We hear all sorts of reasons why you shouldn’t be required to wear a helmet – why it should remain a choice. With this new report from Vietnam, perhaps some of the die-hard, bare-headed bike and motorcycle riders will start to see the error of their ways.
Ninety percent of the vehicles in Vietnam are motorcycles, and until last year, only ten percent of these riders wore helmets. Add that statistic to the one the government cites, that there are an estimated 30 traffic related deaths a day, and you have a scary situation that obviously called for a helmet law.
In the year since the enforced helmet legislation was passed, official reports note a thirty percent decrease in traumatic head injuries and related deaths. Contrast that report to the one from Pennsylvania that found head injuries and deaths have risen 42 and 32 percent respectively since they reppealed their mandatory helmet law in 2003.
Interestingly enough, even with the obvious negative fall-out from repealing this law, the governor of Pennsylvania is said to encourage people to wear helmets, but still firmly believes it’s a choice. When this “choice” costs taxpayers thousands upon thousands of dollars, costs families missing wages and overwhelming medical costs not to mention the loss of loved ones – at what point should we decide to make the “choice” of mandatory helmet use? What do you think?