Motorcycle Deaths Spike in One State After Helmet Change

Motorcycle fatalities have soared in Missouri since the state scrapped its universal helmet law in 2020, grim new figures have revealed.

The numbers have jumped by an eyewatering 47 percent, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) confirmed, with 174 motorbike deaths on the state's roads in 2023; the deadliest year on record. Only 77 of those victims were known to be wearing a helmet.

The news follows a string of headlines about road safety concerns across the U.S. in recent years. One 2022 study found that motorcycle deaths are rising twice as fast as other traffic fatalities. And it appears to be a similar story for other road and sidewalk users too. The Department of Transportation has encouraged states to set up speed cameras in a bid to combat rising numbers of road fatalities, while even pedestrian traffic deaths are increasing, according to reports.

The Missouri figures were unveiled in an MoDOT report presented to the House Transportation Accountability Committee last week on April 11.

The agency suggested there was likely to be a link between the rising number of deaths and Missouri's decision to repeal a law that required motorcycle riders over the age of 26 to wear a helmet. Helmets became optional for that age group, as long as they had proof of health insurance, with the new rules going into effect at the end of August 2020.

Currently, 18 states have a universal helmet law requiring head protection for all riders, while 29 states, such as Missouri, require helmets for certain groups of riders. Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire, are the only states that do not have any motorcycle helmet laws.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson had considered allowing motorcyclists over the age of 18 with health insurance to drive without a helmet, but vetoed the bill in July 2019 amid legal wrangling about other provisions in the proposals, before similar legislation was passed for those over 26 the following month.

In 2019, the last full year in which the helmet requirement law remained in place, there were 121 motorcyclist deaths, with 79 of those wearing helmets and just 11 not wearing one. A further 31 crash victims were unaccounted for in terms of protective headgear, according to MoDOT statistics.

Then, 2020 saw the new law brought in almost three-quarters of the way through the year. There were 118 motorcyclists who were killed in 2020, with 80 who had been wearing helmets, and 20 who had not, with a further 18 unaccounted for.

By 2021, the first full year with the new rules in place, there was a spike in deaths with 159 people killed, just 58 of whom were wearing helmets, and 82 not doing so, with 19 unknowns.

And 2022 was a similar story; 153 were killed in total, with 68 helmet-wearing riders killed, and 73 unprotected bikers killed. There were no records on the headgear of the remaining 12 victims.

The latest figures available, for 2023, show a further jump in deaths to 174; a new record. Of those, 77 wore helmets and 73 did not. It's not known whether the remaining 24 wore head protection.

Addressing the spike in Missouri deaths, Jon Nelson, assistant to the state highway safety and traffic engineer at MoDOT, said: "We've seen that in other states. Whenever they've repealed a helmet law, [there are] similar increases."

Although the committee considered the report, there was no discussion about whether the repeal of the helmet law should be reversed, according to the Columbia Missourian.

Newsweek has emailed the Brain Injury Association of Missouri, which had been vocal campaigners against the change to the helmet law, arguing they feared more victims would suffer from brain trauma as a result of motorcycle accidents.

Newsweek has also reached out to the office of Governor Mike Parson by email, seeking comment on the MoDOT findings and asking whether they might prompt him to consider a U-turn on the bill he signed into law.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that, from 2002 to 2017, more than 25,000 lives have been saved by wearing motorcycle helmets. More recent estimates are not available. Motorcycle helmets are estimated to be 37 percent effective in preventing fatal injuries to motorcycle drivers and 41 percent effective for motorcycle passengers.