Helmet usage should be law of the land again
When news broke Monday that Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash in which he was not wearing a helmet, it brought back memories of last spring, when my father was killed while riding his motorcycle without his helmet. And predictably, it made me furious.
It made me angry because Roethlisberger is someone who appears to have it all. He's young. He's popular. And he's successful. In January, at age 23, he became the youngest quarterback in history to win a Super Bowl.
In Monday's crash, Roethlisberger struck a car. He was thrown from his bike and hit the car's windshield with his head. In the process, he lost two teeth, broke his upper and lower jaw, broke his nose and broke various facial bones.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Roethlisberger was in fair condition after seven hours of surgery to repair his multiple facial fractures. Doctors say he appeared to escape serious injury to his chest, abdomen, spine or brain. He's lucky. He's also incredibly stupid.
He's stupid because he could have very easily brought an end to a promising career just as it was getting started. Or worse, he could have been killed. Roethlisberger was released from the hospital Wednesday evening, just two days after his accident, and he will apparently play this year. But who knows if he will ever again be the same quarterback he was in January, when he was on top of the world? Only time will tell.
In my mind, Ben Roethlisberger has just become the poster child for why a universal helmet usage law is needed in this country. Actually, we used to have one, until members of Congress repealed it in 1995. Since then, many states, including Pennsylvania, have made helmets optional (Pennsylvania's law making them optional passed in 2003). And every year, it seems, someone in Tennessee's General Assembly tries to do the same thing here. It's an outrage.
I can already hear the outcry from those who think that this is an issue of personal choice, and that wearing a helmet should be optional. To those people, I say, no it's not. This is an issue of safety and of public health.
One fact that cannot be denied is that motorcycle helmets save lives. Statistics indicate that approximately half the motorcycle fatalities each year could be prevented if people would use helmets, and use them properly. Some people will, of course, argue, that helmets don't save every life. Of course they don't. Neither do seatbelts. But your chances of surviving a serious accident are significantly greater if you are wearing a helmet. That fact is indisputable.
What also is indisputable is that keeping helmets mandatory helps save consumers a lot of money in health care costs. Take it from me. Even a short stay in the hospital can cost thousands of dollars. And if the stay becomes extended, it could bankrupt the average American.
The problem with the "personal choice" crowd is that they can't see past the end of their own nose. They think they're the only ones affected by their decision to ride without their helmet. They're not. What they can't, or won't, see is that every time they have a serious accident that requires a lengthy hospital stay, it affects others through increased insurance premiums and health care costs. It's unfair. And it's largely preventable.
We need a universal helmet usage law in this country because it would eliminate the patchwork of laws where some states require helmets and some don't. And we need a universal usage law because, frankly, it would eliminate the "stupid factor." It would take the choice of whether to wear a helmet and make it easy by making it the law.
Congress should revisit this issue and make helmets the law of the land again. We can argue all day about "personal choice" and about government's intrusion into our personal lives. But the fact is, Ben Roethlisberger is lucky to be alive. Not everyone who had an accident this serious would walk away from it. By making helmets mandatory, we would greatly increase their chances.
Peter Watson is The Jackson Sun's editorial page assistant. Call him at 425-9655 or toll-free at (800) 372-3922, Ext. 655. Log onto jacksonsun.com and share your thoughts on this column.
Originally published June 18, 2006
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