Any time that a person suffers a serious head injury, the risks of brain damage can become a pressing concern for doctors, the patient and the patient’s family. These kinds of injuries can happen in a number of different ways, one of which is motor vehicle accidents. Specifically, brain injuries from motorcycle accidents take a costly toll when it comes to both the health and financial costs of a victim.
According to a report from the Center for Diseases Control (CDC), motorcycle crashes kill thousands of people each year. In addition, the economic costs of injuries and deaths from motorcycle accidents are billions of dollars each year. When it comes to brain injuries from motorcycle accidents, the hospital charges alone were 13 times higher for motorcycle accident victims who suffered severe brain injury than for those who did not.
The CDC’s report states that brain injury is the most common cause of death from motorcycle accidents. Most motorcyclists in the Ocala area probably know that helmets are important for safety, and the data supports that conclusion. When a rider wears a helmet, they reduce their risk of head injury by 69 percent compared to riders who don’t wear a helmet. Moreover, motorcyclists who don’t wear a helmet are 40 percent more likely to die from brain injuries from motorcycle accidents than riders who do wear them.
Florida has only a partial helmet law for motorcyclists; this means that the law does not require all riders to wear helmets. Any motorcyclist who is 21-year-old or older and has at least $10,000 worth of insurance to cover health costs can choose whether or not to wear a helmet.
Although state law doesn’t require helmet use for all Florida riders, wearing a helmet is a good safety practice. The risks and costs of death or brain injury from motorcycle accidents are awfully high to take a chance on not wearing a helmet. Aside from wearing helmets, accident prevention is the best way for motorcyclists to avoid head injury. Riders and everyone else on the road share responsibility when it comes to preventing accidents.
Source: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, “Motorcycle Safety How to Save Lives and Save Money,” Accessed on April 8, 2015
