Riding a motorcycle without a helmet may be hazardous to your health and now a university study says it's much more expensive when you crash. The recent study by the University of Michigan was published in the September 2002 issue of the Journal of Trauma.
The study analyzed data for 216 motorcycle crash victims brought to the University Health System's Trauma Burn Center between 1996 and 2000. Accident victims' progress was followed from the emergency room to the trauma center and through rehabilitation.
Crash victims who were not wearing helmets had hospital costs that were an average $6,000 higher than those who were wearing helmets, the study says. Patients who were not wearing helmets had average hospital costs of $37,317, compared with patients who wore helmets and had costs of $31,158.
"This adds further evidence to the argument that we need helmet laws for every rider in every state, not to infringe on personal freedom, but to improve safety and reduce costs for everyone," says Dr. Mary Margaret Brandt, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan Medical School's Department of Surgery.
Of the 216 motorcycle crash victims studied, 42, or 19 percent, were not wearing helmets, despite Michigan's mandatory helmet law.
Brandt, an author of the study, says motorcyclists who do not wear helmets should pay higher insurance premiums, just as smokers and other high-risk groups do.
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