CDC TASK FORCE CALLS FOR HELMET LAWS

CDC TASK FORCE CALLS FOR HELMET LAWS A task force operating under the auspices of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is recommending that all states have a mandatory helmet law in place to require motorcycle riders of all ages to wear a helmet.

Citing reduced injuries and fatalities, as well as economic benefits, the Community Preventive Services Task Force, appointed by the director of the CDC, will make its recommendations to the federal agency and report its findings to the U.S. Congress in early December.

The CDC, whose primary mission is to fight disease, issued a report last summer recommending that all 50 states enact universal helmet laws in response to a sharp increase in motorcyclist fatalities; but ignoring the fact that the number of motorcycles in use nationwide has increased substantially over the past decade, and that costs associated with un-helmeted cyclists involved in fatal accidents represent a tiny fraction of overall U.S. healthcare expenditures.

In the meantime, U.S. Representative Tom Petri (R-WI) has authored a joint letter from members of Congress calling for the CDC to stop investigating motorcycling issues such as helmet laws, which they have no experience or expertise with, and “…to direct your attention and resources to areas that are not currently already being addressed elsewhere in the government.”