Novelty Helmet Use by Motorcycle Riders in Florida

Abstract

Although Florida law requires all motorcyclists to wear helmets, 16 percent of all motorcycle drivers and 30 percent of all their passengers killed in motorcycle crashes in 1996 were not wearing protective helmets. In addition, the use of novelty helmets may be on the rise in states with universal helmet laws. The objectives of this research were to determine motorcycle helmet use rates on Florida roadways and to estimate the level of novelty helmet use by motorcycle occupants. A total of 2,498 motorcyclists in 13 Florida counties were observed over a 2-month period. Data were collected on helmet use and type, motorcycle type, gender, and use of other safety equipment. Almost all motorcycle occupants wore some type of helmet; the observed state-level usage rate was 99.5 percent. However, a significant number of these helmets were novelty helmets. The type of helmet motorcyclists choose to wear may be related to the type of motorcycle driven and the gender of the driver and passenger. Overall, novelty helmet use was higher for passengers than for drivers, and the majority of observed novelty helmets were on motorcycle occupants riding cruiser-type motorcycles. Moreover, females exhibited lower rates of compliance than males, especially when associated with cruiser-type motorcycles. Although the survey did not collect information about the reasons for the increase in novelty helmet use, possible explanations may be that novelty helmets are more readily available at lower cost, and that there is an overall perceived lack of enforcement of the motorcycle helmet use law.