After motorcycle mishap, DOT secretary becomes a spokesperson for helmet safety

It's not just because of her job that Mary Peters, Secretary of Transportation, cares about motorcycle safety.

Peters is an avid motorcyclist herself and one who knows firsthand how important wearing a helmet can be. “My helmet prevented me from being a brain injury patient when I crashed my Harley two years ago,” says Peters who suffered a broken collar bone when she hit the pavement. That’s why she’s now pressing Congress to enact legislation to encourage more states to pass motorcycle helmet laws.

“I want states to be able to join in urging riders to take personal responsibility for their safety by wearing a helmet every time they ride,” said Peters who is prompting Congress to allow states to use federal motorcycle safety funding to promote the use of motorcycle helmets. Currently, states are limited to using that money for safety training and awareness programs only.

Peters notes that motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled in 10 years to 4,810 in 2006. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that helmets saved the lives of 1,658 motorcyclists in 2006—and could have saved an additional 752 lives if all riders had worn helmets compliant with federal safety standards.

Although motorcycles account for only two percent of vehicles on the road, they make up more than 10 percent of all crashes. Part of the problem, says Peters, are aging baby boomers like her. “Many of them are going out and buying bikes—and wrecking them.” As a result, crashes among the 50-plus age group have gone up 400 percent in the last decade.

Those numbers help explain why Peters calls motorcycles “our nation’s greatest highway safety challenge”—and why DOT launched a new federal initiative last fall to improve rider education and training and to curb counterfeit helmets that provide less protection on the highways. Peters even starred in a public service announcement.

Unfortunately, in recent years, efforts to encourage all states to adopt laws requiring all riders to wear helmets have collided with a strong motorcycle rights lobby.

Comments

[Responsibility]

All the talk about "freedom not to wear a helmet is BS. Driving a motorcycle is NOT a roght, it's a PRIVILEGE. It requires traffic LAWS to ride them and as technology improves and we gather more information, laws are changed and adapted. Now there's plenty of proof that wearing a helmet is way less expensive for you and for the government, so what makes you think you have the "right" not to wear one?

Because in the end it's your family that will carry the burden of the consequences of your "freedom".

In this case, the consequences of *your freedom* will change for the worse the life and future of *your family*.

So just shut up, grow up and wear the darn helmet!

[Douglas Johnson]

True enough we are a free country. I have ridden street bikes and raced dirt bikes for over 30 years. Helmets have saved my life many times on the street and racing. I agree, wearing a helmet should be by choice and not by law. The only exception should be minors. All minors should be protected by law until they are 21. They can’t drink until 21. They shouldn’t have a choice about safety until 21. I do believe there should be a helmet law. We need one helmet law for all 50 states that: (1) requires riders under 21 to wear helmets and (2) removes all liability from drivers involved in accidents with motorcycle riders without helmets who sustain head trauma or death resulting from head injuries - regardless of fault. I’m sure many will disagree but consider this, “Helmets are proven to provide protection against severe head trauma and in many cases death for those who wear them. Why should one driver be held accountable for another's negligence refusing to wear a helmet?” Don’t wear a helmet – assume responsibility for your actions and the results thereof.

[Steve B]

Once again with the "unsafe behavior affects everyone and raises insurance costs". Well duh. So does the person who does not get regular colonoscopies after 50, who does not take their blood pressure meds,who rides on low tread tires, and on and on and on. Where does it stop? Do we make laws dictating mandatory weighins and then ration cards that say what fatties can buy in the grocery or a restaurant? After all, fatties raise our insurance costs.

Every human act has a ripple affect. Time to quit worrying about how someone else conducts their life.

I ride, always in full gear. But, to twist a phrase, "I disagree with those who chose not to wear a helmet (or gear), but will defend to the death your right to do so.

[Mike]

I don't like that helmets make my hair look like a "helmet-head". And I like getting a tan on my balding scalp. I ride in the out in the suburbs, not in a city. A helmet takes the enjoyment out of riding a motorcycle. If I were forced to wear one all the time, I would just buy a sports car.

[GT]

A good helmet; leather gloves, pants and jacket; along with good leather boots would certainly help to protect me in the event of a crash. I own and wear all of the above, just not all of the time. As the temperature and humidity increases I change from a ¾ to a ½ helmet, from full gloves to fingerless. The leather jacket with pads goes along with the chaps. My ½ helmet is white to decrease heat absorption. The problem is heat or how to not overheat while riding.
If manufacturers could produce effective safety apparel that would help to cool the body and if the federal government would help with the R&D effort perhaps more people would wear protective gear voluntarily. In my opinion this would be money wisely spent.

