Public health officials press for motorcycle helmet law

March 19-- Mar. 19--Physicians and public health experts are urging members of the legislature's transportation committee to approve a bill that would require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets.

"We have in our state a public health and a public safety crisis," said Dr. Garry Lapidus, the director the injury prevention center at Hartford Hospital and Connecticut Children's Medical Center and serves as chairman of a statewide safety coalition. "The good news is we have strong medicine to change this dramatically...it's called a universal motorcycle helmet law."

House Bill 7140 would require motorcycle operators and passengers to wear protective headgear. A separate measure would extend that same requirement to riders under the age of 21.

At a press conference at the state Capitol complex Tuesday, Lapidus offered a short demonstration. He placed two eggs on a plate, using a helmet to cover one. He took a hammer to the helmet, then displayed the egg to show it was not impacted. He them took a hammer to the second egg, smashing its shell.

Nineteen states currently require motorcycle riders to wear helmets. "Their death rates are almost 25 percent less than ours," Lapidus said. "Riders and their families are suffering unnecessary and preventable deaths and traumatic brain injuries."

Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, called the bill "a common sense public health" measure.

Some riders have spoken out against the proposal, saying helmets impede their hearing and sight on the road and are actually a deterrent to safety.

The transportation committee is scheduled to vote on both helmet-related bills on Wednesday.

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