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11 J. Health Care L. & Pol'y 215 (2008)
Motorcycle Helmet Laws: The Facts, What Can Be Done to Jump-Start Helmet Use, and Ways to Cap Damages

handle is hein.journals/hclwpo11 and id is 219 raw text is: MOTORCYCLE HELMET LAWS: THE FACTS, WHAT CAN BE DONE TO JUMP-START HELMET USE, AND WAYS TO CAP DAMAGES MELISSA NEIMAN* INTRODUCTION States first enacted universal motorcycle helmet laws in 1966, and by 1975 forty-seven states and the District of Columbia had such laws.' The states enacted motorcycle helmet laws in order to receive federal highway construction funds, which were contingent on the enactment of such laws.2 These incentives were withdrawn, and motorcycle enthusiasts organized in groups, and successfully lobbied to have these state laws repealed.3 Currently, only twenty states require helmets for all motorcycle riders while the remaining states either do not require helmets or have only partial laws that usually require helmets for riders less than eighteen years of age.4 Medical studies have overwhelmingly shown increased risks of both morbidity and mortality for non-helmeted motorcycle riders as opposed to helmeted riders.5 Further studies have demonstrated the increased cost to society associated with the elevated morbidity and mortality for non-helmeted riders.6 Although the medical literature and the cost analysis studies show universal helmet Copyright © 2008 by Melissa Neiman. * M.D. University of Texas Medical Branch; Residency, Neurological Surgery Parkland Memorial Hospital; Diplomate, American Board of Neurological Surgery; J.D. University of Houston Law Center. I. M. Margaret Knudson et al., Motorcycle Helmet Laws: Every Surgeon's Responsibility, 199 J. AM. C. SURGEONS 261, 261 (2004). 2. 23 U.S.C. § 402(c) (2000). 3. Knudson et al., supra note 1, at 261; Am. Motorcyclist Ass'n, The History of the AMA, http://www.amadirectlink.com/whatis/history.asp (last visited Nov. 26, 2007). 4. Ins. Inst. for Highway Safety, Current U.S. Motorcycle and Bicycle Helmet Laws (June 2007), http://www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseCurrent.aspx. 5. Knudson et al., supra note 1, at 262; Jonathan C. Hundley et al., Non-Helmeted Motorcyclists: A Burden to Society? A Study Using the National Trauma Data Bank, 57 J. TRAUMA 944, 948 (2004). 6. NAT'L HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMIN., U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP., STATE LEGISLATIVE FACT SHEET MOTORCYCLE HELMET USE LAWS (Jan. 2000), available at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/outreach/safesobr/2 I qp/html/fact sheets/Motorcycle.Helmet.html.

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