Save lives: Pass a helmet law

It is time for the Connecticut General Assembly and individual legislators to stand up for public safety. The legislature’s Transportation Committee needs to approve and the General Assembly needs to pass a requirement for all motorcyclists in Connecticut to wear a helmet. It is supported by the majority of state residents and legislators must stop being intimidated by a vocal minority of bikers claiming “personal freedom” to ride without a helmet.

“Personal freedom” to avoid wearing a helmet costs dozens of lives and millions of taxpayer dollars each year. This fact is ignored by opponents to a universal helmet law, which Gov. Ned Lamont’s transition committee on public safety wisely and unanimously endorsed. We call on the governor to publicly declare his support for this law and to ask legislators to stand up for safety by approving it.

Legislators stop relying on excuses, such as a crowded legislative agenda and other more important priorities. What legislative priorities could possibly be more important? This is a proposed law proven to save lives, prevent Connecticut taxpayers from footing costly medical bills and keep motorcycle crash victims suffering traumatic brain injuries that can warehouse them for a lifetime in nursing homes. A legislative body in a democratic society has both a right and obligation to speak up for safety. That time is now in Connecticut.

Here’s the common-sense case for saving lives of motorcycle riders. The average annual number of deaths involving motorcycle crashes in Connecticut is about 50; hospital admissions, 250; and emergency department visits, 1,700. About half of motorcyclists who crash are not wearing helmets.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motorcycle crashes resulting in death or serious injury cost Connecticut taxpayers $157 million last year in lost productivity and health care costs. Add to this the trauma for families and others. A motorcyclist’s freedom to choose should not come at everyone else’s expense in this state.

After Louisiana reinstated its universal helmet law in 2004, helmet use soared from 42 percent to 87 percent. In California, helmet use jumped from about 50 percent before the law to 99 percent after a requirement passed along with a 37-percent decrease in motorcyclist fatalities. In states repealing laws, the obvious occurs — more injuries, trauma, costs and deaths.

The logic here is so very clear, yet we often hear similar comments like this one from Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield. “Where do we get to a point where we (politicians) know what’s better for you when you are over the age of 21,” the Connecticut Post reported him saying during a hearing on the helmet bill. We, too, believe in personal liberty, but not at the cost of $157 million per year to Connecticut taxpayers.

Hwang compared not wearing a helmet to other personal decisions that invite danger and he questioned the proposed exception for motorcycle riders. “I don’t ride. I would encourage you to wear it, the facts are indisputable that it’s safer to wear a helmet. But ultimately it should be your own choice,” he said.

This last part signals, we believe, that legislators know their argument is weak and can readily see the need for a helmet. What really steers them away, many have told us, is the fear of roaring bikers reverberating at the polls and causing them to lose an election. However, an AAA poll done just last month shows nearly 75 percent of Connecticut’s citizens support a universal helmet law. Legislators have less to worry about than they think with regard to passing the universal helmet law.

Let’s see lawmakers stand up and be counted this session for safety. Passing this law may save a loved one of theirs someday. Without the law, will they dismiss that loved one’s death as a “personal freedom” to die, especially if the husband, wife, child, mother, father or other person could have been saved?

This is a time when courage is needed to prevent deaths. The state’s residents are depending on you.

Dr. Brendan Campbell was vice chairman of Gov. Lamont’s transition policy committee on Public Safety and also is a trauma surgeon at Hartford Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Garry Lapidus is director of the Injury Prevention Center at Hartford Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Bill Seymour is a volunteer at the Injury Prevention Center at Hartford Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.