Advocates, The National Safety Council (NSC) and the Skilled Motorcyclist Association – Responsible, Trained and Educated Riders, Inc. (SMARTER) have written to members of the Rhode Island House State Government and Elections Committee in strong support Senate Bill (S.) 2286/House Bill (H.) 7382 to require all motorcycle operators to wear helmets and thereby harmonize the law to ensure helmet use by all riders.
The efficacy of all-rider helmet use laws is proven by the tragic consequences in states that have repealed all-rider helmet use laws. After repeal of their state’s universal helmet requirement, the motorcyclist fatality rate increased 35 percent in Florida, 50 percent in Kentucky and 100 percent in Louisiana.23 In Michigan, which repealed its all-rider helmet use law in 2012, there would have been 26 fewer motorcyclist deaths (a 21 percent reduction) that year if the law was still in place. More recently in Missouri, motorcyclist fatalities increased 26 percent from 123 in 2019, prior to repeal, to 166 in 2021, the first full year without the law and remained elevated in 2022. Nebraska’s repeal took effect in 2024, and preliminary state data shows a 32 percent increase in motorcyclist fatalities relative to the five-year average.
With motorcyclist fatalities at historically high levels, we urge you to support and advance S. 2286/H. 7382.
Read full letter here.