And a note to the states with mandatory helmets laws for all riders. While I may visit your state occasionally I really do try to avoid doing so. There are still many places for my friends and I to visit where helmets are optional.

[bill morris]

I have been riding for 47 years. Sometime with and sometimes without a helmet. It would also be safer if every automobile passenger would wear a helmet. When do you stop telling people how to live. We have many many laws now that are not enforced. Why would this woman take money from educating riders about safety and use it to try to get another law passed. I say impeach Mary Peters.
The public would br better off without her.

[DavidT]

As RobG points out, it's not only the motorcyclists who bear the cost of injuries or deaths from crashes without helmets. Nor is it only those close to the injured or deceased. It really is all of us. Our taxes and costs of medical care and insurance are all affected by the catastrophic costs of these injuries.

If the injured or deceased cyclist has the personal funds for the costs of medical care and recovery, the costs of these expenses still lessens what he or she can pay to support or share with those around. If the cyclist is disabled, the financial impact also falls on family first. If the cyclist has insurance to cover all the costs, the higher medical expenses would have to be shared by the ratepayers.

More serious are situations where the injured cyclist is unable to cover through personal funds and insurance. In those circumstances the costs are paid through tax funds (including social security) or are eaten by the medical providers, who in turn must pass those costs on to those who do pay.

Helmet laws are beneficial to all of us.

[TOM IN HARVARD,IL]

HELMETS ARE A PERSONAL CHOICE BUT I'M ALIVE BECAUSE I MADE A CHOICE TO WEAR A HELMET ALONG WITH LEATHERS. I'VE BEEN RIDING FOR OVER 50 YEARS AND NEVER HAD ANYTHING THAT APPROUCHED A FATAL EVENT UNTIL THAT DEER JUMPED OUT OF NOWHERE AND KNOCKED ME OFF OF THE BIKE (ROADSTAR) AT 60 MPH. THE EVENT TORE UP MY LEATHERS AND HELMET BUT I SURVIVED, I WISH I COULD SAY THE SAME FOR THE BIKE. THE HIT DID KILL THE DEER.
P.S. THE WINDSHIELD ALSO DID ALOT TO SAVE MY BACON.

[Andrew]

People should be allowed to be stupid if they want to be. I personally wear a helmet 90% of the time but if I should be allowed to decide when it is proper to wear it (90% of the time..in city traffic) or not (10% when I'm on a freeway in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the day).
I agree that the reality is more strict driver training and graduated licenses (limiting the hp/lb of bike NOT the cc's because there are 600cc bikes that make gobs of HP and weigh next to nothing) should be the way to go. The MSF rider safety course should be mandatory, not just suggested and instead of defensive driving, a more motorcycle specific course should be required for ticket dismissal.

[Ellyn Musser]

As a physician I have treated patients with severe brain injuries from auto accidents (before seat belts) and motorcycle accidents (before helmets). Besides the personal cost too many end up on state help for long term nursing care and disability payments.
Better drivers would help but many accidents are beyond human control. Nothing would prevent every injury but these two protections should be mandated for using public highways in order to reduce severe injuries. Let those who feel they do not need them also agree that they would never accept any money from anyone if they have an accident. That would be pure individual freedom and responsibility.

[Edward]

Should be required for bicycles also. In 1982 I was hit by a van while riding my bicycle, with a helmet, in downtown Boston. Woke up 45 minutes later in a hospital with bruses, scrapes, a destroyed helmet, but only a concussion. Cop who witnessed the accident said he expected that I would be dead. Helmets reduce medical costs.

[RobG]

I'm disappointed to see that not ONE of the opponents for mandatory helmet laws has one ounce of consideration for their family members and friends they effect when their life is permanently effected due to a head injury.

I am one of those family members whose life has been dramatically and permanently effected. My only brother was in a motorcycle accident where he was cut off by an 84 year old man who did not see him. The man did not yield and made a left turn right in front of my brother. My brother was living in Texas, a non mandatory helmet state, and was not wearing a proper helmet. Just a skull cap that affords little protection to head trauma.

My brother thankfully survived but he has a traumatic brain injury that has changed him forever. Head injuries are no joke! You don't just wake up from a coma with everything fine as the movies lead you to believe. It is a long gradual recovery process where you need to relearn how to breath, talk, eat, walk, and think. Most will never be able to think like they could before. Personalities are changed forever. Many head injury victims require someone to take care of them for the rest of their lives. Any other injury pales in comparison to a head injury.

