THURSDAY, Sept. 12, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Revved-up hospital costs are another reason why motorcyclists should
wear helmets in the event of a crash.
Along with higher health-care costs, longer hospital stays are in store for injured riders who don't don helmets, says a University of Michigan study in the September issue of the Journal of Trauma.
The study also found motorcyclists injured while riding without a helmet were less likely than their helmet-wearing colleagues to be covered by insurance to pay for their care. Riders without helmets were more likely to be younger, have more severe injuries, and suffer more head and neck injuries.
The study looked at the cases of 216 motorcycle crash victims at the university's Health System's Trauma Burn Center between 1996 and 2000. In 42 of those cases (19 percent), the riders weren't wearing helmets.
The average hospital costs for riders wearing helmets when they crashed were about 20 percent less (about $6,000) than for riders who weren't wearing helmets. The average costs were $31,158 and $37,317, respectively.
The researchers also looked at the costs for 23 motorcycle accident victims who received inpatient rehabilitation after leaving the trauma unit. The average rehabilitation cost for riders without helmets was $43,053, compared to $23,201 for helmeted riders.
"This adds further evidence to the argument that we need helmet laws for every rider in every state, not to infringe personal freedom, but to improve safety and reduce costs for everyone," says study co-author Dr. Mary Margaret Brandt, an assistant professor at the Medical School's department of surgery and a trauma surgeon at the Trauma Burn Center.
"Until that happens, it shows that those who ride without helmets should pay higher insurance premiums, as smokers and other high-risk groups do," Brandt says.
Three states have no helmet laws, and 27 have helmet laws that require helmets only for certain riders, such as minors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that 2,862 motorcyclists died and about 58,000 were injured in 2000. Riders not wearing helmets are 40 percent more likely to suffer a fatal injury and 15 percent more likely to suffer a non-fatal injury than riders who wear helmets, the NHTSA says.
More information
Here's more on motorcycle helmet safety.
