Should all states require motorcyclists and passengers to wear helmets - Assignment Example

? Should all s require motorcyclists and passengers to wear helmets? Judy ENG 215 – English Composition May5, Should all s require motorcyclists and passengers to wear helmets? There are different laws imposed in different states of US. Helmet laws have seen many changes in the past. In 1967, federal government enhanced helmet use for federal safety programs and for making funds. Motorcycle helmet law prevents injuries but yet no universal helmet safety laws are implemented in US. Different studies carried out in American states also show that the death toll has also reduced in states where helmet law is strictly implemented. Freedom, however, is also a central issue in this discussion. Motorcyclists think that helmet laws infringe on their freedom. This is not true; these laws are for their own safety. Any medical specialist will tell you that the number of deaths that from motorcycle injuries is massive, and preventable. Laws should be put in place to require motorcyclists, cyclists and their passengers to wear helmets. Numbers of studies have been conducted in different stats of US to implement helmet laws because of several reasons. Helmet use reduces the problems and expenditure occurrence on treatment of an injury. Federal safety act was passed in 1966 and by 1975 more than 47 states agreed and implemented the law. Again the pressure was released through highway safety laws; this was a measure to know the effects of helmet laws (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2010). Twenty seven states in US cancelled their helmet laws to judge the impact. Now the analysis clearly shows that there is a great reduction in death toll when motorcyclists used helmet during driving. Injury rate also rose in the states where helmet law was repealed. Similarly cost related to treatment of motorcyclists who suffered head injuries also saw a major decline in such cases. Only one university witnessed decline of 80 % in helmet related health problems in America (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons). The motorcycle helmet law was cancelled in many states because many bike riders claimed that this law is a severe attack on their personal freedom. Frankly speaking if this act is taken as an attack on personal freedom than license laws for use of bikes is also an attack. More important is the cost which a society has to bear when a biker meets an accident (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2010). Head injuries are a severe outcome of riding bike without a helmet. Some people have stay in hospitals for a long duration with increased rehabilitation cost. Insurance companies do not afford all the cost and it is the public that ultimately pays for head and other injuries. Society should assess the claim of violation on freedom versus funding. After these analyses, it is important to wear helmet whenever people of any age are driving a motorcycle of riding a bike for their own health and safety. Federal government should take interest to keenly monitor the rising accidents and implement helmet laws where it does not exist (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons). The major problem in America is variations in helmet laws in different states. For example, 20 states in US and district Columbia have very elaborate helmet laws for all riders and passengers. There are further 27 states where the helmet law is imposed on some categories of the riders. Different age groups come under this law and some are out of it. Three states do not have any helmet law for people. There is a dire need for legislatures to take responsibility and introduce helmet law in the states where it is urgently required ("Helmet laws state," 2003) According to analysis there are about 80 million bike users in US. Bicycles are being used for fun, sports, health and transportation in different states. Popularity of bicycles has increased their usage and ultimately death rate and head injuries have also risen. According to data approximately 716 bike riders died on the roads in different states and about 91% out of them were not wearing a crash helmet (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons). This all happens where either no law exists or to implemented truly. Federal government in US has mode no helmet law for bicycle riders. Only 22 states including district Columbia have helmet law and this law is non-existent in 13 states. Government should take serious notice of this issue and helmet law be implemented in states where it is non-existent (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2012). Different problems have been elaborately discussed in this paper, which are major causes of motorcyclist and cyclist injuries in US states. It is not very difficult to find a solution and implement it. Federal government in US should implement helmet law for passengers, motorcyclists and for cyclists. This act will help in decreasing the number of head and other injuries besides reducing the cost on public for hospitalization and rehabilitation of such patients. PART II: Solution and advantages It is quite clear that there is a massive problem with motorcycle deaths in the United States, which has several important consequences; it costs lives, which tears apart families and is obviously tragic, it puts a drain on already strained medical institutions, and it costs tax payers, private citizens and health insurance companies massive amounts of money each year. Though, like any problem, there is no solution that will entirely solve this issue: motorcycling, and driving generally, is inherently dangerous and nothing can be done that will prevent that. But there