The Impact of Michigan’s Partial Repeal of the Universal Motorcycle Helmet Law on Helmet Use, Fatalities, and Head Injuries

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Public Health
• Personal Author:
  Carter, Patrick M. ; Buckley, Lisa ; Flannagan, Carol A. C. ; Cicchino, Jessica B. ; Hemmila, Mark ; Bowman, Patrick J. ; Almani, Farideh ; Bingham, C. Raymond
• Description:
  Objectives ; To evaluate the impact of the partial repeal of Michigan’s universal motorcycle helmet law on helmet use, fatalities, and head injuries. ; Methods ; We compared helmet use rates and motorcycle crash fatality risk for the 12 months before and after the April 13, 2012, repeal with a statewide police-reported crash data set. We linked police-reported crashes to injured riders in a statewide trauma registry. We compared head injury before and after the repeal. Regression examined the effect of helmet use on fatality and head injury risk. ; Results ; Helmet use decreased in crash (93.2% vs 70.8%; P < .001) and trauma data (91.1% vs 66.2%; P < .001) after the repeal. Although fatalities did not change overall (3.3% vs 3.2%; P = .87), head injuries (43.4% vs 49.6%; P < .05) and neurosurgical intervention increased (3.7% vs 6.5%; P < .05). Male gender (adjusted odds ratio AOR = 1.65), helmet nonuse (AOR = 1.84), alcohol intoxication (AOR = 11.31), intersection crashes (AOR = 1.62), and crashes at higher speed limits (AOR = 1.04) increased fatality risk. Helmet nonuse (AOR = 2.31) and alcohol intoxication (AOR = 2.81) increased odds of head injury. ; Conclusions ; Michigan’s helmet law repeal resulted in a 24% to 27% helmet use decline among riders in crashes and a 14% increase in head injury.
• Subjects:
  • Accidents, Traffic
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Craniocerebral Trauma
  • Female
  • Head Protective Devices
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Michigan
  • Middle Aged
  More +
• Source:
  Am J Public Health. 107(1):166-172
• Pubmed ID:
  27854530
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5308169
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  K23 DA039341/DA/NIDA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R49 CE002099/CE/NCIPC CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R49CE002099/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  107
• Issue:
  1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/50676/cdc_50676_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 366.71 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:4bfcbaae8d471e0a6c1c21303de8674227a9c56c314f18b93bf9a6f20836fbfc