Sure you are costing everyone with increased medical insurance costs and taxes (my brother's are in excess of 1 million dollars) and that is an important factor but the personal impact you have on family members and friends is even more significant.

As a result of my brother's accident, my mother and I had to drop our lives to take care of my brother for over a year. The hospitals release him as soon as possible even though he couldn't take care of himself. It has now been 7 years since his accident and fortunately my brother can live on his own now. But he has not been able to hold onto a job and requires financial support from his family. He has been fired from 3 jobs since his accident since he is not able to focus with his head injury.

So, all of you helmet opponents, put on your thinking caps (AND your helmets) and have some consideration for those you love.

[R. Newton]

Another case of abuse of authority by a bureaucrat who thinks that if we don't live our lives the way she thinks we should, she will make a law that requires us to.
Cunsumers Union is often guilty of this thinking too. Just put the argument out there and let us decide for ourselves without coercion.

[Stuart A. Landau, M.D.]

I've seen the terrible results of motorcycle accidents in many an Emergency Room. Too often one sees irreversible brain without death and thus those without insurance become a ward of the state/Federal gov't.. There should be required,at least, personal long term insurance held by the motorcyclist so that his/her's refusal to wear a helmet does not end up with others paying for his/her's care.

[Carol S.]

My son and his fiance' both have Harleys and neither wears a helmet and it scares me to death. I know that all the riders say they drive safely and have had extensive training. More than likely it's not the cycle riders fault, but the fault of driver of the car. I'm hoping that IL passes a helmet law. I know I will feel better and I'm sure my 14 year old grandson would love to keep his dad around.

[Hu Reijne]

I am able to add my comments because I was wearing a helmet, it is madatory here in British Columbia, when a deer ran into the side of me and knocked my passenger and I down. The chin bar on the helmet was severly scraped on both our helmets, I was unconsious for some time but was revived by the paramedics. Some broken bones, bruising, but our heads were protected. Deer can be very unpredictable and difficult to avoid. we are survivors and I have no problem with mandatory helmet laws.

[Robert]

I understand the rights, education and personal responsibility that many riders advocate. However, at least those that choose not to wear a helmet should volunteer as organ donors, for the sad statistic that many head injury cases lead to the additional family grief of having to make an organ donor decision on behalf of an accident victim.

[Rich Garney]

I understand Mary Peters concern with motorcycle safety. I have been riding for near 30 years now and I've had my own share of mishaps. But I think the real issue is not making helmets mandatory, I think driver training is the answer. Your own numbers reflect this, accidents up 400% in riders over 50. A helmet won't stop that, driver training and education will.
Accidents doubled in ten years, how about the number of registered motorcycles? More than doubled, 128% between 1995-2004. So the accidents are commensurate with the number of bikes, actually lower than expected.
I understand everyones concern for my well being, but I believe that I can make my own decisions, and I think that helmet laws infringe on my right to do so. Driver training is teh answer, not helmet laws. Reduce the accidents and the injuries will go down as well.

[iowapacman]

If she had not run into the back of her husbands motorcycle she would not have had the crash. Learn how to ride, avoid the accident.

Crash prevention beats crash survival everytime.

[Mike Greenwald]

I have been riding motorcycles for nearly 49 years, accumulating more than one million miles on two wheels with only two, very minor accidents. I always wear full protective gear when I ride, and yet I am adamantly opposed to mandatory helmet laws. I don't believe the government has the right to force me to wear a helmet, even if it might make me safer. I reserve the right, as a free American, to risk my neck at will.

I won't argue, like some, there is no proof helmets reduce injuries in accidents. To me, whether true or not, it is a moot point. What I can tell you, that I know is true, is the number of deaths and disabilities from head injuries sustained in automobile accidents is at least 20 times greater than those suffered by motorcyclists. And yet, I don't hear anyone calling for mandatory helmets for car drivers.
Question of freedom
To put it another way, when people tell me thousands of lives would be saved if we just forced riders to wear helmets, I respond even more lives could be saved if we simply mandated everyone who gets into a swimming pool or hot tub must wear a life jacket. It is absolutely true, but do we really want to live that way?

It is also true the overwhelming majority of motorcycle accidents are not the fault of the rider. In most cases, they are the result of a car or truck driver running a stop sign, failing to yield, or simply turning directly into the path of the motorcycle without signal or other warning. Motorcycles can accelerate quicker, stop shorter, turn tighter and perform almost any other maneuver much better than a four-wheeler. Because of this, a well-trained and experienced rider can avoid accident-causing situations much better than a car driver. Unfortunately, we pay the price when a car driver can't stop quick enough or turn fast enough and runs us down.

