A proposal is being considered in Tallahassee to reinstate Florida’s Mandatory Motorcycle Helmet law.
It was abandoned 16 years ago.
State representative Don Hahnfeldt of the Villages wants to bring it back.
The new law would eliminate the exemption that allows riders 21 and older who carry at least 10 thousand dollars worth of medical insurance to ride helmetless.
I have to say I had no idea about the insurance. I’m pretty sure most of the people who ride without a helmet also do not. Ten thou is a spit in the bucket when you have a closed head injury and your stuck in a wheel chair for the rest of your life dependent on 24 hour a day care.
I’m all for freedom but the fact is that the freedom of having an accident costs the rest of us. Anyone having an accident in state of Florida on a motorcycle and ends up with a head injury will not have the resources to live in any comfortable way for the rest of their lives. There are virtually no resources for the disabled. You and your family literally have to fend for yourselves.
Medical Costs
According to the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, inpatient medical costs for motorcycle brain injury may be more than double the costs incurred by accident victims who did not sustain brain injury. In cases of severe motorcycle brain injury, the victim may require ongoing medical treatments throughout the course of his or her lifetime. As a result, families can be faced with staggering financial burdens.
The National Foundation of Brain Research states that the average medical and non-medical costs for those who survive traumatic brain injury (TBI) is roughly $151,000. This figure takes into account several aspects of care, such as vocational rehabilitation, health insurance, and necessary home modifications.
link: https://afteramotorcycleaccident.com/motorcycle-injuries/brain-injury/
All you folks that want your freedom and want to take my health insurance away that costs me a fortune and I hardly even use but yet you want me to pay for your recovery for being too lazy to put on a helmet. Florida is no place to ride without a helmet. Say what you want about Boston drivers. Florida drivers are the worst.
As a RN I try hard not to be judgy about anything. Seriously. Your all adults. It’s your life. I make recommendations. Loose the scatter rug. It’s a fall risk. You might consider a shower chair so you don’t fall down in the shower. Can you put a railing at those step so you won’t fall down again. Life is filled with accidents waiting to happen. Part of my job is point them out.
Accidents happen all the time but that doesn’t mean we can’t be wise.
Because serious head injury is common among fatally injured motorcyclists, helmet use is important. Helmets are about 37 percent effective in preventing motorcycle deaths and about 67 percent effective in preventing brain injuries. Yet only 19 states and the District of Columbia mandate helmet use by all riders.
https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/motorcycles/fatalityfacts/motorcycles
Here is a study. It’s a little old but it is interesting.
Research has shown that when a state repeals its helmet law or opts for less restrictive requirements, helmet use decreases and motorcycle-related deaths, injuries, and costs increase. In 2000, for example, Florida changed its universal helmet law to a partial helmet law that covered only riders aged <21 years and those with <$10,000 in medical insurance coverage. During the 2 years after the law was changed, the motorcyclist death rate per 10,000 registered motorcycles in Florida increased by 21%, deaths among motorcycle riders aged <21 years nearly tripled, and hospital admissions of motorcyclists with injuries to the head, brain, and skull increased by 82% (7). In addition, gross costs charged to hospital-admitted motorcyclists with head, brain, or skull injuries in Florida more than doubled, from $21 million to $50 million (7). Studies that have examined nonfatal injury outcomes among motorcyclists who wore helmets and those who did not have found that hospitalized riders who had not worn helmets incurred higher health-care costs . Riders who do not wear helmets are more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries, and median hospital charges for those with traumatic brain injuries are 13 times higher than for those without such injuries (8). Riders who do not wear helmets also are less likely to have health insurance, and therefore are more likely to require publicly funded health care .
This is the CDC so we can’t do better than #science.
So that’s the issue and it will be coming up in the legislative session.
What do you think? Please vote so we can weigh in.
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