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National and State Organizations
and Individuals Appeal to Michigan Governor Rick
Snyder to Veto Repeal
Governor Snyder: Save Michigan's helmet law to
save lives and taxpayer dollars. Saving lives and money is win-win for Michigan!
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Motorcycle
Safety: How to Save Lives and Save Money - a 26-page resource document
produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center
for Injury Prevention and Control |
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National
Transportation Safety Board Statement - presented to the Michigan House
Committee on Transportation on October 26, 2011, for the record in
opposition to helmet repeal |
| Studies
Show Motorcycle Helmet Use Saves Lives and Reduces Financial Burdens - a
University of Michigan Sept. 8, 2011, release |
| SMARTER's
Letter to the Governor - a Dec. 12, 2011, letter hand-delivered to
the executive office by board chair, Dr. Don Smith, that enumerates seven
key reasons to oppose repeal and cites the research findings that support
each statement
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 Letter
to SMARTER from the Executive Office - a Dec. 19, 2011, letter by
Kevin Gardner, of the Constituent Relations Division, states the governor
"would support changes to Michigan's mandatory helmet law only if
other motorists don't pay more as a result."
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| SMARTER
Posts Petition and Letter to the Governor on Change.org - Read here
first the how-to information for petitioners, the petition in support, and
the letter to the governor asking him to veto any legislation that would
repeal Michigan's current lifesaving and dollar-saving all-rider motorcycle
helmet law. OR go directly to Change.org
to sign the petition! It's the quick and easy way for you to urge the
governor to veto helmet-law repeal. |
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Letter to the Governor from the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan - In a
June 9, 2011, letter, President Arlene Gorelick, MPH, states 25 percent of
all cases of epilepsy are attributed to head injury, and she urges the
governor to maintain the current helmet law. |
| UMTRI's
Letter to the Governor - a Nov. 10, 2011,
letter coauthored by directors of the University of Michigan Transportation
Institute and the University of Michigan Injury Center |
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Follow-up Letter to the Governor from a Coalition of County Medical
Societies - a letter posted Sept. 8, 2011, promulgated by the Washtenaw
County Medical Society and co-signed by 17 other Michigan medical societies
and health care groups emphatically stating why "We can't afford helmet
law repeal!" |
| MATAI's
Letter to the Governor - Kim Cole, president of the Michigan Association of Traffic Accident
Investigators, addresses firsthand concerns officers on the street have
about enforceability and shares firsthand experience working crashes where
helmets have saved lives or reduced injuries. |
| Ignore
the Spiel on the Motorcycle Helmet Law Repeal - Motorcycle accident
lawyer Steven Gursten shares a cartoon Animoto on the absurdity of the
campaign to repeal state motorcycle helmet laws. Even if you're smart enough
to ignore the repeal spiel, you'll like this video and its accompanying blog
post of Dec. 13. 2011. |
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Letter to Lt. Gov. Brian Calley - An extensively well-documented Nov. 8,
2011, letter by Injury Prevention Education
Specialist and avid motorcyclist Karla Klas, BSN, RN, CCRP, University of Michigan
Trauma Burn Center, succinctly sums up that "[h]elmets are indisputably
proven to save costs and lives...." |
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Letter to Michigan State Representatives - Injury Prevention Education
Specialist and avid motorcyclist Karla Klas, BSN, RN, CCRP, University of Michigan
Trauma Burn Center, in a Sept. 5, 2011, letter, submits compelling rationale for retaining Michigan's
universal helmet law. |
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Michigan
Helmet-Law Supporters - a compilation of 55 agencies and organizations
and a dozen media opinions all supporting Michigan's current mandatory
all-rider helmet law |
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Michigan
Medicaid is already paying nearly $20 million annually (NOT including auto
crashes or the more than half of all Medicaid recipients who are in managed
care plans) for the care of survivors of a brain injury.
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Amidst
soaring gas and food prices and an unstable state economy, Michigan
taxpayers cannot absorb the increased public cost of care that will result
from the repeal of the Motorcycle Helmet Law. Two University of Michigan
studies (Trends in Motorcycle Crashes in Michigan: 1997–2002 and
2002–2005, University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute)
confirm that wearing a helmet saves lives and prevents devastating and
debilitating head injuries.
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Michael
L. Prince, Director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning,
stated in a June 2008 press release that “Based on analysis conducted by
our office, if Michigan’s mandatory motorcycle helmet law was to be
repealed, the state should expect to see an annual increase of at least 30
fatalities, 127 incapacitating injuries and $129 million in economic
costs.”
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A
study by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA)
found that within 30 months of Florida’s 2000 Helmet Law repeal,
head-injury hospitalizations skyrocketed 80 percent and total cost for acute
care of head injuries doubled to $44 million, not including the cost of
long-term rehabilitation or the economic impact of lost wages for survivors
of a serious head injury and their families.
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ABATE
of Michigan, the organization that actively lobbies to repeal or weaken
Michigan’s universal helmet law, claims to represent all Michigan
motorcyclists, when in fact they are a minority biker group of approximately
4,000 members. According to the Michigan Department of State, as of February
1, 2009, there were 533,005 motorcycle-license-endorsed Michigan residents.
As of November 8, 2008, Michigan had 257,269 registered motorcycles;
therefore, ABATE represents significantly less than 1 percent of
Michigan’s license-endorsed motorcyclists. It is likely that anti-helmet
advocates in every state represent a very small percent of the licensed
riders in that state.
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ABATE
seems to consider the use of helmets by motorcyclists as a freedom-of-choice
issue based on the American ideals of Truth and Liberty. The Constitution
and the first ten amendments do not give individuals the “right to do as
they please” to the detriment of other citizens. The state has a positive
role in ensuring that all citizens have equal protection and justice under
the law and equal opportunities to exercise the privileges of citizenship.
Just as the rights of citizenship are balanced by responsibilities, such as
voting and paying taxes, so too are its privileges. To enjoy the privilege
of driving a car or riding a motorcycle, one must comply with certain
requirements, among them being the nonintrusive requisite to buckle up or
wear a helmet.
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The
“freedom” to ride with the wind in your hair isn’t free when
Michigan’s taxpayers are expected to pay for the selfish choice of
motorcyclists who simply do not want to wear a helmet.
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©Skilled Motorcyclist Association - Responsible, Trained and Educated Riders, Inc.