Deaths Fall in 1st Year of Helmet Law : Safety: But motorcyclists opposed to the regulation attribute the drop to other factors. Some question the CHP’s figures.

The number of fatalities in motorcycle accidents has declined by almost half since a mandatory state helmet law took effect Jan. 1 of last year, but law enforcement officials, traffic safety experts and motorcyclists continue to debate whether the law is the cause.

Since the law took effect, the number of deaths caused by motorcycle accidents has dropped about 40%, from 406 in the first nine months of 1991 to 246 in the same period in 1992, according to the most recent statistics from the California Highway Patrol.

The number of injuries caused by motorcycle accidents dropped 24%, from 11,668 between January and September, 1991, to 8,868 during the same period in 1992, according to the CHP figures.

However, CHP officials acknowledged that part of the dramatic decrease in deaths and injuries occurred because the number of motorcyclists involved in accidents also went down sharply. The motorcycle accident rate plunged 25% from 13,986 in the first nine months of 1991 to 10,517 in the same period in 1992--a drop unrelated to helmet wearing.

Taking this drop into account, the injury rate for the two periods is about the same--84 injuries for every 100 accidents in 1992, compared to 83 in 1991. But the death rate computes to 2.3 per 100 accidents in 1992, down from 2.9 deaths in 1991.

Helmet law opponents and proponents alike tend to agree that helmets have been one of many factors in reducing the number of fatalities and injuries. But they disagree on how big a role the law has played.

In addition to the lower number of motorcycle accidents, other possible factors in the decline include a slight drop in motorcycle ownership statewide, the comparatively poor riding weather in 1992, and the benefits of safety classes designed to improve riding skill, taken by a growing number of motorcyclists.

The number of bikers enrolling annually in a state motorcycle safety program has increased by about 60% since it began in 1987.

Also, the number of younger motorcyclists--statistically more likely to be involved in accidents--has dropped, and the percentage of older, more experienced riders has risen, according to some traffic safety researchers.

“The law has definitely had an affect on the number of people killed on motorcycles, but whether it is the only cause I can’t say,” said Lt. Greg Manuel, a spokesman for CHP headquarters in Sacramento.

Mike Osborn, a spokesman for the American Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education--a motorcycle group that is a leading opponent of the helmet law and is helping fund a legal challenge to overturn it--said he believes motorcycle safety classes have played a greater role in reducing motorcycle deaths than the law.

“No matter what kind of law they passed, there would have been fewer deaths and accidents anyway,” Osborn said. “There is absolutely no proof that (the helmet law) is doing any good.”

Jess Kraus, an epidemiology professor at UCLA, is trying to find proof, one way or another, of the effectiveness of the law. Over the past year, he said, he has reviewed a slew of information, including accident statistics, coroners’ reports, motorcycle registration numbers and the demographics of motorcycle riders.

Although the study will not be completed until mid-March, he said he believes it is clear from a preliminary analysis that the helmet law has been effective. “If you see a big change in the figures, it’s almost impossible to explain it away with all the other factors,” he said.

But Osborn said he questions the injury and fatality statistics released by the CHP because the CHP lobbied hard to get the helmet law adopted and has a vested interest in its success.

“I would hate to think that the CHP is just lying,” Osborn said. “I would prefer to think that they are just changing their procedures” of keeping statistics.

Manuel rejected Osborn’s charge, saying the CHP’s statistics are sound.

“Anybody who looks at the numbers has to be impressed at the reduction in deaths and injuries,” he said.

But Wendy C. Lascher, a Ventura attorney representing motorcyclists who are waging a legal battle to repeal the helmet law, said she has requested raw data on motorcycle accidents from the CHP and has been told that it would be too voluminous to produce.

“I can’t understand why it is too much material to produce,” she said, when it is the foundation “on which they base their statements to the press.”

The helmet law, authored by former Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson), has been hailed by police, the insurance industry and medical experts as a way to reduce serious or fatal head injuries. (Angry motorcyclists collected funds statewide to remove Floyd from office, and claim they played a key role in his defeat at the polls in June.)

Opponents, however, say the law prevents them from experiencing motorcycling in its purest form--with the wind blowing through their hair--and robs riders of their freedom. Many motorcyclists say they wore helmets voluntarily, but oppose the law as unwarranted coercion. They have also argued that helmets impede a rider’s vision and hearing.

Before the law went into effect, California--which has 20% of the nation’s registered motorcycles--required helmets for those younger than 15 1/2. In adopting the new helmet law, California joined 23 other states and the District of Columbia in requiring helmets for all motorcyclists and passengers.

Between January and November, CHP officers issued 4,581 citations for violations of the helmet law, Manuel said. The first offense costs the violator $100, a second citation, $200, and a third, $250.

Russ Brown, a motorcycle-rights attorney who founded Bikers Against Manslaughter, said he believes the helmet law has had an insignificant role in reducing fatalities and injuries because, he said, helmets protect riders only in minor falls and not in serious accidents at highway speeds.

“The helmet just doesn’t protect you at the average impact speed,” he said.

David Thom, a staff researcher at the USC Motorcycle Accident Research Center, called Brown’s argument “a bunch of hogwash,” saying studies have shown that a rider is better off wearing a helmet at any speed. But at the same time, he said, riders should realize that helmets “are definitely not an absolute panacea,” and even a helmet-wearing cyclist can be killed in a serious crash.