[net.cycle] Helmet Law Survey Results

rh@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU (Randy Haskins) (08/03/86)

The long awaited (well, *I* have been waiting for it) helmet 
survey by "Road Rider" has come out.  It's in the September
issue of that mag, and I suggest everyone who cares about
this emotional issue to get a copy.  There's quite a bit of
data there (they collected 11219. responses!), but I'll
summarize some of the more crucial questions:
(There's also some of the longer responses in the letter column,
plus an editorial.)

Do you think there should be a national helmet law?
30.3%	Yes
68.6%	No
 1.1%	No answer

Do you think your state should have a helmet law?
35.9%	Yes
62.9%	No
 1.2%	No answer

Do you wear a helmet?
66%	Always
15.5%	Most of the time 
 9.5%	Some of the time
 8%	Never
 1%	No answer

What is your most-used helmet?
46%	Open-faced
28.5%	Full-coverage
 7.5%	Half-helmet (police)
 8%	No answer

Randwulf

ahn@houem.UUCP (Au H. Nguyen) (08/06/86)

-
> The long awaited ... helmet survey by "Road Rider" has come out.
> ... they collected 11219. responses!

"Road Rider" is very heavily touring oriented, and touring riders tend to be
quite conservative, which explains the 66% "always wear a helmet."  Touring
bikes also tend to have very large wind shields, and hence their riders can
afford to be without the extra warmth / quietness of a full face helmet,
which explains the 46% open-face.

I think if you survey the readership of a more main stream magazine
(judging from their editorial content) like "Motorcyclist" you'll find
different results, especially in helmet types.

	Au	ihnp4!houem!ahn

rh@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU (Randy Haskins) (08/08/86)

In article <577@houem.UUCP>, ahn@houem.UUCP (Au H. Nguyen) writes:
> -
> > The long awaited ... helmet survey by "Road Rider" has come out.
> > ... they collected 11219. responses!
> 
> "Road Rider" is very heavily touring oriented, and touring riders tend to be
> quite conservative, which explains the 66% "always wear a helmet."
...
> I think if you survey the readership of a more main stream magazine
> (judging from their editorial content) like "Motorcyclist" you'll find
> different results, especially in helmet types.
> 
> 	Au	ihnp4!houem!ahn

I should have pointed out that the survey was a cooperative effort organized
by the magazine.   Of the 11219. bikers who responded, these are the numbers
for how many responses were received by each of the organizations involved:

1322	A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments (ABATE) 
3012	AMA
 955	BMW Motorcycle Owners of America
1738	Gold Wing Road Riders Association
  93	Motorcyclist's Post (New England)
  99	Nevada Association of concerned Motorcyclists
2951	Road Rider Magazine
 311	Venture Touring Society

GWRRA was actually the most "conservative" (favoring helmet law), as might
be expected, as was BMWMOA (also not suprising).  As the name might
indicate, ABATE was far and away the most "radical".  But there's
still a lot of data I just don't feel like typing in, so if anyone
is interested, picking up the mag is a good idea.

Random