Helmetless Motorcyclists--Easy Riders Facing Hard Facts: The Rise of the Motorcycle Helmet Defense
![handle is hein.journals/ohslj41 and id is 243 raw text is: Helmetless Motorcyclists-Easy Riders Facing
Hard Facts: The Rise of the
Motorcycle Helmet Defense
I. INTRODUCTION
It is common knowledge today that the popularity of the motorcycle'
has increased dramatically in the United States. Over a twelve year period
from 1964 to 1976 the number of registered motorcycles in this country
increased over 400 percent.2 A disheartening but corresponding truism is
that as the popularity of the motorcycle increases, so do motorcycle
fatalities and severe injuries resulting from accidents.3 The United States
Department of Transportation (USDOT) estimates that more than
350,000 motorcyclists are injured annually and, in 1977 alone, over 4,000
motorcyclists were killed.4 There are numerous causes for so many
fatalities and severe injuries. Some of these, such as road conditions and
the negligence of other motorists, are outside a motorcyclist's control.
Other causes, however, such as failing to wear a protective helmet, are
directly within a motorcyclist's control.
Recognizing this problem, many states-beginning with New York in
1966 5-enacted laws requiring the use of helmets by motorcycle operators.
Momentum for this approach was provided by the federal Highway
Safety Act,6 under the authority of which the Secretary of Transportation
conditioned the availability of certain federal highway funding on the
existence of state helmet-use statutes. By 1975, all but three states7 had
I. OIIiO REV. CODE ANN. § 4511.01(C) (Page Supp. 1978), defines motorcycle as:
[E]very motor vehicle, other than a tractor, having a saddle for the use of the operator
and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, including
but not limited to, motor vehicles known as motor-driven cycle, motor scooter, or
motorcycle without regard to weight or brake horsepower.
2. U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSPORTATION, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION,
MOTORCYCLE HELMETS: CLAIMS AND FACTS (DOT HS 802 732 January 1978). In 1976, 5,000,000
motorcycles were registered nationwide, compared to 985,000 in 1964. In Ohio, motorcycle
registrations increased from 48,801 in 1964 to 318,103 in 1976. OHIO DEP'T OF HIGHWAY SAFETY,
OHIO'S MANDATORY HELMET USE LAW: ITS EFFECT ON THE FATALITY RATE (1977).
3. During the period 1964 to 1976, the number of motorcycle fatalities, both nationwide and in
Ohio, tripled. U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSPORTATION, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY
ADMINISTRATION, MOTORCYCLE HELMETS: CLAIMS AND FACTS (DOT HS 802 732January 1978); OHIO
DEP'T OF H IGH WAY SAFETY, OHIO'S MANDATORY HELMET USE LAW: ITS EFFECTON THE FATALITY RATE
(1977).
4. U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSPORTATION, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION,
FACT SHEET: MOTORCYCLE HELMETS-THEY SAVE LIVES AND REDUCE INJURIES. In Ohio therewere 185
motorcycle fatalities in 1977. Interview with John R. Pichler, Systems Evaluation Specialist, Ohio
Dep't of Highway Safety, in Columbus, Ohio (Oct. 2, 1978).
5. 1966 N.Y. Laws ch. 979 (currently codified, as amended, at N.Y. VEH. & TRAF. LAWS § 381
(McKinney 1970)).
6. Highway Safety Act of 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-564, tit. I, 80 Stat. 731.
7. California never enacted a mandatory helmet-use law. Illinois enacted a law in 1969, 1969 Ill.
Laws Pub. Act No. 76-1586, § 11-1404, but that law was declared unconstitutional by the Illinois
Supreme Court in Peoplev. Fries, 42 Il1. 2d446, 250 N.E.2d 149(1969). Utah's helmet law, UTAH CODE
ANN. § 41-6-107.8 (1970), requires helmet use only on roads with a posted speed limit of greater than 35
miles per hour.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ohslj41&div=14&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Helmetless Motorcyclists--Easy Riders Facing Hard Facts: The Rise of the Motorcycle Helmet Defense
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