Motorcycle helmets can help save lives. Head injuries are the leading cause of death in motorcycle accidents, and wearing a helmet reduces the risk of death by one-third. The author has witnessed many severe and fatal head injuries resulting from motorcycle accidents where the rider did not wear a helmet. Pennsylvania law currently only requires helmets for those under 21, but the author argues the law should be reversed to require helmets for all riders in order to help prevent unnecessary deaths and injuries.

1. Motorcycle Helmets can Help to
Save Lives

2. • Each year more than 2,200 people are killed in
motorcycle accidents and more than 55,000 are injured. Head
injuries are the leading cause of death with motorcycle
accidents. A motorcyclist is 16 times more likely to die in a
crash. These numbers are greatly reduced by one-third if the
cyclist is wearing a helmet (Safe and Sober, 2015).

3. • I feel that most of us would like to see a
mandatory rule to wear helmets. I’m sure at
sometime in your lives you have seen a
motorcycle weaving in and out of traffic at an
elevated speed and held your breath hoping
that nothing would happen.

4. • I have been a nurse for
eight years working in the
emergency department of
a trauma hospital. I have seen
motor vehicle accidents involving motorcycles
with people who do not wear helmets.

5. • . I have witnessed many people who have been
pronounced brain dead at the scene and many
others who have lasting deficits of broken cervical
bones and spine injuries. I also witnessed a friend of
the family who was killed on a motorcycle at the age
of 21 due to not wearing a helmet.

6. Proposal:
I believe that the law of motorcycle helmets
should be reversed and helmets should be
mandatory to wear while riding motorcycles.

7. • One of the many questions that I ponder
with, is if motor vehicle riders have to wear a
seat belt for protection; why then do we feel
that it is not necessary for motorcyclist to
wear helmets?

8. Who makes these decisions?
• Who decides what age is a safe age?
• The law for wearing a helmet while riding a
motorcycle vehicle is different in every state.

9. • I live in Pennsylvania where the law is that
motorcyclist have to wear helmets until the
age of 21 and then the helmet is optional
(Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania,
2008).

10. • When under 21 and wearing a helmet it must be
a specific helmet with dot verification and worn
with the sticker on the back of the helmet
(Department of Transportation, 2015).
1. The helmet must have the manufacture name,
date and time of inspection on the helmet.
2. The dot with verification of the helmet must be
worn on the back of the
helmet.

11. • Motorcycle helmets can help to save lives.
• From 1984 through 1995, helmets saved the
lives of more than 7,400 motorcyclists. If all
motorcyclists and their passengers had worn
helmets during those years, more than 6,300
additional lives could have been saved (Safe
and Sober, 2015).

12. • When state law enforces the use of
helmets, costs to family and society
decrease because motorcycle deaths
and injuries also decrease.

13. Helmet Safety Prevents
A. 80 percent of all accidents involved with a
motorcycle end in death.
B. A motorcyclist is 16 times more likely to die
on a motorcycle than an automobile accident.
C. Head injuries are the leading cause of death
in motor cycle accidents (Safe & Sober, 2015).
D. States that do not require helmet use, have a
20 percent higher rate in fatalities

14. How are helmets manufactured to save lives?
Design of helmet for safety
• Thick foam inner liner
• Helps to cushion the head on impact
• Head injuries are the leading cause of death in
motor cycle accidents (Safe & Sober, 2015)
• Hard outside shell
• Helps to keep the inner liner in place and
decrease impact.

15. Conclusion
I would like to stress the importance of wearing
a helmet while on a motorcycle. Make the
choice for life and wear a helmet.