I don’t often write about motorcycles. They combine the worst elements of cars and pedestrians: they propel people at high speeds without significant protection. The statistics reflect this; you’re roughly 30 times more likely to die per mile of motorcycle use compared to each mile driven in a car. To me, that’s an unacceptable level of risk for increases in fuel efficiency and the wind in my hair. So to be clear, I don’t recommend motorcycles for anyone beyond professional riders using them on closed circuits.

That said, if you’re going to ride one, ideally you’ll do so safely. Unfortunately, that’s not what our laws encourage in the United States. Tonight I was reading (as is often the case) one safety article after another, and came to the United States’ section in the 2019 International Transport Forum (IRTAD) Road Safety Annual Report. There were a number of interesting bits of information, including how we lost 37,133 people to road trauma in 2017, representing a 1.8% drop compared to 2016’s bloody tally of 37,806. However, the part that stood out to me for today’s article involved the current state of motorcyclists. The IRTAD report, as usual, was filled with sensible thoughts.

Wearing a helmet is essential for a motorcyclist, but most states don’t ask you to

For motorcyclists, wearing a helmet is the most effective passive safety habit. In the United States, currently 19 states require helmets for all motorcyclists. Most other states require helmets for certain riders, and a few have no helmet law.

The first sentence is basic but crucial information. Wear a helmet when motorcycling. It’s as essential as a seat belt when driving. However, not every motorcyclist does so. Part of why is because only 19 states actually require all users to do so. Imagine a world where only 19 states required drivers to use seat belts.

The truth is that things are almost that bad. Only 34 states require front seat seat belt use to the point where individuals may be ticketed for noncompliance without other laws broken. In 15 additional states, you can’t be stopped for not using a seat belt in the front seat unless another law is being broken. In New Hampshire, the 50th and least competent state when it comes to this issue, adults can’t be stopped for sitting in the front seats without seat belts.

Rear seat laws are even worse. Only 18 states have primary seat belt laws for rear passengers. Another 10 have secondary laws, and the remaining 22 backwards states don’t have any laws about using seat belts in rear seats.

In total then, only 18 states have primary seat belt laws for both front and rear passengers. It’s reflected in our compliance rates; we’re at 89.6% for front seat occupants and only 76.1% for rear seat occupants.

Remember, seat belts are essential everywhere, every time.

This is ridiculous, and merits an article all on its own. Another day. Today let’s just focus on how only 19 states require all motorcyclists to use helmets.

That’s ridiculous. When you don’t require safe behavior, people tend to choose (wait for it…) unsafe behaviors. This occurs with seat belt use. States without primary laws have lower rates of belt compliance than states with such laws. Does the same effect occur with helmet compliance? Let’s see.

Most motorcyclists use helmets, but fewer do when they aren’t required

In 2018, the average wearing rate of a DOT-compliant motorcycle helmet meeting DOT safety standard FMVSS218 was 71%. Use of non-compliant helmets was 9% (an increase when compared to 2017) and 20% had no helmet. Among states with universal helmet laws, 83% were wearing DOT-compliant helmets with an additional 13.7% wearing nonDOT-compliant helmets. In states without universal helmet laws, 56.9% were wearing DOT-compliant helmets and an additional 3.5% were wearing non-compliant helmets

Yes! While 71% of motorcyclists use proper helmets, this percentage jumps to 83% in states requiring all motorcyclists to use helmets and falls to 57% in states without such laws.

People are poor assessors of risk. When we don’t have to use safety gear, we generally don’t–unless there’s been lots of cultural education and pressure to do so. We don’t have that in the United States when it comes to avoiding risky behavior like riding motorcycles without helmets.

As of June 2018, 19 States and D.C. required all motorcyclists to wear helmets. Twenty-eight States required only a subset of riders or motorcycle passengers to use helmets (such as those under age 17, 18, or 21). Three States, Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire, had no motorcycle helmet requirement.

After the 19 states with universal helmet laws, there are 28 that essentially only mind if children don’t have them, meaning adults are free to ride without helmets and smash their brains to bits. That covers 47 states. There are three terribly backwards ones that don’t require helmets at all, for anyone, ever. Note New Hampshire’s ignominious presence again. They also show up on the list of states with the most backwards car seat laws. It’s a general state-level opposition to safety, unfortunately.

We’re far less likely to use helmets in the US compared to in other rich countries

Overall helmet usage rates in the United States are much lower than in most other OECD countries.

At this point, this bit of information likely won’t come as a surprise. In a country that, for the most part, doesn’t mind whether or not most motorcyclists wear helmets, far fewer people wear them than in countries that actually make this a priority for public health and safety. Remember, only 19 states require universal helmet compliance, just as only 18 states require seat belt use for all passengers to the extent that people may be ticketed for noncompliance without additional identified violations.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: safety isn’t nearly as much of a priority in the United States as it is in our fellow rich countries. We believe in the nonsense of individualism here, and tend to exclusively blame individuals when things go wrong instead of looking for society-based solutions and society-based protections for the good of…well, society. It’s the wrong approach, and it’s why we continue to stick out like a sore thumb in comparison to so many other rich countries in so many areas.

We need to be able to learn from other countries. There are better ways to do things when it comes to protecting our population. And part of those ways involve legislating sensible behaviors like helmet use for motorcyclists.

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