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A Study On Motorcycle Helmets Legal Guidelines
Since July 2000, motorbike riders have not needed to adhere to a universal helmet law, demanding all riders, irrespective of age, to put on a helmet when operating their motorcycles. Today, Florida helmet laws state that riders older than 21 who have at least $10,000 in health coverage could legally ride their motorcycles without wearing a helmet, a move which was regarded as a victory by numerous bikers unhappy with universal helmet laws which were in effect until that time.
Whether or not the move indicates a clear victory or not is a matter of interpretation. While bikers can enjoy the road unencumbered by motorcycle helmets which are often heavy and hot, a report by the Florida Department of Transportation shows that motorcycle injuries and even deaths have gone up following repeal of the universal laws, forcing some state officials to reconsider the law.
The discussion over universal helmet laws has not been restricted to Florida. Across the nation, universal helmet conditions have met with active opposition, and lately, many state governments have taken off universal helmet regulations entirely, while other impose certain age or insurance guidelines which control who must wear a helmet, and who can prefer not to wear a helmet.
Before 1966, there were no motorcycle helmet laws in any state. However the Highway Safety Act of that same year put an end to that, demanding the establishment of uniform safety programs for motorcyclists countrywide. Under this act, all nations were instructed to develop and implement laws and regulations that mandated the use of helmets by all motorcycle riders. Nations which refused to enact such laws faced losing s portion of federal government highway construction funds.
In 1975, with fines pending against three states, Congress revisited the Highway Safety Act, and eliminated the helmet law mandate, as well as disallowing a suspension of federal funds from nations without universal helmet laws. The result: by 1978, 25 nations had repealed their laws, or amended them to include only certain groups, mostly individuals under the age of 18.
The 1980s was, overall, a period of stasis for helmet regulations. But in the late 1980s and 1990s, many nations started reenacting helmet laws in an effort to reduce injuries and deaths, and lower insurance and medical costs. In 1989, Oregon and Texas once again implemented universal helmet laws, and Washington and Maryland followed suit in 1990 and 1992. Even California, that had never before enforced a helmet law, enacted a universal helmet law in 1992 after much publicity. Florida also passed a helmet regulation, but in 1996 as noted, the law was revised to include only bikers under 21 and those without enough insurance coverage.
The repeal immediately saw a marked change in helmet use in the state. As observational helmet use survey conducted by the state DOT in 1998 shown 99.5 percent of motorcycle riders wore helmets. A similar study conducted in 2002, two years after the repeal of the universal helmet law, pointed out that rate had lowered to 52.7 percent.
A second study conducted by the Florida DOT also revealed that though the overall number of crashes lowered during the 18-month period after the law was repealed as compared to the 19-month period prior to repeal, fatal crashes among the state's motorcycle riders elevated by around 43 percent after Florida helmet laws were amended, from 284 deaths in the 18-month period prior to repeal, to 404 fatalities in the 18-month period following repeal. Non-fatal injuries increased by around 16 percent in the same period. Even the numbers of under-age bikers increased following repeal of the law, from 7 percent to 11 percent.
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