Decrease in Helmet Use Causing More Young Motorcyclists to Suffer Traumatic Brain Injuries
With more young motorcyclists riding their bikes without helmets, there has been an increase in the number of serious head injuries and long-term disabilities from motorcycle crashes. These injuries are creating huge medical expenses. These findings and others are based on two new companion studies that were recently published in Pediatrics. One study examines young motorcycle riders and their head injuries and the resulting medical expenses, while the other studies the effect that mandatory helmet laws, which differ depending upon the state, have on motorcyclists. In North Carolina, all riders are required to use a helmet.
Study author Harold Weiss, who is the Dunedin School of Medicine’s injury prevention research unit director, says that in 2006, 25% of all traumatic brain injuries that occurred during motorcycle crashes involving riders under age 21 resulted in long-term disabilities. Patients with serious head injuries have an at least 10 times greater chance of dying in the hospital. Weiss also notes that other studies have shown that when there are youth-only mandatory helmet laws rather than universal helmet laws, young people are more likely to ditch their helmets. Other findings from the study:
• Motorcycle crashes were the reason for 3% of all injuries that resulted in hospital stays for 12- to 20-year-olds in 2006.
• 1/3 of the 5,662 minors who were motorcycle accident victims sustained TBIs.
• Almost 50% of those killed or injured belonged to the 18- to 20-year-old age group. 90% of them were boys.
• In 2006, motorcycle accident-related hospital bills were at almost $249 million. Head injuries cost $58 million. Insurance did not cover 1/3rd of the these expenses.
• Helmet use decreases head injuries by 69% and deaths caused by head injuries by 42%.
Even with the state’s mandatory helmet law, North Carolina motorcycle accident injuries do happen and not everyone obeys the law. As our Charlotte, North Carolina injury lawyers mentioned in an earlier blog post, while overall motor vehicle deaths have gone down this year, there has been a 20% rise in North Carolina motorcycle deaths in 2010. Per the Highway Patrol Fatal Slip Report, As of early September, there had been 78 motorcycle deaths. By the same time last year, there had been 65 motorcycle fatalities. In total, there were 82 North Carolina motorcycle deaths for 2009.
Young Motorcycle Riders Suffering More Brain Injuries, Bloomberg Businessweek, November 19, 2010
State to combat rising motorcycle deaths, Hickory Daily Record, November 7, 2010
The Number of North Carolina Motorcycle Deaths is On the Rise, North Carolina Car Accident Lawyer Blog, September 16, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Current US motorcycle and bicycle helmet laws, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, December 2010
Pediatrics
