Effect Of Helmet Legislation Research Articles

Mandatory helmet legislation as a policy tool for reducing motorcycle fatalities: Pinpointing the efficacy of universal helmet laws

This study uses repeated cross-sections of individual level crash data to study the effectiveness of motorcycle helmet legislation. Results suggest that motorcycle helmet laws reduce average individual fatality risks by 20.5%. From a policy standpoint, large states such as Florida and Texas can reduce annual motorcycle fatalities by an average 100 deaths through reinstating universal helmet laws. Valuing these fatality reductions at the U.S. DOT suggested $9.4 million value of a statistical life yields aggregate annual state benefits of approximately $940 million. The effectiveness of helmet legislation can be attributed to the technological efficacy of helmets as well as enhancing behavior in the form of reduced risk taking among motorcyclists. Specifically, motorcyclists who use helmets in order to comply with mandatory helmet laws are 29.8% less likely to receive a traffic citation for risky driving behavior (speeding, alcohol, etc.), travel at a 6 mph lower average speed, and have a 47.4% reduction in the probability of “severely” damaging their motorcycle in a crash.

Influence of socioeconomic status on the effectiveness of bicycle helmet legislation for children: a prospective observational study

Influence of socioeconomic status on the effectiveness of bicycle helmet legislation for children: a prospective observational study

Influence of socioeconomic status on the effectiveness of bicycle helmet legislation for children: a prospective observational study.

Influence of socioeconomic status on the effectiveness of bicycle helmet legislation for children: a prospective observational study.

Bicycle Helmets: Effective When Legislated

Bicycle helmets are thought to reduce head injuries. However, most researchers who have examined the effects of helmet legislation have focused on

A community based approach to bicycle helmet use counts.

Bicycle helmet use has become an important measure of the effectiveness of bicycle safety programs and the effectiveness of helmet legislation. Accounts of analytical comparisons of observation site selection methods are scarce. This report addresses this gap by reporting the relative effectiveness and costs of two alternative approaches to the selection of observation sites for helmet use counts. The community based (COBA) method of site selection entailed asking community informants to identify locations frequented by young bicycle riders. In the bicycle club/map (CLMA) method, site selections were based on recommendations from club members of sites at which cyclists were likely to be found and through examination of maps, keying on local features. These alternative site selection methods were compared in terms of their overall and cost effectiveness in locating youth riders. Despite fewer observer hours and fewer sites in a sparsely populated rural county, the COBA method yielded greater numbers of riding youth and from 1.9 to 4.6 times more youth riders per observer hour than did the CLMA method in two densely populated suburban counties. In addition, costs per youth rider observed associated with the COBA method were 2.9 to 7.0 times lower than those associated with the CLMA method. Community based site identification is both more efficient in locating youth riders and more cost effective.

The effect of motorcycle helmet use on the probability of fatality and the severity of head and neck injuries: A latent variable framework

This study uses repeated cross-sections of individual level crash data to study the effectiveness of motorcycle helmet legislation. Results suggest that motorcycle helmet laws reduce average individual fatality risks by 20.5%. From a policy standpoint, large states such as Florida and Texas can reduce annual motorcycle fatalities by an average 100 deaths through reinstating universal helmet laws. Valuing these fatality reductions at the U.S. DOT suggested $9.4 million value of a statistical life yields aggregate annual state benefits of approximately $940 million. The effectiveness of helmet legislation can be attributed to the technological efficacy of helmets as well as enhancing behavior in the form of reduced risk taking among motorcyclists. Specifically, motorcyclists who use helmets in order to comply with mandatory helmet laws are 29.8% less likely to receive a traffic citation for risky driving behavior (speeding, alcohol, etc.), travel at a 6 mph lower average speed, and have a 47.4% reduction in the probability of “severely” damaging their motorcycle in a crash.