Helmet Law Should Be Reinstated
The unfortunate serious motorcycle accident by Pittsburgh Steelers’ star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has brought to the forefront the decision by Pennsylvania’s legislators to repeal our helmet law. Today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Roethlisberger has suffered fractures of upper and lower jaws; broken facial bones and nose; multiple lacerations, abrasions, and contusions; lost and broken teeth; and a mild concussion. The good news is that Roethlisberger will live. The bad news is that other Pennsylvanians may suffer the same fate by legally riding without a helmet.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society has long advocated for the requirement to wear a helmet while motorcycling. After all, it makes sense. Head injury is a leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes. When involved in a crash, an un-helmeted motorcyclist is 40 percent more likely to incur a fatal head injury and 15 percent more likely to incur a non-fatal head injury than a helmeted motorcyclist.

The cost of a helmet is about the cost of a tank of high-test gas, and pales in comparison to the average cost of hospitalization for a motorcyclist with a head injury—$43,000, according to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. What an unnecessary waste of health care dollars. . . .

I personally ride a motorcycle, but I wouldn’t think of riding without my helmet. I can’t say I’ve ever seen an NFL quarterback take the field without his helmet. Neither should he—or any Pennsylvanian—ride a motorcycle without one.

Louisiana legislators repealed their motorcycle law in 1999 but then reenacted it in 2004. For the good of our patients and our health system, Pennsylvania legislators should wake up and do the same.

-- Mark A. Piasio, M.D., president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and a practicing orthopedic surgeon from DuBois, Pa