HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

110

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

Requesting the Legislative reference Bureau to perform a study on the issues associated with, and the Utility of mandating the use of helmets for motorcycle, moped, motor scooter operators, and bicyclists, regardless of age.

 

 

WHEREAS, a Department of Transportation study performed at 120 different sites throughout the State found that moped helmet use statewide is only 15.6% and that motorcycle helmet use is only 26.4%; and

WHEREAS, nationwide statistics show that a motorcyclist is 16 times more likely to perish in an accident than an automobile driver, and that head injuries are the leading cause of death in motorcycle accidents with unhelmeted riders 40% more likely to sustain a fatal head injury; and

WHEREAS, unhelmeted motorcycle accident victims have higher health care costs compared to helmeted riders; and

WHEREAS, nearly half of the severe injuries resulting from bicycle crashes nationwide are diagnosed as traumatic brain injury (TBI) and that for the year 2000, more than 4,250 of the estimated 9,000 children ages 14 and under that were hospitalized for bike-related injuries suffered TBI, possibly causing serious long term degradation in quality of life; and

WHEREAS, sadly, those statistics also show that older children are more likely to suffer a TBI, likely from decreased helmet usage; and

WHEREAS, bicycle safety helmets reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85% and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88% and that 75% of the bicycle-related fatalities among children could have been prevented by a bicycle safety helmet; and

WHEREAS, arguments as to the "freedom of choice" that these riders have in choosing whether or not to wear a helmet when riding, where the spirit and attraction of the free spirited American motorcycle rider, as embodied in such films as "Easy Rider," or countless other television shows over the years, is also recognized as part of the pleasure of riding; and

WHEREAS, moped riders who do not use helmets are also at great risk and, in Hawaii, thousands of tourists rent mopeds and set out around the island with no local knowledge of Hawaii streets and roads; and

WHEREAS, there are very real costs to society, however, when this "freedom of choice" is exercised, in the form of taxpayers, including riders who choose to exercise personal responsibility for the safety of themselves to the greatest extent possible, subsidizing the health care costs of those unhelmeted accident victims through taxpayer dollars; and

WHEREAS, taxpayers also have to bear additional costs of programs intended to help unhelmeted accident survivors such as the Neurotrauma Special Fund and Advisory Board established by Act 160, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002; and

WHEREAS, businesses, taxpayers, and the State as a whole, suffer when traffic is shut down due to a traffic fatality, which is a statistically higher probability when the accident involves an unhelmeted rider; and

WHEREAS, last, and most important of all, is the grief caused to the loved ones of an unhelmeted accident victim when the inevitable thought of whether a safety helmet would have saved their loved one enters their minds; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that the House of Representatives requests the Legislative Reference Bureau to perform a study on:

1) The issues and consequences associated with mandating the usage of helmets for motorcycle, moped, and motor scooter operators and bicyclists in the State, regardless of age; and

2) The utility of enacting such amendments;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state Department of Transportation is requested to assist the Legislative Reference Bureau with this study by providing it with all relevant research and data already compiled; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature at least 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to be transmitted to the Director of the Department of Transportation and the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Safety helmets