The impact of the repeal of Michigan's universal helmet law on traumatic brain injury: A statewide analysis

Abstract

BackgroundIn April of 2012, Michigan repealed its 35-year-old universal motorcycle helmet law in favor of a partial helmet law, which permits motorcyclists older than 21 years old with sufficient insurance and experience to drive un-helmeted. We evaluated the clinical impact of the repeal. MethodsThe Michigan Trauma Quality Improvement Program's trauma database was queried for motorcycle crash patients between 1/1/09–4/12/12 and between 4/13/12–12/31/14. ResultsThere were 1970 patients in the pre-repeal analysis and 2673 patients in the post-repeal analysis. Following the repeal, patients were more likely to be un-helmeted (p < 0.001) and to have a traumatic brain injury (p < 0.001). Patients were also more likely to require neurosurgical interventions (relative risk 1.4, p = 0.011). ConclusionFollowing the repeal of the universal helmet law, there has been a significant increase in traumatic brain injuries and neurosurgical interventions. This analysis highlights another detrimental impact of the repeal of the universal helmet law.