Motorcycles equipped with airbags? Something’s missing

In this issue there is an Associated Press story that describes how motorcycles are now being equipped with frontal protection airbags (page 45) that has me scratching my head about the logic of this newest safety endeavor. While not too long ago almost every state required motorcycle riders to wear helmets, now only 20 states and the District of Columbia have mandates that motorcycle riders wear protective helmets, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. More states are now seeking to eliminate the requirement. Pennsylvania is a state that repealed its helmet law so Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s wasn’t wearing one earlier this year–when he had his near fatal accident.

If the current environment espouses that motorcycle riders shouldn’t have to wear a helmet, the most basic piece of equipment to protect themselves from injury and death, what are they expecting air bags to do? Yet, it is obvious that many see some safety potential in bikes equipped with airbags.

For example, Honda Motor Co. added air bags to its fully loaded Gold Wing, an 860-pound touring bike designed for distance driving. Yamaha Motor Corp. is developing an air bag system and is using a scooter with air bags for research in Japan, according to the company’s Web site.

The AP article goes on to describe that airbags are just the beginning. Worldwide Riders, a Cheyenne, Wyo.-based motorcycle accessories company, sells vests with protective bladders that inflate as riders are being ejected from their motorcycles. And, Harley-Davidson Motor Co., based in Milwaukee, emphasizes training and driver education. The company began opening motorcycling academies in 2000 to train new and experienced riders.

Bob Hartwig, chief economist for the New York City-based Insurance Information Institute, wasn’t too enthused. He said the insurance benefits of having motorcycle air bags probably would be small because the devices protect only the driver in frontal crashes–while air bags in cars protect drivers and passengers in front and side crashes.

Hartwig added that motorcyclists who buy air bag-equipped bikes are probably safer drivers and less likely to be involved in crashes in the first place.

There is no question that the numbers of motorcycle enthusiasts continues to grow. Statistics show that the motorcycle industry posted $7.6 billion in sales of 725,000 on-highway bikes in 2004, up from about $4.7 billion and 471,000 bikes sold four years earlier. And the numbers of older riders continues to rise as well. There has been a 230 percent increase in fatalities in the last ten years among motorcycle riders who are over age 40–according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It seems reasonable that safety concerns should be a priority as the sales of bikes increase and the age of motorcycle riders rises sharply. Studies will show, in time, just how much value is added with airbag usage. Somehow though, having an airbag installed on your motorbike without wearing a helmet is a lot like the driver with an airbag in his car who doesn’t buckle up. There are plenty of statistics I won’t list here that show the faultiness of that way of thinking.