Connecticut Motorcycle Helmet Use Reduces Costs as Well as Biker Accident Injuries
You can always count on the Center for Disease Control to shed a bright light on issues and statistics that are important but that many of us rarely consider. Take motor vehicle accidents, for instance. The average person naturally considers them solely in personal terms—how they affect us and our families, accident injury recovery, accident medical expenses. But the CDC has done a study on motorcycle accidents that looks at the big picture, entirely in terms of dollars. From 2008 to 2010 they examined biker accidents across the nation in order to establish how much each state saves when motorcycle riders and passengers wear helmets. The numbers are staggering.
According to the study, over $3 billion was saved in 2010 alone, with total costs saved due to helmet use ranging from $2.6 million in New Mexico to $394 million in California. Economic costs saved from helmet use per registered motorcycle ranged from $48 in New Mexico to $1,627 in North Carolina, with a median of $286. In Connecticut, the savings was approximately $300 per registered motorcycle. Since motorcycle accident liability is typically attributed to reckless driving or inattentive driving by those operating cars and trucks, it makes sense for Connecticut bikers to wear helmets, even though Connecticut law only requires them for bikers under 18 year old.
Connecticut personal injury attorneys Salomone & Morelli know that the most important message in the CDC study is that lives are saved and motorcycle accident injuries are reduced thanks to helmet use. Even bikers with helmets do not have a guarantee of motorcycle safety, however. “Unfortunately, even when bikers have protective gear,” the firms attests, “they risk serious injury or death each time they get on their motorcycles. Helmets and heavy-duty clothing are supposed to protect riders and passengers from getting hurt, but often these precautions do not go far enough.”
Nationally, says the CDC, helmets lowered deaths by 37 percent for motorcycle drivers and 41 percent for passengers, and that meant 1,544 fewer motorcyclist fatalities in 2010. Over 40 percent of motorcyclists killed in accidents between 2008 and 2010 were not wearing a helmet, says the CDC report. In states where helmets are not required, 79 percent of the motorcyclists killed were not wearing one, compared to 12 percent in states where helmets are the law.
The key point to take from this study is that helmets are good not just for motorcyclists but for the entire community. They keep bikers and bike passengers safer and, because of the lives they save each year, they funnel more funds into our state’s economy by reducing hospital, medical and municipal costs related to motorcycle accidents.
At the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli, we can help if you or a loved one suffered motorcycle accident injuries of any kind, with or without a helmet. Call a personal injury lawyer in the Hartford and New Haven Connecticut area today. Call us at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1 or complete our online contact form to schedule a free consultation.
Salomone & Morelli
100 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT 06105