‘A commonsense rule’: Insurance institute calls for universal helmet laws

Stronger helmet laws could have prevented more than 22,000 motorcycle deaths over the past 4.5 decades, a recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.

Eric Teoh, study author and director of statistical services at IIHS, looked at how many helmeted and unhelmeted riders were killed annually in states with and without all-rider helmet laws.

“If every state had required all riders to wear helmets from 1976 to 2022, a total of 22,058 motorcyclists’ lives could have been saved,” an IIHS press release states. “The number represents 11% of all rider fatalities over those years.”

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have all-rider helmet laws. According to the most recent fatality data available, more than 6,000 motorcycle riders were killed each year in 2021 and 2022.

“If the remaining states came on board, the death toll could be cut by as much as 10%,” IIHS says. “Other measures like crash prevention technology that’s better at detecting motorcycles and mandatory antilock brakes on motorcycles themselves are also needed to improve rider safety.”

The institute notes that many states only require helmets for motorcycle riders of a certain age – often 17 or younger and 20 or younger. Missouri requires helmets for riders 25 or younger.

“Requiring all riders to wear helmets is a commonsense rule not that different from requiring people in cars to buckle up,” IIHS President David Harkey said in the release. “Requiring every rider to wear a helmet is a simple change that could have a dramatic and immediate effect on fatality rates. With 6,000 riders dying every year, it’s unconscionable that we haven’t already made these laws universal.”

Teoh acknowledged that a universal requirement would be unpopular with some motorcyclists. “But this could save hundreds of lives each year,” he said. “Those aren’t just numbers. They’re friends, parents and children.”