are methods of risk mitigation, and harm reduction, that, if used consistently by motorcyclists and their passengers will help prevent deaths and injuries. So there are two parts to this solution: what actions need to be taken by motorcyclists, and what can be done to encourage them to take those actions? As mentioned in Part I, it is clear that helmet usage can go a significant way in reducing injuries. It might also be important for motorcyclists to wear other protective gear, such as spine supports, Kevlar gloves and so on – the exact level of protection that should be warn is hard to pin down: more, however, is obviously always better. The aspect of how to get people to behave differently, two methods used in conjunction might work best: laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets (and possibly other protective gear), and public awareness to encourage them to follow these laws for their own safety. A public awareness campaign, accompanied by legal changes, to encourage motorcyclists to wear helmets, will be a viable solution to the problem of motorcycle injuries and deaths. Many problems are incredibly hard to solve – we do not know, for instance, how to fuel our planet without relying on fossil fuels. Motorcycle injuries and deaths, comparatively, appear to be a simple issue to solve. As alluded to above, helmet use is one important way to minimize harm. Helmet use has been shown to demonstrably reduce the amount of head injuries, and their severity. Put more simply, helmets save lives. Other protective equipment can also be helpful. Motorcycling experts encourage motorcyclists to wear a full body suit, consisting of body armor with back and spine support, strong protection (such as Kevlar gloves and leggings) over all exposed body parts, to minimize risk of injury during a fall (EN Standards). So it is known that proper protection can help prevent injuries and deaths among motorcyclists. But this does not necessarily lead to behavior changes: people also know that it is unsafe to drink and drive, yet that is still a common occurrence, and was even more common in the past. So the question remains, how should proper protection be encouraged among motorcyclists? One option that certainly has some traction is helmet laws. These would be laws that would put a fine of some amount on any motorcyclist who was not wearing a helmet, as outlined above in Section I. There are several issues with implementing helmet laws: firstly, laws do not necessarily change behavior. Marijuana smoking, for instance, along with many other forms of illegal drug use, remain common despite being illegal, as does underage drinking and myriad other dangerous activities. Secondly, motorcyclists might be resistant to this, and try to block such laws as infringing on their personal freedoms. These issues, however, do not mean that laws should not be implemented. Perhaps murderers are not prevented from murdering because of murder laws, but this does not mean that those laws should not be enacted: laws have to be part of any solution. Furthermore, similar laws such as seatbelt laws have been shown to be effective in encouraging seatbelt use (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). Seat belts laws also serve as a counter to the final argument, as it has been legally demonstrated again and again that freedom to dangerously endanger yourself on public streets is not in fact legal: the government has a responsibility and a power to legislate and regulate them. It has also been shown, however, that laws alone do not often change behavior significantly in all cases: while they appeared effective in seatbelt legislation, drunk driving laws failed to gain traction for many years. This change only occurred with a culture shift instituted by groups such as MADD, who put a face and an ethos behind the dangers (MADD). A similar thing might be important to include with any legislation regarding helmet requirements: a public outreach campaign that tells motorcycle riders how disastrous the consequences can be, how they will hurt their loved ones, possibly incur huge medical expenses, and so on by failing to respect themselves enough to wear proper protective gear. Thus with the carrot of saving themselves, protecting their family and so on in one hand, and the stick of possible fines in the other, it will be hard for motorcyclists to continue not wearing helmets. Motorcyclists have a responsibility to behave responsibly on the road, and part of that is helmet and protective gear use. A combination of legislation and public awareness campaigns is the best option for encouraging helmet use, and stopping the needless deaths of motorcyclists. References American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (2010, September). Position statement: Helmet use by motorcycle drivers and passengers, and bicyclists. Retrieved from http://www.aaos.org/about/papers/position/1110.asp EN Standards (2008, August). Motorcyclists' protective clothing against mechanical impact. Requirements and test methods for impact protectors. Retrieved from: http://standards.mackido.com/en/en-standards24_view_3971.html Helmet Laws State by State (2003, July). Retrieved from http://www.gadgetjq.com/helmet_laws.htm Government of Canada (2011, June). Success of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Retrieved from http://www.victimsweek.gc.ca/2008/res/r66.html Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (2012, May). Motorcycle and bicycle helmet use laws. Retrieved from http://www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseCurrent.aspx Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (2012, May). Seat Belt Legislation. Retrieved from http://www.iihs.org/laws/safetybeltuse.aspx Read More