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Michigan is one of a number of states with efforts underway to repeal motorcycle helmet laws. Lately, the Michigan Senate passed a bill (HB 4747) aiming to repeal the state’s motorcycle helmet law. “This bill makes no sense. It doesn’t protect motorcyclists who will be seriously hurt when bike accidents necessarily occur. Instead, it guarantees that more motorcycle riders will be hurt or snuffed out. Next, it shifts the money burden of paying up for these injured bikers ‘ medical therapy to the taxpayers and Medicaid,” Gursten said, adding that $100,000 is far too little coverage for the medical expenses most motorbike crash victims need.

“For the catastrophic private kind of wounds,eg traumatising brain injuries and spinal cord wounds that are customarily sustained by a rider in a motorcycle crash without a helmet, $100,000 in medical coverage can be exhausted in the first few days alone,” he pointed out. Gursten has been interviewed by local and nationwide media on helmet repeal efforts. Given a recent tragic story that obviously illustrates the necessity to keep the bike helmet duty in Michigan, CNN claimed that a bareheaded motorcyclist participating in a ride to protest helmet laws was snuffed out in a bike accident. “I’m still surprised by the big jump of logic that motorcycle helmet repeal fans have.

The argument is that requiring bikers to wear a helmet infringes on their private freedom and liberty,” said Gursten. “But these “advocates” ignore that their “liberty” stops when others are then made to pay their doctor’s bills for catastrophic lifetime medical care. Consider the stats : [*HTML1. [*HTML2. Forty five percent of fatally wounded motorcyclists were not wearing their bike helmets. – U.S. Dept of Transport Plan to Reduce Motorbike Deaths (2005) [*HTML3. [*HTML4. Helmet use rates are lower in states that don’t need all riders to use helmets : 68 % of motorcyclists in states requiring helmets wore DOT-compliant helmets, matched against 37 p.c in states not requiring all riders to use helmets.

– U.S. Dept of Transport Plan to Reduce Bike Fatal injuries (2005) [*HTML5. [*HTML6. Helmets are assessed to be 37 percent efficacious in forestalling deadly wounds to motorcyclists.

Gursten : Steven M. Gursten heads Michigan Automobile Law and is known as one of the top motorcycle accident lawyers in the country. He was given the highest motorbike accident settlement in Michigan last year, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Steve has spoken to trial counsels across the land at conventions on bike accident suits, and is available for comment. About Michigan Car Law : Michigan Auto Law press release is a legal firm with eighteen lawyers completely handling automobile accident, motorbike court actions and No-Fault insurance litigation across the state. The firm has offices in Farmington Hills, Sterling Heights, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Falls.

For some more info or to communicate with a bike accident counsel, call (800) 777-0028. [*HTML7. [*HTML8. Photograph courtesy of Creative Commons, by Mike Licht [*HTML9. [*HTML10.

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