Florida's Weakened Motorcycle Helmet Law: Effects on Death Rates in Motorcycle Crashes
Florida's universal helmet law was amended in 2000 to exclude drivers aged 21 and over from wearing helmets, provided that they had insurance coverage of at least $10,000 for medical benefits for injuries received in motorcycle crashes. The rate of compliance with the old law, as observed in 1998, was nearly 100%. That number declined to 53% after the legislative change. This study compared death rates after the change to those before the law changed. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of the helmet law change on the odds of death in a crash, while controlling for variables such as gender, age, seating position, and number of vehicles. Death rates increased significantly after the change, and it was estimated that 117 motorcyclist deaths could have been prevented in 2001-2002 if the universal helmet law had remained in effect. The study shows not only the benefits of universal helmet use but concludes that age-specific laws are largely unenforceable and are not effective in protecting the youngest drivers.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/49192340
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Authors:
- Kyrychenko, Sergey Y
- McCartt, Anne T
- Publication Date: 2006-3
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Features: References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 55-60
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Serial:
- Traffic Injury Prevention
- Volume: 7
- Issue Number: 1
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis
- ISSN: 1538-9588
- Serial URL: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/15389588.html
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Age groups; Before and after studies; Compliance; Crash injuries; Fatalities; Insurance; Motorcycle crashes; Motorcycle helmets; Regression analysis; State laws; Traffic law enforcement
- Uncontrolled Terms: Helmet laws
- Geographic Terms: Florida
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01022741
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, ATRI
- Created Date: Apr 13 2006 11:57AM