AMA Calls for Laws on Head Protection : Head wear: In a new report, researchers find that the most common type of motorcycle crash is head-on, typically with a car. The crashes are likely to cause skull fractures.

The American Medical Assn., citing a report that helmet-wearing motorcyclists are less likely to die or suffer severe head injuries, wants more cyclists to ride with their heads covered.

An AMA position statement, and a key study that paved the way for it, appear in a recent issue of The Journal of the American Medical Assn.

The study looked at the change in deaths and injuries after California adopted a law mandating helmets.

Researchers examined police reports and death certificates for 1991, before the law--and 1992, after it.

After the law, fewer people died, fewer of the deaths were from head injuries, and head injuries in general were less severe, the researchers said.

After the law, crash fatalities dropped by more than 37%, to 327 in 1992, said researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Va.

Head injuries were lower both in those who died and those who lived, said the researchers.

Among those who died, the proportion in which the head was the most severely injured body region decreased by almost 25% after the law. Among those who lived, the decrease was close to 31%.

UCLA researcher Jess F. Kraus had publicized his findings in 1993, but ran into opposition from a statewide anti-helmet group that contended that the legislation violates their rights. Some opponents of the helmet law also asserted that the drop in deaths was a result of rainy weather and of riders giving up biking rather than have to wear a helmet.

But to the AMA’s Council on Scientific Affairs, which wrote the AMA position statement, the reason for the drop in deaths and injuries is clear.

The most common type of motorcycle crash is head-on, typically with a car, the council’s report said. The crashes are likely to cause skull fractures.

Therefore, the council said, it makes sense for modern road warriors to protect themselves as did warriors of old, with helmets.

Motorcycle helmets are “designed to cushion and spread the severe forces of head blows in crashes,” the position statement said.

The problem is to get more motorcyclists to wear them, the council said.

More states should pass laws that make helmets mandatory, it said.

In 1993, the last year for which the AMA had publishable data, 23 states and the District of Columbia required helmets of all riders, and 24 required helmets of some, typically those under 18, it said. The others had no requirement.

In California, use went up from 48% before the law to 99% a year after, the council’s report said.

The researchers in the California study found those riders who did not wear helmets after the law took effect accounted for almost 15% of those killed or injured.

The AMA report also calls on motorcycle manufacturers and insurance companies to help--perhaps with discounts or vouchers to purchase helmets.