Motocycle Helmet Laws

I am doing a visiting clerkship at Maine Medical Center in Portland this month. I was shocked to see motocyclists not wearing helmets. This is a law in Oregon since...for a long time I suppose. I also just learned that Pennsylvania repealed their helmet law a few years ago. It is no suprise that the number of motocycle fatalities and hospitalizations increased since that law was repealed in 2003. It is odd indeed that there are several states that still do not have universal helmet laws (requiring helmets for all riders) while many states such as Oregon, New York, and Massachusetts have had such laws for over 30 years. I was told that, at least in Maine, the motocyle lobby is more powerful than the public health lobby.

Decision-making by special interests rather than public interest has become a familiar story of what we accept as democracy in our own government, which is a large reason I think we tolerate rather liberal use of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, all of which are massive threats to public health. Sure, there are cultural reasons too, which was immediately obvious in the absurd public reaction to Obama's comment about guns and poverty while campaigning in Pennsylvania. I cannot pretend to separate out "authentic cultural principles" from a special-interest positions, but I think that lobbying, marketing and public relations more often than not hijack public debate on these very important topics by normalizing one side of the issue in the interest of private gain.