Critics Falsely
Claim That Bikers Are A Burden On Society
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- At the height of
the riding season is when motorcyclists hear it most - misinformed critics
charging that people who ride motorcycles are a burden on society because
of their medical costs.
The most recent version of this
erroneous theory came in a report that aired Friday night, August 16, on
ABC News' "World News Tonight." But the charge that
motorcyclists are a social burden is simply untrue, the American
Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.
"Some lawmakers, members of the
news media and others still subscribe to the 'social burden' fallacy that
motorcyclists use more taxpayer dollars than other members of society to
pay their medical bills," said Edward Moreland, AMA vice president
for government relations. Studies have shown that is false. Yet it is
brought up time and again by those who want to place restrictions on
motorcyclists."
Moreland pointed to a study done at the
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle during the 1980s that found 63.4
percent of the injured motorcyclists taken to the trauma center relied on
public funds to pay their hospital bills. Critics charged that amounted to
taxpayer subsidies for motorcycle injuries, but the director of the trauma
center noted that 67 percent of the general patient population relied on
public money to pay their hospital bills in the same time period.
Also, a study by the University of North
Carolina's Highway Safety Research Center showed that 49.5 percent of
injured motorcyclists had their medical costs covered by insurance, almost
identical to the 50.4 percent of other road trauma victims were similarly
insured.
In addition, the North Carolina study
found that the average costs of motorcyclists' injuries are actually
slightly lower than the costs for other accident victims. The presence or
absence of a helmet was not shown to affect injury costs.
Moreland also pointed out that the cost
of treating injured motorcyclists is minuscule compared to the nation's
medical costs as a whole. The costs associated with treating all
motorcycling injuries account for less than 0.001 percent of total U.S.
health-care costs. And a significant percentage of those costs are paid
through private insurance. All told, about 1.16 percent of U.S.
health-care costs are related to motor vehicle accidents, and motorcycles
represented only 0.53 percent of the accident-involved vehicles nationwide
in 1999.
Motorcycling critics often use the
social-burden argument in efforts to get state lawmakers to pass, or
retain, mandatory helmet-use laws. And in recent years, some motorcycling
organizations have bolstered that argument by striking bargains with
lawmakers in which motorcyclists agree to accept medical-insurance
requirements in exchange for the right to ride without a helmet. These
requirements lend support to the flawed social-burden argument, since the
same insurance requirements are not imposed on car drivers.
"Some motorcyclists appear willing
to agree to these expensive and dangerous economic tradeoffs,"
Moreland said. "Lawmakers subscribing to the social-burden theory,
coupled with the willingness of some motorcyclists to accept special
insurance requirements, could open the door for lawmakers to impose even
more unwarranted requirements on motorcyclists."
ABC
News spreads the Social Burden Myth
By Various Authors
From spotman ABATE of Iowa Assistant
State Coordinator
Fellow Freedom Fighters,
Here's the complete text of what was
said on the ABC World News Tonite program aired on 8/16/02. Elizabeth
Vargas was the Anchor. The story reporter was Jeffrey Kauffman.
Text of ABC News Story
Vargas: "We're going to explore the
cost of Freedom tonite - in this case, the very high cost of being free to
"wear" a motorbike without a helmet. And it's the taxpayers who
are picking up the bill. in 1975 only three (3) states allowed
motorcyclists to ride without helmet (graphic showing California, Iowa and
Illinois) Today thirty (30) states allow it for most riders. "Florida
joined that group two (2) "months" ago and doctors say it has
had disastrous consequences" "It's your money - here's ABC's
Jeffrey Kaufman".
Kauffman: "To bikers, (roar of a
Harley)...this is how motorcycles were meant to be." Florida Biker
Jim Vugrich: "The wind in your hair, the freedom you feel"
Kauffman: "It's not just about
comfort, it's about the constitution"
Florida Biker Ernie Russo : "We all
like our freedoms and we won't lose our freedom." Kauffman:
"Passions like that help explain why bikers have pushed so hard - so
successfully to overturn helmet laws in most states. But there's a big
cost not just to bikers to bikers. Here in Florida, after two (2) years
without mandatory motorcycle helmet laws, trauma unit doctors say they are
treating more and more patients who hit the road without a helmet."
Dr. Lawrence Lottenburg, Director of
Trauma and Critical Care, Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, Florida:
"The law that we have now in Florida requires unhelmeted
motorcyclists to have a $10,000 personal injury protection insurance
policy. We'll use $10,000 in this room in 20 minutes."
Kauffman: "A study here in Florida
(Journal Trauma) found that 2/3 of all bikers had no insurance leaving the
taxpayer with the bill. And for those riding without helmets, the average
medical cost rises to $55,000. The federal government estimates taxpayers
and insurance companies would save 10 billion dollars if all bikers wore
helmets. (Quoting NHTSA - 1998) Eugene Williams was happy to ride without
a helmet until the night a car pulled into his path. He spent 2 months in
a coma - almost 2 years recovering.
Eugene WIlliams: "I really didn't
understand the importance of a helmet until I made an example out of
myself."
Kauffman: "So, if the arguments for
helmets is so strong, how did bikers get rid of helmet laws in so many
states? The thing you have to understand about bikers is they may not wear
suits or roam the corridors of power, but they know how to make people
listen. It comes down to nothing more than the old-fashioned art of
lobbying."
Lobbyist Chuck Wilde: "We support
the legislators that support us and we get out and vote and we vote out
the ones that won't support us."
Kauffman: "Trauma doctors say that
the freedom that bikers cherish cost lives and your money. They want
mandatory helmet laws brought back. But when it comes to counting votes,
there are more bikers than doctors. ----end of segment
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