Eastside Fire & Rescue is urging all people who ride a motorcycle, ATV or bicycle to make it a habit to wear a helmet when operating the two, three, or four-wheelers. “It’s really a no-brainer,” said EFR Fire Chief Lee Soptich . “Wearing a helmet is something so simple, that makes so much difference when things go wrong.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010, 42 percent of motorcyclists who were fatally injured were not wearing helmets at the time of the accident. Helmets saved over 1,500 riders’ lives in 2010, but about 700 more lives could have been saved if all riders had worn helmets.
On average, states with a universal helmet law save eight times more riders’ lives per 100,000 motorcycle registrations annually, when compared to states without a helmet law. Even states with a partial helmet law save three times more riders’ lives per 100,000 motorcycle registrations each year.
In a separate report, the CDC noted, only 45 percent of All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) riders always wear a helmet, and 25 percent never wear one. Youth who most frequently ride ATVs have the lowest consistent helmet use. A full 80 percent of youth who reported that they had ridden an ATV six or more times in the previous year did not always wear a helmet.
In 2011, an estimated 25 percent of youth reported that they had ridden an ATV at least once during the previous year. The proportion of rural youth who reported riding an ATV was double the number of urban youth riders. Among riders, males tend to ride more often than females.
Millions of Americans ride bicycles, but the CDC reports that less than half wear bicycle helmets. Most helmetless bike riders are older children (above 14 in age) or adults.
In the U.S. alone, in 2010, there were 800 bicyclists killed and an estimated 515,000 sustained bicycle-related injuries that required emergency department care. Roughly half of these cyclists were children and adolescents under the age of 20. Annually, 26,000 of these bicycle-related injuries to children and adolescents are traumatic brain injuries treated in emergency departments.
