Helmets are as important for Colorado motorcycle riders as their Colorado motorcycle license. To drive safe you need to follow certain safety procedures.

With the increase in motorcycle accidents and fatalities a lot of people feel that the Federal government should force riders to wear a helmet. Here are the facts.

"Twenty states and the District of Columbia have motorcycle helmet laws that require all riders to wear a helmet. Twenty-seven states have a motorcycle helmet law that only require some riders to wear a helmet. Three states (Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire) do not have a motorcycle helmet law." (www.iiihs.org)

"While state laws vary, a cycle with an engine displacement of 50 cubic centimeters or less, brake horsepower of 2 or less, and top speeds of 30 mph or less typically is considered an LPC. Twenty-two states have motorcycle helmet laws that cover all low-power cycles. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have laws that cover some low-power cycles." (www.iihs.org)

In the State of Colorado the Colorado motorcycle safety law "requires a person under 18 years of age who is an operator of a motorcycle or motorized bicycle or who is a passenger on such vehicles, to wear a protective helmet that is designed according to certain specifications; sets the penalty and surcharge for failing to wear the helmet; sets an additional surcharge for each violation to be deposited in the state Traumatic Brain Injury." (www.webcache.googleusercontent.com)

In California, alone, in 1962 there were only a few interstate highways and 23 US highways. By 1967, with the increase of road construction throughout the country, the Federal government encouraged states to pass motorcycle safety laws in order to be eligible to receive Federal government money highway construction and safety programs. This initiative by the government resulted in 40 states immediately inacting motorcycle safety laws two years later.

In 1976, Congress intervened when the Federal government attempted to implement financial penalties to those states which did not carry mandatory motorcycle helmet laws by revoking federal authority to regulate non-compliance. This resulted in 20 states diluting their helmet laws "to apply only to young riders, usually those younger than 18. Eight states repealed helmet use requirements for all motorcyclists." (www.iihs.org)

In the 1980's and early 90's, a few states reinstated the helmet law to include all riders, and in 1991, Congress once again established incentives for those states which complied with the helmet law by creating the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which also included the use of safety belts. "States that had not enacted them by October 1993 had up to 3 percent of their federal highway allotment redirected to highway safety programs."" (www.iihs.org)

Four years later, after positive results from states, " Congress again reversed itself. In the fall of 1995, Congress lifted federal sanctions against states without helmet use laws, paving the way for state legislatures to repeal helmet laws.

In 1997, helmet laws in Texas and Arkansas were weakened to apply only to younger riders. Kentucky weakened its law in 1998, Louisiana weakened its law in 1999 only to reinstate universal coverage in 2004, Florida weakened its law in 2000, and Pennsylvania weakened its law in 2003.

Now 20 states and the District of Columbia have helmet laws covering all riders, and 27 states have laws covering some riders, usually people younger than 18. Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire do not have helmet laws." (www.iihs.org)

The Colorado Emergency Medicine Research Center and the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center conducted a telephone survey in Colorado with 407 adult Colorado residents. The goals were to measure public support for: (1) a mandatory motorcycle helmet use law and (2) mandatory Colorado motorcycle training on safety for the operator. We also sought to ascertain citizens' attitudes toward traffic safety mandates from the federal government." (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

"Sixty-five percent of respondents believed that motorcycle riders of all ages should be required to wear helmets. An additional 18% believed that only riders under age 21 should be required to wear helmets. Only 17% of respondents opposed all helmet laws. Even among motorcyclists, most supported helmet laws for all riders (47%) or for those <21 years of age (26%)." (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Factors which the high percentage of pro-helmet responses had in common were old age, female gender and not being a motorcycle rider. Yet 41% of respondants felt that being forced by the Federal government to wear a helmet was unacceptable. Lastly, most of the survery participants felt that it was a good thing for it to be a must for riders to have passed a Colorado motorcycle class including safety.

Another study conducted by the NHTSA in 2000, concluded that "81 percent reported that they favored mandatory helmet use laws for motorcyclists. Support is more prevalent among females (88 percent) than males (72 percent) and among nonmotorcyclists (83 percent) than those who drove motorcycles (51 percent). Support was higher in states requiring all riders to wear helmets (84 percent) compared with states with lesser requirements (75 percent) or no requirements (79 percent)." (www.iihs.org)

"The federal government estimates that per mile traveled, the number of deaths on motorcycles in 2007 was about 37 times the number in cars.1 Motorcyclist deaths have been rising in recent years - more than doubling by 2008 from the record low in 1997. In 2008, more motorcyclists died in crashes than in any year since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began collecting these fatal crash data. In contrast, passenger vehicle occupant deaths reached a record low in 2008." (www.iihs.org)

Other studies conducted by the NHTSA resulted in findings where ".Helmets are highly effective in preventing brain injuries, which often require extensive treatment and may result in lifelong disability. In the event of a crash, unhelmeted motorcyclists are three times more likely than helmeted riders to suffer traumatic brain injuries." (www/iihs.com)

Other studies about motorcycle safety offer the following statistics:

• "A 1996 NHTSA study showed average inpatient hospital charges for unhelmeted motorcyclists in crashes were 8 percent higher than for helmeted riders ($15,578 compared with $14,377).
• After California introduced a helmet use law in 1992, studies showed a decline in health care costs associated with head-injured motorcyclists. The rate of motorcyclists hospitalized for head injuries decreased by 48 percent in 1993 compared with 1991, and total costs for patients with head injuries decreased by $20.5 million during this period.
• A study of the effects of Nebraska's reinstated helmet use law on hospital costs found the total acute medical charges for injured motorcyclists declined 38 percent." (www.iihs.org)

In 1986, J.P. Goldstein and M.P. Hilliard conducted a study whose findings resulted in motorcycle helmets causing more head injuries because such added to head mass. Over a dozen subsequent surveys have proved him wrong.

Another reason No Helmet advocates cite is that helmets obstruct peripheral vision. " studies show full-coverage helmets provide only minor restrictions in horizontal peripheral vision." (www.helmetsup.com)

Another study, conducted in 28 hospitals in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin, concluded that ".helmet use was not associated with an increased or decreased occurrence rate of spinal injuries in motorcycle trauma." [Orsay EM, Muelleman RL, Peterson TD, Jurisic DH, Kosasih JB, Levy P: Motorcycle helmets and spinal injuries: Dispelling the myth. Ann Emerg Med April 1994;23:802-806.]

Lastly, www.bikerleather.com states, "most motorcycle accidents happen due to other motorist."

The Department of Transportation DOT has put forth motorcycle helmet specifications which meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety standards, and are deemed to enhance the safety of the wearer. Some Colorado motorcycle safety regulations include:

• "an inner liner usually about one-inch thick of firm polystyrene foam.
• sturdy chinstraps with solid rivets.
• does not allow anything to extend further than two-tenths of an inch from the surface of a helmet." (www.nhtsa.gov)

Novelty helmets, in general, do not contain these specifications and, therefore, are not considered suffiiciently safe. There are, though, certain novelty helmet manufacturers which do comply with DOT's safety requirements while at the same time continuing to offer exciting designs and art.