MOTORCYCLE & UNIVERSAL HELMET LAW 78 TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION SB142 SB 142 Prepared Center for Traffic Safety Research (www.ctsr.org) Deborah Kuhls, MD Principal Investigator Email: dkuhls@medicine.nevada.edu Alistair J Chapman, MD UNSOM Surgical Critical Care Fellow Email: ajchapman@medicine.nevada.edu Nadia D. Fulkerson, MPH Project Director Telephone: 702-671-2270 Email: nfulkerson@medicine.nevada.edu
THE HELMET Helmets are designed to protect the rider s head FMVSS-218 Compliant Helmet O2 2 Photo by National Transportation Safety Board ( David Thom)
CURRENT LAWS AS OF FEB 2015 Universal helmet law Required for 20 and younger Partial Helmet Laws Required for 18 and younger Required for 17 and younger No helmet law O3 Alabama California D of C Georgia Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New York North Carolina Oregon Tennessee Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Arkansas Florida Kentucky Michigan Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Texas Delaware Alaska Arizona Colorado Connecticut Hawaii Idaho Indiana Kansas Maine Minnesota Montana New Mexico North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma South Dakota Utah Wisconsin Wyoming Illinois Iowa New Hampshire 3
MOTORCYCLE HELMETS PROTECTIVE EFFECTS: FMVSS 218-compliant motorcycle helmet protects motorcyclist from brain injury 5. Risk of brain injury increases three fold for nonhelmeted riders. Helmets reduce the risk of fatality by 37%. O4 HELMET MYTHS: Helmets NEITHER cause nor prevent cervical spine injuries. 1,2.3. Scientific studies confirmed that helmets DO NOT decrease peripheral vision or hearing 4,5. 1. GAO, 1991; 2. Liu, 2003; and 3. B. J. Eastridge, S. Shafi, J. P. Minei, D. Culica, C. McConnel, and L. Gentilello, "Economic Impact of Motorcycle Helmets: From Impact to Discharge," Journal of Trauma (2006), pp. 60:978-984 4. A. J. McKnight, and A. S. McKnight, "The Effects of Motorcycle Helmets Upon Seeing and Hearing," Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 27, no. 4 (1995), pp. 493-501. 5. H. H. Hurt, J. V. Ouellet, and D. R. Thom, Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification Countermeasures, DOT HS 805 862 (Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], 1981). 4
MOTORCYCLE HELMET LAWS AND MORTALITY Law Helmet Use Mortality Universal Helmet Law 90% 4.3% O5 Partial Helmet Law 61% 4.8% No helmet law 53% 5.9% Data from 76,944 patients National Trauma Database (2002 2007). Unhelmeted patients: More severe brain injuries, consumed more hospital resources and more frequently did not have insurance 5
EFFECT OF MOTORCYCLE HELMET LAWS REPEALED BEFORE 2000 State Arkansas (1,2 ) Year Repealed Helmet use 1997 Unhelmeted crash admissions rose from 25% to 54% Mortality Unhelmeted crash scene fatalities increased by 39% to 75% O6 Texas (3) 1997 Unhelmeted riders rose from 24% to 60% More than 80 additional motorcyclists died in the 2 years following the law's repeal. Louisiana (4) 1999 *Re-enacted in 2004 Unhelmeted riders rose from 21% to 35% 60 more motorcyclists died in the 2 years following the law's repeal. *In 2004, in response to the continuing rise in deaths and injuries, Louisiana re-enacted the universal helmet law and saw the total number of motorcyclist deaths decline in 2004 and 2005. 6 1. Bledsoe and LI. South Med J. 2005; 98:436-440 2. Bledsoe et.al. Journal of Trauma. 2002; 53. 1078-1087 3. Bavon and Standerfer. South Med J. 2010; 103 (1). 4. Ho and Haydel. J La State Med Soc. 2004; 156:151-157
EFFECT OF MOTORCYCLE HELMET LAWS REPEALED 2000 AND BEYOND State Year Repealed Helmet use Mortality and injury Severity Florida 2000 Decrease from 100% to 53%. 48.% increase in motorcycle deaths. 2 O7 Pennsylvania 2003 Decreased from 82% to 58%. 3 Head injury deaths increased 66%. 3 Michigan 2012 Non-helmeted motorcyclists decrease from 93% to 71%. 4 Unhelmeted scene deaths increased 14-77%. 4 Unhelmeted motorcyclists have more severe injuries, and neurologic injuries. 5 1. Kyrychenko & McCartt. 2006. 7(26):55-60 2. Muller et al. 2004. 94(4) :556-558. 3. Nertz & Weiss. 2008. 98(8):1464-1467. 4. Chapman et al. 2014:352-356 5. Chapman et. al. 2014. Pending publication. 7
NATIONAL HOSPITAL DISCHARGE DATA O8 Motorcyclists in states with universal helmet laws are 2.5 times less likely to sustain a Traumatic Brain Injury, compared with states that have agelimited helmet laws.* *Joseph B, Rhee P et al; presented at the American College of Surgeons, 2014. 8
LIVES SAVED IN THE U.S. BY HELMETS 1997-2005 2500 2000 1500 1000 O9 500 Additional Lives That Would Have Been Saved at 100% Helmet Lives Saved by Helmet Use 0 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 It is estimated that helmets saved 1,699 motorcyclists lives in 2012, and that 781 more could have been saved if all motorcyclists had worn helmets. (NHTSA 2013). 9 Source: NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts. DOT HS 810 631, 2005.
NEVADA MOTORCYCLE CRASH DATA Nevada trauma centers treated an average of 75.4 persons per month for motorcycle crash injuries (Nevada Trauma Data 2005-2012). (Linked crash-trauma data 2005-2012) O10 100 80 60 40 20 0 Non-helmeted Motorcycle Patients in Nevada Trauma Centers Increased Over Time (*p=.002) 34 32 41 41 36 52 50 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 77 *By Chi-Square Statistical Analyses 10
NEVADA MOTORCYCLE CRASH DATA Age group is significantly associated with helmet use (χ 2 =60.1, p<.001). (Linked crash-trauma data 2005-2012) Non-helmeted Motorcycle Crash in Nevada by Age Group (p<.001) O11 350 300 #1 293 250 200 150 100 50 22 56 143 206 215 200 101 32 0 0-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ 11
O12 SUMMARY Higher mortality in unhelmeted vs helmeted riders (1-4) Higher incidence of lethal and nonlethal head injuries in unhelmeted (5-7) Longer ICU and overall hospital stay (8,5,9) 1. Kelly et al. Ann Emerg Med. 1991; 20:852-856. 2. Croce et al. Ann Surg. 2009; 250: 390-394 3. Nakahara et al. Acid Anal Prev. 2005; 37:833-842 4. Hundley et al.j Trauma. 2004; 57:944-949 5. Fleming and Becker. Med Care. 1992; 30:832-845 6. Mertz and Weiss. Am J Public Health. 2008; 98:1464-1467 7. Lin et al. J Trauma. 2001; 50-24-30 8. McSwain et al. J Trauma. 1990;30: 1189-1199 9. Offner et al. J Trauma. 1992; 32:636-642 12
THANK YOU O13 Center for Traffic Safety Research www.ctsr.org University of Nevada School of Medicine 2040 W. Charleston, Suite 501 Las Vegas, NV 89102 (702) 671-2270 13