Media Contact: Shane Austin
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement of Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, on New Motorcycle Helmet Research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
(Washington, D.C. | October 16, 2024) Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) commends the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for its comprehensive study on the human cost of unhelmeted motorcycle riding. Over 6,200 motorcycle riders were killed in 2022, the highest fatality total in a single year since data collection began in 1975, and early estimates for 2023 show an additional 2 percent increase over the previous year. Nearly 82,700 motorcycle riders were injured in 2022. The report reveals that over 22,000 motorcyclist lives could have been saved between 1976 and 2022 if all states had adopted all-rider helmet laws. As they note, helmets are proven to reduce the risk of death by 37 percent and traumatic brain injury by two-thirds.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the financial impact of motorcycle crashes is staggering, costing nearly $17 billion in economic impacts and $107 billion in societal harm as measured by comprehensive costs based on 2019 data. Accounting for inflation alone, in 2024, this would equate to over $21 billion in economic impacts, and over $131 billion in societal harm. Serious injuries and fatalities accounted for 83 percent of total comprehensive costs of motorcycle crashes, compared to 60 percent of the total comprehensive costs of all motor vehicle crashes.
Advocates has consistently supported all-rider motorcycle helmet laws and vigorously opposed efforts to repeal those already on the books. We urgently call on the 33 states lacking the law (listed below) to take urgent action to prevent the needless loss of life and injuries and reduce the overwhelming financial burden on families, communities and public health systems.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) should require anti-lock braking systems (ABS) for motorcycles as standard equipment. Research from IIHS shows that the rate of fatal crashes is 22 percent lower for motorcycles equipped with ABS than those same models without ABS. Moreover, automatic emergency braking (AEB) on cars and trucks should be required to detect and respond to motorcycle riders and bicyclists.
By enacting these proven policies, lives will be saved, suffering will be spared, and soaring costs will be reduced.
Read more on the deadly issue of motor vehicle crashes and solutions to address them in our 2024 Roadmap to Safety report. Also, please mark your calendar for the release of the 2025 version on December 5, 2024 at 10:30am ET. The LIVE press conference can be viewed on our website, www.saferoads.org.
States without all-rider motorcycle helmet laws (33):
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About Advocates
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.