updated 07-03-08
www.whohelmets.org/headlines/index.htm
Summer 2008 Issue of Headlines Released
NOTE: US only
www.whohelmets.org/headlines/08_summer_pardi.htm
U.S.A.: Legislation and helmet wearing
Many reports have indicated that legislation requiring children to wear
bicycle helmets increases helmet use in six months to one year. But what
happens over an extended period of time such as four or five years? Lisa
Pardi and her colleagues at the Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio,
United States of America, were able to analyze injury data for a
five-year period and found that injuries remained lower four years after
the passage of a helmet law for children.
In Akron, at the beginning of 2000, bicycle injuries for children were
increasing. An 82% increase was seen from one year to the next, despite
an active hospital-based, low-cost bicycle helmet programme. Armed with
these data, community leaders were able to convince the Akron city
council to pass a law requiring helmet wearing for all children under 16
years old. Pardi’s group examined hospital discharge data for the year
before and the five years following passage of the law. Here’s what they
found:
* The bicycle-related injury rate decreased by 27% during the five
years after the law was passed.
* Extremities were the most common part of the body injured.
* Overall, 5 to 9 year old boys and 10 to 16 year old boys showed a
decrease in head injuries.
* The head injury rate for 5 to 9 year old girls dropped by 22% in
the final year of the study compared to the baseline data, while the
head injury rate for the 10 to 16 year old girls decreased only by 2.2%.
Compared to boys, the rate for girls was much lower.
Since this study used only hospital discharge data, there were
limitations to the conclusion. No information was obtained about bicycle
riding frequency or helmet wearing rates during this period. Police
reported no enforcement activity for repeat offenders of the law and
they said the number of bicycle education rodeos had decreased in the
years following the passage of the law.
Editor’s note: The data reported in this study do not allow detailed
analysis of the head injury trends.
Pardi LA, Salemi G, Salvator AE. The Effect of bicycle helmet
legislation on pediatric injury. J Trauma Nursing 2007;14(2):84-87.
www.whohelmets.org/headlines/08_spring_carter.htm
U.S.A.: Awareness of bicycle helmet laws
In North Carolina, in the Southeastern United States, four bicyclists
are killed or injured every day. One out of three bicyclists killed
there is a child, under 16 years old. This occurs in spite of a law in
North Carolina that requires all bicyclists under 16 years old to wear a
helmet. Failure to comply with the law may mean a $10 fine for the
child’s parent or guardian.
Observational studies in North Carolina have shown that, in spite of the
law, few children – between 12 and 16% - wear bicycle helmets. Fewer
still were wearing them correctly. To examine whether lack of awareness
of the helmet law was a factor in these low wearing rates, researchers
from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Eastern Carolina University
medical school conducted a survey in the county in which they were
located, Pitt County.
Survey questionnaires were distributed to a convenience sample of about
600 parents, physicians and emergency personnel, and teachers. Almost
three quarters of those asked participated in the survey. Most knew
about the law (ranging from 69% for parents to 75% for teachers), but
among parents, 18% said their child never wore a helmet. The majority of
the respondents understood proper helmet use, although most
underestimated helmets’ effectiveness. Most of the parents (80%) felt
that the burden of educating children about helmet should fall on them.
The results of the survey showed that there was general awareness of the
effectiveness of helmets and of the North Carolina bicycle helmet law,
but this awareness does not translate into increase helmet wearing
rates. The study authors concluded that additional educational efforts
are needed to increase helmet use. These educational efforts should be
reinforced by additional enforcement of the existing helmet law.
Carter KA, Brewer KL, Garrison HG. Awareness of the bicycle helmet law
in North Carolina. N C Med J 207;68(4): 225-30.
www.whohelmets.org/headlines/08_summer_houston.htm
U.S.A.: How effective are motorcycle laws in reducing young motorcyclist
fatalities?
Under increased pressure from motorcycle advocacy groups, states’ laws
are being changed from requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets to
laws that require only young riders to do so. At the end of 2005, 20
states had universal laws, and that number is decreasing. Twenty-six
states had laws requiring only young riders to wear helmets.
David Houston, Associate Professor of Political Science at the
University of Tennessee, examined data for all US states taken from
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatal Accident
Reporting System to examine whether the trend from universal to partial
coverage motorcycle helmet laws, was affecting fatality rates. He
prepared several statistical models that showed that on the average,
fatality rates for those aged 15-20 year old are 31% lower under
universal coverage laws. Researchers commonly assume that partial
coverage laws were not effective in protecting the entire population of
motorcyclists, did feel that partial coverage laws had some effect on
their specific target. That specific target is riders under 21 years old
since most partial coverage laws require helmets for just younger
riders.
In areas where only younger riders are required to wear helmets, no
statistically significant reduction in young rider fatality rates is
seen, even though they are required to wear helmets. Partial coverage
laws appear to undermine wearing rates for motorcycle helmet riders.
This results in lower than expected wearing rates – and subsequently
higher fatality rates – for younger riders.
Houston concludes that his findings “suggest that the political deate
over mandatory helmet laws is not simply an issue of providing adults
the personal freedom to choose whether to wear a helmet.” Downgrading
the universal laws to partial coverage ones means that the safety of
younger riders will be compromised.
Houston DJ. Are helmet laws protecting young motorcyclists? J Safety Res
2007;38(3):329-36.