Fatal crashes involving motorcycles: medicolegal perspectives from the death scene

Abstract

In April 2012 the State of Michigan repealed the Universal Helmet Law (UHL) for certain categories of motorcyclists. Proponents of the UHL state that numbers of fatalities from crashes involving motorcycles (MCs) are most likely to increase as a direct result of the legislative change. However, is such a predicted trend reflected in the actual numbers of fatal crash scenes involving MCs and what medicolegal insights can be gained from first responders and forensic scientists who attend to and process fatal crash scenes?A 25-month study observed that during the ‘Before’ period April 2011 through April 2012, 18 MC occupants lost their lives in 18 fatal crashes. In the ‘After’ period April 2012 through April 2013, 22 MC occupants were killed in 21 fatal MC crashes. A 17% increase in MC fatal crashes between the ‘Before’ and ‘After’ periods, resulted in a 22% increase in MC fatalities between the same two periods.The authors postulate that ‘to assume the lack of a helmet contributed directly to the death would be to ignore other fatal injuries and behavioral factors unrelated to helmet use, that may have played an equal or greater contributory role as revealed during or after the forensic autopsy/investigation.’ Research outcomes from this study will be useful in the continued evaluation of effective injury prevention strategies targeting MC riders