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Spotted in the nytimes online this morning, this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/us/12helmet.html
I think I am one of the few people to examine the methodology of motorcycle helmet laws and the statistics used to promote and resist them. In fact the only contribution I made to the field in graduate school was to look at the wholly unstudied phenomenon of motorcycle helmet laws and the interest groups that argue their merits.
If you look at the graph that accompanies the article, it shows "deaths per motorcycle registration." Since when did the number of motorcycles registered become a proxy for motorcycling activity? Does NHTSA use vehicle registrations to determine deaths for autos and trucks? (The answer is no.) The trouble is (and this comes from my current life as a transportation planner) that the Federal Highways Administration has no way to calculate motorcycle Vehicle Miles Traveled. VMT is the denominator in the death rates and crash rates for all other modes of transportation.
On the policy end of things, I am indifferent. I ride without a helmet only rarely, like when I toodle around the block or to the store a block away. I know it is dangerous to do so. But for those small trips, lugging a helmet around is uncomfortable. My friend C. says that it is impossible to legislate against stupidity. She also says that a graduated licensing system would insure that people would have adequate experience and training for each level of motorcycle they are licensed to ride. I am inclined to agree with her on both counts.
Posted by Underblog at September 16, 2009 6:20 AM
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