Motorcycle Helmets and Seat Belts Again Recommended to Reduce Deaths in Florida from Car and Motorcycle Accidents or Crashes
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Florida is ranked third in the United States regarding costs from deadly car accidents. The total of costs of car accidents nationally in 2005 (the latest figures available) was $41 billion, with Florida total costs coming in around $3.6 billion.
The CDC has made four recommendations that states could implement to cut back on these costs. One of the suggestions is having a seat belt law. Florida implemented a safety belt law effective June 30, 2009 which allows police to pull over drivers for not wearing seatbelts as a primary offense (before this law, a driver without a seatbelt would have had to commit another violation, such as speeding, before being pulled over). This is the only one of the four recommendations by the CDC that Florida has put into action.
Another recommendation by the CDC is the use of motorcycle helmets for all ages. Since 2000, it has not been mandatory for adults to wear helmets in Florida when driving or riding on a motorcycle. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were 402 motorcycle accident deaths in 2009. Motorcyclists who don't wear helmets are at higher risk of sustaining more serious personal injuries than those who wear helmets. A new study by the Yale School of Medicine shows that the death rate in motorcycle accidents was almost twice as high for people who did not wear helmets (65.6 percent) than people who wore helmets (34.4 percent) during an accident.
