AAA announced strong opposition to bills that would substantially weaken Tennessee’s motorcycle helmet law. The proposed bill would allow riders 21 years and older, and not insured with TennCare, to ride without a helmet. Tennessee’s current law requires all motorcyclists to wear a helmet, regardless of age or experience of the rider. In October, AAA surveyed Tennessee voters and 91 percent of respondents favored keeping the state’s motorcycle helmet law in its current form. In states that repealed or weakened their universal helmet laws, helmet use declined sharply and deaths and injury rose.
“It’s clear that the majority of Tennessee voters don’t think the helmet law should change,” said Tim Wright, Tennessee regional president of AAA - The Auto Club Group. “Multiple studies of states that have weakened their motorcycle helmet laws show marked increases in both human tragedy—to the crash victims and their family—and financial costs.”
Mr. Wright says the bill is essentially a repeal of Tennessee’s helmet law because officers would be unable to determine if riders meet the requirements to go without a helmet. “Imagine officers trying to guess the age of a rider before pulling the bike over, then having no way to positively determine by the roadside if he or she is not insured by TennCare. This bill’s unenforceability means motorcyclists could ride without a helmet without fear of being caught, regardless of whether they are legally allowed to or not.”
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that Tennessee’s existing helmet law saves 46 lives a year and $94 million. The CDC ranks Tennessee sixth in the nation for lives and economic costs saved due to helmet use. AAA asks legislators to consider the experience of other states that have weakened their helmet law in recent years and how this change could affect all Tennesseans.
According to research conducted by the Preusser Research Group, if the helmet law was repealed all private insurance companies, residents and the State of Tennessee combined can expect a minimum cost increase from motorcycle crashes of more than 100 percent. The bulk of these costs are expected to be borne by private insurance companies.
“Tennessee’s universal motorcycle helmet law, enacted in 1967, has saved tens of thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Richard Miller, M.D., professor of Surgery and chief of Vanderbilt’s Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care. “At a time when our state and our nation are attempting to reduce health care costs, this legislation, if enacted, will result in increased deaths and substantial financial consequences not only for the crash victims but for all Tennessee taxpayers.”
According to a peer-reviewed study published in the American Journal of Public Health, Pennsylvania had a 66 percent increase in deaths caused by head injuries and a 78 percent spike in head injury hospitalizations following motorcycle crashes. Fatalities in Kentucky increased by 58 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Finally, in Florida the number of hospital admissions of motorcyclists with head, brain and skull injuries increased by 82% after its helmet law was relaxed.
"AAA urges its members and the public to contact legislators and request they vote against changing Tennessee’s motorcycle helmet law," officials said.