I am also sick of hearing politicians use of the "financial burden" theory to legislate against motorcycling. In truth, if you check the statistics, motorcyclists are more likely to be insured and almost always have better insurance coverage, than the majority of automobile drivers. In fact, the medical costs for uninsured motorcyclists involved in accidents is less than one-tenth of one percent of the national total. And, if it isn't the politicians telling you how dangerous bikes are, it is the doctors, describing trauma room scenes, and pontificating about the sanctity of life. Yet, their own American Medical Association has recently admitted mistakes by doctors kill about 30 percent of patients who die in hospitals. Clean your own house before you tell me that mine is dirty.

As I said, I have ridden more than 1 million miles in nearly 49 years with two injuries. I believe the explanation for that record is quite simple. It is called "education."
Refresher training

I have attended every kind of motorcycle training and safety course available and take a refresher course at least once a year concerning things such as "street skills" and "accident avoidance." Most motorcyclists take some kind of safety training, at their own expense, about every two years. Can you find me a single car driver that could say the same?

Training and vigilance keep me alive and unscathed, and it has been proved time and time again it will work for almost anyone. Instead of mandating helmet use, or trying to legislate motorcycles out of existence, we should be spending our tax dollars on educating both riders and drivers.

Sadly, the United States has the worst drivers, with the worst accident statistics, in the world. The motorcycle riders they run down on a regular basis are not the problem. When we learn to face that reality, maybe we can really bring the appalling death rate on our highways under control.

[Zack]

Please, encourage me to wear my helmet, but DO NOT mandate it! I know all the statistics, I know the safety concerns, I wear my helmet every time I ride because I want to. Forcing me to because you want me to is a waste of government resources and is one more thing for "Big Brother" to have his thumb on.

[Mark Maxwell]

What Mary Peters doesn't bother to tell us is that she ran into the back of her husband's bike when he stopped, and obviously she did not.
Riding a motorcycle in a group takes complete concentration on what you are doing, more than Mary Peters could accomplish.Perhaps she is one of those people who should be on the back, and not on the front.
If you are going to ride like Mary Peters, you should definately wear a helmet. If you want to ride safe however, take a Riding Education class and learn how to avoid the accident in the first place. After all the progress that has been made in motorcycle safety through motorcycle training and education, what a shame that the head of the DOT wants to change that focus back to "safer crashing"!
Shame on you Mary Peters!

[Michael Affronte]

If it is required that automobile drivers must wear seat belts for safety, then it should be required that motorcycle drivers wear a brain bucket, if this does not become mandatory law, then the seat belt law should be repealled.

[k jones]

mary peters,
your article in consumer reports seems to indicate that all blame lies with us motorcycle riders. you seem to suggest that we are care-free, mindless, older people that are the cause of these accidents.
if you really want to write an accurate account of accidents; you should mention that other vehicle(cars), are involved one way or the other. as a rider yourself, how many cars have not seen you because they are talking on their cell-phones and are clueless of there surroundings? how many people have intentionally; despite seeing you, have swerved into your lane? you cannot write an article like this without mentioning other vehicles.
yes, you are right in that helmets would proably have had a different outcome of some of the accidents that happened. it still is a personal choice and if you want to enact legislation to enforce this issue; then enact legal legislation against talking on cell phones while drivig a car, enact legal legislation against aggressive driving by cars. these two issues alone are the real causes of accidents; and you know that!
i am sorry for your accident and thankful you are okay!

[Rudy]

If Mary Peters really wanted to make motorcycling safer, she would know that education and training is the single most effective means by which to reduce motorcycle accidents. However she has chosen to divert funds that were earmarked for education and training in her personal quest to have helmet laws mandated in all states. This is a personal agenda and not one based on the data. She has actually done motorcyclists a great disfavor by ignoring the facts and imposing her own beliefs on the states.

Since the vast majority of auto/motorcycling accidents are the auto's fault, what has she done to address this issue?

Since highway guard rails with their sharp edges kill motorcyclists every year, what has she done to address this issue?

Has she met with the Motorcycle Riders Foundation to learn from them? I doubt it, it is easier to impose your own agenda.

Has she met with any of the state ABATE groups to learn from them? Again the answer is no. She would rather impose her own agenda.

In the end a helmet never prevented a single accident. What we need is safer driving, not safer crashing. What we need is training for auto drivers on motorcycle awareness, rather than punishing the motorcycle victim with mandates.

This is not the sign of a person who really has the interests of motorcyclists as a priority, but rather a personal narrow agenda.