We just had a big write up in the paper here in Windsor about this and basically 4 out of 5 neurosurgeons agree that NOT wearing a helmet saves the taxpayer the most money in medical care.
The trauma room doctors at Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital pointed out that when helmetless riders arrive in the ER with head trauma its usually so severe that they are beyond help so far less money is spent on rehab,long term care and disability.Most are sent to the ICU to await organ retrieval.They also pointed out that the $20000 in extra insurance Michigan riders must have to ride without a helmet will cover the lions share of the ER visit as little can an will be done in many cases.One other thing they did say was that just sitting on a bike without a helmet can result in sever head trauma as a simple tip over often causes your head to contact the ground a high rate of speed and that they see more of this than you would think.So a helmet should be worn whenever you get on a bike as most time head trauma occurs as a result of the distance your head is from the ground more than the speed the bike is moving when you fall.They were very serious in the fact that no helmet laws are WITHOUT QUESTION the cheaper way to go .This actually makes sense.
It's a bit of a broken argument though and more than a little cynical.
IF the accident is serious enough, they argue, a helmet may allow a rider to just survive and be severely disabled. Long term care is expensive in comparison with a funeral (duh). Therefore, all helmet laws are useless.
Rewind a bit, using the same logic. If the accident isn't serious enough (which is probably the vast majority of motorcycle accidents) then a helmet means you walk away with minor injuries, or none at all. The unhelmeted rider is damaged enough to be severely disabled, thus become the burden everyone seems to fear so much.
Perhaps the doctors don't want to lose the last reliable source of young, healthy organs--squids. They are extremely valuable and central to the careers of transplantation surgeons. Patients on the waiting lists would rather get a replacement sooner rather than later, I'm sure. "Your new liver came from a reckless motorcyclist" won't weigh any conscience down, but "Your new liver came from a motorcyclist that would have survived if he hadn't been mislead by foolish politics and repealed regulation," is more problematic.
Helmet laws are pretty weak to begin with, too, so they were hardly models of authoritarian rule.
Gov: Here dude wear a helmet. Keep your brains intact.
Rider: What sort of helmet?
Gov: Full face, modular, open face, beanie, whatever. DOT approved. They're super cheap now.
Rider: What about jackets, boots, gloves, pants, armour, airbag vests and neck braces?
Gov: Pffft, what are you a gear nazi or something? We gave you a parking lot test. You're totally qualified.
Rider: Stop pushing me around! FREEDOM!
Rider: By the way, do you know where I can buy some chaps?
Gov: Check out TuffRiderz or something. I'll be over here passing Orwellian surveillance legislation if you need me.
Rider: Whatever. What about those fingerless gloves?
Gov: Dude, they have a website.
