Will A Motorcycle Helmet Protect Me?

Motorcycle helmets offer motorcyclists involved in traffic crashes the best protection from head injury. The passage of helmet use laws governing all motorcycle riders is the most effective method of increasing helmet use. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) encourages states to enact legislation to require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Additionally, NHTSA strongly supports comprehensive motorcyle safety programs that include motorcycle helmet usage, rider education, motorcycle operator licensing, and responsible use of alcohol.

Key Facts

• In 1997, 2,106 motorcyclists died and approximately 54,000 were injured in highway crashes in the United States.
• Per mile traveled, a motorcyclist is approximately 15 times more likely to die in a crash than an automobile occupant.
• Head injury is a leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes.
• An unhelmeted motorcyclist is 40 percent more likely to incur a fatal head injury and 15 percent more likely to incur a nonfatal injury than a helmeted motorcyclist when involved in a crash.
• NHTSA estimates that motorcycle helmets reduce the likelihood of a fatality by 29 percent in a crash.
• The Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) study found that motorcycle helmets are 67 percent effective in preventing brain injuries and that unhelmeted motorcyclists involved in crashes were three times more likely to suffer brain injury than those using helmets.
• From 1984 through 1997, NHTSA estimates that helmets saved the lives of 8,474 motorcyclists. If all motorcycle operators and passengers had worn helmets during those years, NHTSA estimates that 6,817 additional lives would have been saved.
• A study conducted at the University of Southern California, which analyzed 3,600 traffic crash reports covering motorcycle crashes, concluded that helmet use was the single most important factor governing survival in motorcycle crashes.
• In a recent study the National Public Service Research Institute concluded that wearing motorcycles helmets does not restrict a rider’s ability to hear auditory signals or see a vehicle in an adjacent lane.
• All motorcycle helmets sold in the United States are required to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218, the performance standard which establishes the minimum level of protection helmets must afford each user.
• Helmet use laws governing all motorcycle occupants significantly increase helmet use and are easily enforced because of the occupant’s high visibility. In NHTSA’s latest survey, helmet use was reported to be essentially 100 percent at sites with helmet use laws governing all motorcycle riders, as compared to 34 to 54 percent at sites with no helmet use laws or laws limited to minors.
• Data on crashes in states where only minors are required to wear helmets show that fewer than 40 percent of the fatally injured minors are wearing helmets even though the law requires them to do so. Helmet laws that govern only minors are extremely difficult to enforce.
• Public support for motorcycle helmet laws in the United States is very strong: more than four out of five persons ages 16 and older (82 percent) support such laws according to NHTSA’s 1995 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey (DOT HS 808 334). Of those motorcyclists who had ridden a motorcycle in the preceding year, 62 percent said they support motorcycle helmet laws.
• In 1976, the Highway Safety Act was amended to remove sanctions against states without motorcycle helmet laws. Between 1976 and 1980, when compared to 1975—the year before repeals began—motorcycle fatalities increased 61 percent while motorcycle registrations increased only 15 percent.
• Caution must be employed when comparing states to each other with motorcycle crash statistics. States differ in their propensities for motorcycle fatalities. The most accurate method of evaluating the impact of traffic safety measures is to compare the states crash experience against itself.
• Reported helmet use rates for fatally injured motorcyclists in 1997 were 57 percent for operators and 49 percent for passengers, compared with 57 percent and 45 percent, respectively, in 1996.

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