Motorcycle Helmets - Florida Motorcycle Helmet Regulations

Since July 2000, motorbike riders have not needed to follow a universal helmet law, requiring all riders, irrespective of age, to wear a helmet when operating their motorbikes. Today, Florida helmet regulations state that riders older than 21 who have at least $10,000 in medical care coverage can legally ride their motorbikes without wearing a helmet, a move that was regarded as a victory by numerous bikers unhappy with universal helmet laws which had been in effect until that time.

Regardless of whether the move indicates a clear victory or not is reliant on interpretation. While bikers can enjoy the road unencumbered by motorcycle helmets which are usually heavy and hot, a report by the Florida Department of Transportation indicates that motorcycle accidental injuries and even fatalities have gone up following repeal of the universal laws, forcing a few state officials to reconsider the law.

The debate over universal helmet laws is not restricted to Florida. Throughout the nation, universal helmet conditions have met with active opposition, and lately, many states have eradicated universal helmet laws entirely, while other enforce certain age or insurance rules which control who must wear a helmet, and who can choose not to put on a helmet.

Before 1966, there were no motorcycle helmet laws in any country. However the Highway Safety Act of that same year put an end to that, demanding the establishment of uniform safety programs for motorcyclists nationwide. Under this act, all countries were required to develop and implement regulations that mandated the use of helmets by all bike riders. Nations which refused to enact such legislation faced losing s portion of government highway construction funds.

In 1975, with penalties pending against three states, Congress reconsidered the Highway Safety Act, and eliminated the helmet law mandate, and also disallowing a suspension of federal funds from nations without universal helmet laws. The result: by 1978, 25 nations had repealed their laws, or amended them to include only particular groups, generally individuals under the age of 18.

The 1980s was, overall, a period of stasis for helmet legal guidelines. But in the late 1980s and 1990s, several nations started reenacting helmet laws in an effort to decrease injuries and deaths, and reduce insurance and medical costs. In 1989, Oregon and Texas yet again implemented universal helmet regulations, and Washington and Maryland followed suit in 1990 and 1992. Even California, that had never before enforced a helmet law, enacted a universal helmet law in 1992 after much publicity. Florida also passed a helmet law, but in 1996 as mentioned, the law was revised that include only bikers under 21 and those without enough insurance coverage.

The repeal immediately noticed a marked change in helmet use in the state. As observational helmet use research conducted by the state DOT in 1998 revealed 99.5 percent of motorcycle bikers wore helmets. A similar study conducted in 2002, two years following the repeal of the universal helmet law, pointed out that rate had lowered to 52.7 percent.

A second study conducted by the Florida DOT also revealed that though the overall number of crashes decreased during the 18-month period after the law was repealed as compared to the 19-month period before repeal, fatal crashes among the state's motorbike riders elevated by around 43 percent after Florida helmet regulations were amended, from 284 deaths in the 18-month period before repeal, to 404 fatalities in the 18-month period after repeal. Non-fatal injuries elevated by around 16 percent in the same period. Even the numbers of under-age bikers increased following repeal of the law, from 7 percent to 11 percent.

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