Does Wearing a Helmet Affect a Rider’s Ability to See or Hear?
It is well known that helmets save lives. If you are riding a motorcycle and you get into an accident, your chance of surviving the crash increases by thirty percent if you are wearing a helmet. Helmet use is on the rise, increasing from forty eight percent in 2005 to sixty seven percent in 2009.
If you ride a motorcycle in Tennessee, you are currently required by law to wear a helmet. Thirty-one other states do not require riders to wear helmets. Last summer, a bill to repeal the Tennessee helmet law passed the Senate Transportation Committee. This is not the first time that such a bill has been introduced, nor is it likely to be the last. Proponents of the bill say that helmets offer questionable safety benefits, and that doing away with the helmet law will increase tourism. Those who oppose the bill say that allowing riders to go without helmets will result in an increase in motorcycle accident deaths and in costs to Tennessee trauma hospitals.
It is not uncommon for people who oppose motorcycle helmet laws to argue that helmets offer some safety benefits while causing other safety risks. Two common arguments on this topic are that helmets affect a riders’ peripheral vision and that helmets affect hearing. In 1994, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) funded a study to explore these two issues.
In the study, fifty participants rode their motorcycles around a test course while listening for an audible signal which was their cue to change lanes. Three types of helmet-wearing scenarios were tested – no helmet, partial (three quarters) coverage helmet, and full coverage helmet with face shield. As the riders proceeded through the test course, researchers monitored the hearing of half of the participants while measuring the degree of head rotation of the others.
The results of the study indicate that neither type of helmet has an impact on how well riders can hear what is going on around them. At high speeds, helmets were actually found to improve hearing because they cut down on wind noise. While researchers found a small restriction in peripheral vision, they also found that riders can compensate for that restriction by turning their head just a little bit more than they would if they were not wearing a helmet. The researchers concluded that the degree of peripheral vision restriction that occurs when wearing a helmet is greatly outweighed by the increased protection that helmets offer to riders in the event of a crash.
While concerns about peripheral vision and hearing are not the only arguments which are commonly used by opponents of motorcycle helmet laws, they are two concerns which are often mentioned in the motorcycle riding community. Now that you know the truth about helmets and their impact on vision and hearing, you can make a more informed decision about helmet use when you ride in a place where it is optional.
If you have been injured or someone that you love has been killed in a motorcycle accident, you need the assistance of an attorney who specializes in handling motorcycle accident cases like yours. The knowledgeable and experienced Memphis motorcycle accident lawyers at Bailey & Greer, PLLC would like to hear about your case. When we speak with you, we will explain your options, answer your questions, and help you decide how to proceed. To learn more, call us at (888) 470-9143 to schedule a time to discuss your case. At Bailey & Greer, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.