OMBUDSMAN ALERT EXTRA: Maintain rule that bikers must wear helmets; thousands of lives depend on it

Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, released the following urgent warning to our readers which states, in part:

“May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and Advocates wants to remind all riders that the most important thing you can do to prevent death and devastating injury in a motorcycle crash is to wear a helmet. Motorcycles are the most dangerous form of motor vehicle transportation. Per vehicle miles traveled, motorcyclists are nearly 30 times more likely to die in a traffic crash than occupants of passenger cars.Motorcycle crashes are also on the rise, In 2016, 5,286 were killed, the most fatalities since 2008.

“Motorcycle helmets also save taxpayers billions of dollars every year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motorcycle crashes lead to $12.9 billion in economic impacts and $66 billion in social harm annually…..NHTSA has found states without universal hemet laws have 11.5 times as many unhelmeted motorcyclist fatalities as states with universal helmet laws.”

New York is one of the 19 states in the U.S. that have considered bills to weaken or repeal vital all-rider helmet laws this session. Senate bill 2381 has proposed removing the requirement to wear a helmet for those over 21. These measures are irresponsible at best and deadly at worst!