Study: More Deaths Without Motorcycle Helmet Law

Thu Jun 29, 12:48 AM ET

A new study by a Pennsylvania legislative committee has looked at motorcycle accidents since the state?s mandatory helmet law was repealed in 2003, Channel 4 Action News reported.

The study showed that the number of deaths among those not wearing helmets increased by about 30 percent.

Critical injuries were also up nearly 100 percent, the report showed.

The statistics have prompted Pennsylvania?s emergency physicians to call for the reinstatement of the helmet law.

Dr. P.S. Martin, director of Life Flight, is one of those physicians.

"Since the helmet law has been replaced, in all honestly, we've actually seen a decreased number of some severe head injuries, of some types of head injuries from motorcycle crashes," Martin said. "That's simply because the patients aren't making it to the hospital. They're dying on the scene."

Those who ride without helmets have said fatal accidents are up because more people are riding motorcycles.

The riders believe it?s their own choice on whether they should wear a helmet.

However, Martin told Channel 4 Action News that the motorcyclists who don?t wear helmets are actually affecting more people than they realize.

"What I think those people fail to realize is everyone's insurance has a limit and runs out, and ultimately the payment of all the bills, the rehabilitation falls to society, and therefore, I think society should have a say," Martin said.