WESTFIELD – A bill to allow adult motorcycle operators and their adult passengers to forgo helmet use has been introduced by State Sen. Stephen Brewer (D-Barre) but some local health and public safety officials have reservations about the proposed change.
Currently, all motorcycle riders in the Commonwealth – including the 1,331 registered motorcycle owners in the city – are required to wear helmets.
State Sen. Michael Knapik (R-Westfield) explained that “it’s an annually filed bill” he said, which has previously enjoyed some support but has not been approved. He said “There’s certainly robust testimony (in the legislature) in support of eliminating the helmet requirement” and said that supporters may be hoping that, with the support of Brewer, who chairs the senate’s Ways and Means Committee, the bill may pass.
Knapik said he doesn’t ride himself but supports the proposed bill because he believes that riders should be allowed to choose for themselves whether or not to wear a helmet. “I do support it, to give people the option” he said.
But others do not agree.
“It’s crazy, really” said Stanley Strzempko, a practicing emergency department physician, formerly the emergency department head at Noble Hospital’s and currently the hospital’s chief medical officer.
He said “The numbers are really pretty simple.”
“The number one cause of death when you crash a motorcycle is head injuries” he said and went on to say that there is “definitive data” showing that helmet use limits the risk of death or serious injury in motorcycle crashes.
He said that mortality rate in motorcycle crashes is lowered by 40-90 per cent, depending on the study, when helmets are used.
Strzempko said that he is sympathetic to the libertarian point of view which objects to limitations on personal choices but points out that there is a tremendous public cost resulting from motorcycle accidents.
“I’m fine if you’re not asking me to pay for it” he said.
He said that, nationwide, between five and six thousand riders die each year as a result of motorcycle crashes and said that the total cost to care for victims of motorcycle accidents is $12 billion dollars annually.
And, he said, 63 percent of those costs are covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
In addition, he said, motorcycle accidents increase the costs of private insurance and impact the cost of publicly funded emergency services.
He said that the law does not need to be changed.
“Not only is it not broken” he said, “it’s working very well. So why change it?”
He said that Massachusetts has one of the lowest rates of death by motorcycle accidents per 10,000 registered motorcycles in the nation.
He said that Massachusetts’ death rate of less than three deaths per 10,000 motorcyclists is significantly lower than the national rate – which he said was about seven deaths per 10,000 riders – and attributed that to the helmet law.
“The helmet laws work” Strzempko said. “They save lives, they prevent a lot of personal tragedies and they save money.”
Across the nation, 20 states and the District of Columbia unconditionally require use of helmets for all riders while 28 states require helmets only for some – usually younger – riders. Two states, Illinois and Iowa, have no helmet requirements.
And the proposed law is not favored by local police either.
Sgt. Edward J. Murphy, supervisor of the traffic bureau of the Westfield police department, was dubious when asked about the proposed new law. “It’s probably not a good idea” he said. “I think everybody who rides a motorcycle should wear a helmet, regardless of their age.”
Police Chief John Camerota also said that he does not see a need to change the law. “I’d leave it the way it is” he said, “you need all the protection you can get.”
Camerota said that he too is leery about laws that remove choices but said that they are sometimes necessary. “I don’t really like government telling us what to do but in a few cases it’s for your own good” he said.
