The motorcycle equivalent of “click it or ticket” might not be around much longer. The Michigan Legislature is working toward the repeal and replacement of Michigan’s motorcycle helmet laws.
The new laws would allow motorcyclists over the age of 21 who have had a motorcyclist endorsement (a type of certification allowing one to ride a motorcycle in Michigan) for more than two years to ride without a helmet. These bills, introduced by Rep. Peter Pettalia, R-Presque Isle, and Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair, are an apparent attempt to boost tourism in the state.
No one will deny the fiscal power tourism has in the state. $17.2 billion was spent on travel and tourism in Michigan in 2010. But will the new bills have that much of an influence on tourists? Is Michigan prime territory for motorcycle enthusiasts?
According to Pettalia, “A lot of tourists who are motorcyclists avoid our state because of our helmet laws.”
But 47 out of 50 states, including Michigan, currently have motorcycle helmet laws. Unless motorcyclists are flocking to Iowa, Illinois and New Hampshire, they have to wear helmets when they ride. As none of those three states are known tourist destinations, the effect the law is having on tourism probably is negative.
Tourism is nice, but public health and safety are more important than the potential for state revenue.
According to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, there were 3,285 motorcycle accidents last year in the state of Michigan. With the helmet law in place, 127 of those accidents were fatal.
Without a helmet law, and in conjunction with the supposed increase in tourism, both of those numbers are sure to go nowhere but up.
In 1997, when Texas weakened its helmet law, motorcyclist fatalities went up 31 percent after the first year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS. In 2001, when Florida did the same, the IIHS estimated that 117 deaths could have been prevented.
No amount of tourism revenue is worth the lives of individuals.
Another issue with these bills: How will the state enforce the new helmet law?
If everyone without a helmet is pulled over, that will ruin the tourism appeal of the state to riders who wish to ride unencumbered. But if no one without a helmet is pulled over, how will riders know the law is being enforced? Enforcement will be a long and difficult transition for police departments.
There could be stickers or identifying marks on the motorcycle to alert police to the fact that a rider without a helmet is certified, but those would probably be hard to spot and easy to counterfeit.
The potential harm to Michigan and non-Michigan riders outweighs the necessity of these bills. Perhaps it is inconvenient to wear a helmet no matter how long one has safely ridden a motorcycle. The point of helmets is protection during accidents, and those can happen to anyone for any reason, experienced or not.
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