WASHINGTON, Mar 27, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- As state motorcycle helmet laws
weaken, crash death rates are rising steadily in the United States, a survey
indicated Thursday.
The proportion of older fatalities also went up, the Gannett News Service
analysis reports.
Most states once required motorcycle riders to wear helmets but that trend
changed course after 1995 when the federal government stopped holding back
highway money for states without helmet laws.
Fatality rates stood at 5.6 riders killed for every 10,000 registered
motorcycles. By 2006, that rate had risen to 7.3 deaths, the analysis said.
Nearly half of motorcyclists killed in 2006 were at least 40 years old. The
average age was about 38, Gannett News Service said.
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