First post from Folkestone, and what else is new?

I'm writing about something back home!

Sure, I could write something up about Barcelona's 2-0 win over Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final, or go into detail about recent legislation concerning whether Gurkha troops stationed here in Folkestone should receive the right to immigrate to the UK at the end of their service. But instead, I need to talk about helmets.

Last week, I posted an admonishment toward the Missouri Department of Transportation about their citing statistics from a survey they hadn't sourced in their news release essentially lobbying Governor Jay Nixon to veto Senate Bill 202. Again, that bill would repeal the requirement that motorcycle helmet riders over the age of 21 wear a helmet. Earlier today, in response to a request I made under Missouri's Sunshine Law (RSMO Chapter 610), MoDOT sent me PDF copies of the survey and statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. I have uploaded a copy of both.

The survey, conducted by Abacus Associates of Hatfield, Massachusetts, does generally support MoDOT's findings. Technical details worth noting include that the survey questioned 2050 Missourians via telephone last April, with a margin of error of just under three percent. The three percent comes as a result of the weighted sample areas, divided by MoDOT's ten districts. Abacus has in the past been hired for at least five other MoDOT surveys and one of Kansas City's early light rail feasibility studies, according to their transportation CV.

MoDOT's claim that Missourians support the helmet law nine-to-one is reiterated in the executive summary of the survey. Specifically, the percentage is 84 percent strongly or leaning in favor to nine percent strongly or leaning against the current law. Also, the survey found that over half of those surveyed (56%) had never ridden a motorcycle. Of the respondents who said that they have ridden a motorcycle in the past year, 75 percent are in favor, either strongly (69%) or leaning, while 19 percent oppose, including 15 percent strongly.

The NHTSA statistics indicate both how many lives each state says were saved as a result of people involved in vehicle crashes who were wearing their seat belts, in the case of autos, or helmets in the case of motorcycles. The figures were then, based upon additional surveys concerning seat belt & helmet use, synthesized to create a figure equivalent to 100 percent usage. The figures provided are indeed striking: while Missouri and their helmet requirement estimate that eight additional lives can be saved were 100 percent of Missourians on bikes wearing their helmets, on top of the 42 reported saved in 2007, Arkansas & their lack of a helmet law would double their figure at 100 percent compliance, from 18 to 37.

The surveys are available here in PDF form:
MoDOT's commissioned survey on support for the helmet law
NHTSA Statistics on Lives Saved