE!!" folks asserting that, well, it's their choice not to wear a helmet.

But why would anyone want to choose to ride without a helmet? Are they uncomfortable? Is the feeling of wind blowing through your hair that important? Is it a macho/lady macho thing? Part of a rebel up-yours persona?

I don't like motorcycles personally (they're too damned noisy and dangerous), but I have a LOT more respect for the folks who wear helmets -- it shows me that they respect the power and speed of their bikes and thus are more responsible sportsmen, and are not wacko pointless risk-takers who are probably more of a risk to me as they hotdog about without a thought underneath their do rag.

As a Pittsburgher, I would have expected people to have a *gulp!* experience after Ben Roethlisberger very nearly became a 245 pound decapitated road pizza, but here out in the country, where lots of bikers come on weekend (presumably to enjoy the quiet of the countryside -- go figure), the dudes and dudettes are still doing the bareheaded thing.

[BiggJawn]

39. What are total registration for 2004 vs. 1999?

If you have 10X more bikes on the road, not a far-fetched possibility with gas now licking $3.50, then you actually don't have an increase in deaths.

Cooked numbers from the insurance industry, who see pay-outs for MC claims eating into their profits and the Carerra marble for the executive shitter budget.

[melm00se]

42. answers to a few comments

has there been an uptick in registrations?

There has been an 87% increase in motorcycle registrations in FL since the change in the law in 2000. So the "death rate" has not kept pace with the increase in motorcycle riders

Are more people riding motorcycles more of the time because they mostly get better MPG than most cars?

From my observations, the answer to this is is a qualified yes. The average motorcycle generally exceeds the 50mpg rate (per the Federal Highway Administration). In addition, motorcycles are less resource intensive to build. On the downside, a non-Tier 1 compliant motorcycle emits, "pound for pound" more polluting emissions than a car (this is a function of non-computer controlled fuel systems and the lack of catalytic converters - this is coming with the Tier 2 compliance - 2010). Tier 1 and tier 2 compliant bikes are in line with the California CARB standards

How many riders died of broken necks because the helmet saved their skull? How should those deaths be counted?

I hear this claim pretty consitently but have seen no credible evidence to support this statement. Most of the studied I have seen (this for one: http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/pagerender.fcgi?artid=1003016&pageindex=1 indicates that helmets significantly reduce the likelihood and severity of neck injuries 6 neck fractures vs 2, non-helmeted vs helmeted). can you explain your reasoning?

Why do some people choose not to wear a helmet?

there is a lot of political and philosophical bullshit floating around but the reality is that it is fun: the wind in your hair, the (perceived) freedom, the sounds, the sights, the smells...it is a blast (the closest thing I have come across is riding in a convertible, but not quite)BUT none of that offsets the incredible increase in the danger inherent in riding.

Increasing the death rate by what ever means available is a Bush family tradition.

I would like to point out that the federal regulations requiring motorcycle helmet laws was repealed during and with the consent of the Clinton Administration

The question that I have on this is exactly how far will regulation go? it is quite easy to envision a day where, in the name of safety and economics, that motorcycle ridership is severely limited if not entirely eliminated. Before you say "well automobile passengers are required to wear seat belt", you can, if you choose, ride without one and no one would be the wiser. Try that without a helmet.

In addition, there are some questions as to which helmets are "legal". yes, I know that there are DOT and SNELL standards, but is there a list maintained of which helmets are "approved"? the answer is no (from: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/FAQ%20Site/pages/page3.html#Q9)

9) How does a helmet get added to NHTSA’s approved helmet list?

DOT or NHTSA does not "approve" motorcycle helmets, thus, there is no list of "approved" helmets. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has the statutory authority to issue Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) applicable to motor vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment, including motorcycle helmets. The law establishes a self-certification process in which the motorcycle helmet manufacturers certify that their products are in compliance with FMVSS No. 218, which establishes minimum performance requirements that the products must meet. NHTSA enforces the standard by randomly selecting and purchasing motorcycle helmets from the marketplace and testing to the requirements of the standard at independent test labs.

and this ommission allows for significant wriggle room on the part of riders (generally a very inventive bunch)

My personal take:

Wear a helmet! Full faced, very conspicuous (i prefer white) SNELL rated helmet for the day that some jackass (or jackass-ette) busy chatting on their cell phone, putting on their makeup, shaving, reading the paper, drinking their coffee, changing the station on their radio, or just generally not paying attention decides to merge into my space or do the left turn in front of me or pull out of their driveway and wack me. and when that happens please do not say "its your fault, you ride a motorcycle"...the reality is (and statistics bear this out) that other drivers (what are referred to as "cagers" are more of a threat than anyother road hazard.

[CAcyclist]

57. You stats are off - you have convert your numbers

You said:

has there been an uptick in registrations?

There has been an 87% increase in motorcycle registrations in FL since the change in the law in 2000. So the "death rate" has not kept pace with the increase in motorcycle riders
******************************
If there has been an 87% increase, that means there are 1.87 x number of motorcyclists now as opposed to previously when there was x number of 'cyclists

However if, in the previous period , 22 cyclists died and in the current period 270 cyclists died , that's a 1227 % increase

[niallmac]

44. Motorcycle helmets, cigarettes, seat belts etc...

I do not wish ill to befall anyone and would love it if there were never a motorcycle accident again.
I can appreciate the allure of living free without a helmet on a motorcycle. I just bet the Madison Ave ads pushing this
image are no where near balanced by public service ads that provide a reality check against all that hype.

[michreject]

46. This is the key statistic

Total motorcycle deaths in the state have increased 67 percent from 259 in 2000 to 432 in 2004, statistics show.

Records also show a corresponding rise in the popularity of motorcycles in the Sunshine State. Motorcycle registrations have increased 87 percent in Florida since Bush signed the helmet law repeal on July 1, 2000.

The rise in death rates are misleading.

Let those who ride, decide.

[melm00se]

47. one other thing

this is not exactly "new" news.

this info has been floating around since at least April 2004 and, in fact, this was kicked around here shortly after I became a member here.

[indigo32]

50. Been in an accident

still here thanks to my helmet.
Thats all I got to say.

[NightHawk63]

51. Same here...

My head hit the ground pretty hard. I'm sure I'd have sustained major brain injury if I hadn't worn my brain bucket. I wouldn't dream of getting on my bike without one. Just my $0.02

[heliarc]

53. More Organ Donors... Hey what about Head Trauma?

I want to see the same figures for head trauma and paralysis. Paraplegics and Quadraplegics are notorious for getting that way by being in an accident while riding a motorcycle.