The edge of the helmet runs along the back of your neck, and at impact it actually severs the spinal chord and results in paralysis. But Rep. Bob Casey, R-Gainesville, who is also a physician, said Argenziano is dead wrong.
Helmets help save lives.
If you don't wear a helmet you are three times as likely to suffer brain injury. With this statement, Argenziano dismissed a motherload of studies, including one by the Department of Transportation that reported helmets give riders a 29 percent better chance of surviving accidents and, in 1994 alone, saved an estimated 518 lives. Her statement also directly conflicts with the Hurt Study on motorcycle accidents, which found that helmets are the single greatest factor in prevention and reduction of head injury. Casey noted that many of the legislators who supported the repeal did so not because they believed helmets cause injury, but because they think adults should have the right to decide for themselves whether they want to wear a helmet. Argenziano also agreed with this argument, too.