Question

Briefly summarize why current helmet safety standards are not sufficient to prevent concussions and offer your own argument for why they should support new laws calling for new standards. you should specifically mention what purpose helmets were originally designed for .

Answer 1

Motorcycle helmet laws in the United States vary from state to state, and range from no law requiring helmets, partial laws covering a portion of motorcyclists usually delineated by age, and universal laws requiring helmet use among all motorcyclists. In 1967 the U.S. government incentivized state legislatures to enact motorcycle helmet laws through highway construction funding. By 1975, 48 of 50 states and Washington DC had enacted universal helmet laws. Despite growing evidence of the effectiveness of motorcycle helmets in reducing head and brain injuries, many state legislatures have repealed or reduced the coverage of those laws since that time. Despite falling rates of motor vehicle crash morbidity and mortality, rates of motorcycle morbidity and mortality have risen since the early 1990’s, peaked in 2007 and 2008, and remained somewhat stable over the last decade.

Satien Luangpitak, 28, is a motorcycle taxi driver in northern Bangkok. As in much of urban Thailand, motorcycle taxis are a common means of personal transport. However, despite a national mandatory helmet law for taxis and passengers, enforcement is sporadic and it is common to see unhelmeted drivers and passengers. In May 2004 Satien was involved in a crash while driving in heavy traffic. As he tried to overtake a car, he collided with another motorcycle taxi in front of him. Satien was travelling at 80 km/h and, upon impact, was thrown forward and landed on the pavement, striking his helmeted head and his left shoulder. He lost consciousness for about half an hour. Another motorcycle taxi driver stopped to assist him: rather than call and wait for the emergency services, this man lifted Satien and removed him from the roadway. He then moved him to a vehicle and evacuated him to a hospital – an action meant in good faith, but that he later learnt may have inflicted a spinal cord injury on Satien. At hospital, Satien received treatment for trauma to his head and shoulder

During a motorcycle or bicycle crash there are two principal mechanisms of injury to the brain: through direct contact and through acceleration–­deceleration. Each mechanism causes different types of injuries. When a motorcycle or bicycle is involved in a collision, the rider is often thrown from the cycle. If the rider’s head hits an object, such as the ground, the head’s forward motion is stopped, but the brain, having its own mass, continues to move forward until it strikes the inside of the skull. It then rebounds, striking the opposite side of the skull. This type of injury can result in anything from a minor head injury, such as concussion, to a fatal head injury. Head injuries that result from either contact or acceleration–deceleration injuries are themselves divided into two categories: open or closed head injuries. Most traumatic brain injuries are the result of closed head injuries – that is, there is no open wound to the brain

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