There are going to be many in the commonwealth who will laugh at the latest in a long line of motorcycle helmet laws proposed in the state Legislature.

Rep. Manuel Guzman, D-Reading, is drafting legislation that will require all motorcycle operators and passengers – regardless of age or riding experience – to wear protective headgear. Current law requires that any person who operates or rides a motorcycle (including an autocycle) must wear protective headgear unless the rider is over 21 years of age or older and has either two years of riding experience or has completed a motorcycle safety course approved by PennDOT or the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. In addition, the operator or an occupant of a three-wheeled motorcycle or autocycle equipped with an enclosed cab is exempt from wearing a helmet.

It’s time for these rules to change.

There are still organizations working to repeal even the modest helmet rules Pennsylvania passed back in 2003. So we have no doubt that any legislative changes to the meager helmet law is going to be a long, arduous process for Guzman and others who favor helmet laws.

A recent study of motorcycle-related injuries in North Carolina – which requires helmets for all motorcycle riders – and South Carolina – which like Pennsylvania requires only riders younger than 21 to wear helmets – found North Carolina motorcycle riders had fewer severe injuries and were less likely to require treatment in an intensive care unit after an accident, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

The study comes at a time when fewer and fewer states have universal helmet laws. Nearly 2,200 patients were treated during the study period for injuries sustained in a motorcycle wreck, researchers said. About 94% of those in North Carolina were wearing a helmet compared with 52% of those from South Carolina, the study says. Helmeted patients had less severe injuries overall, results show. Only 25% of helmeted riders needed ICU treatment, compared with 39% of riders not wearing helmets, researchers said. Riders without helmets also required longer ICU stays and spent more time on a ventilator, the study says. Overall, 7% of riders without helmets died, compared to just over 4% of those wearing a helmet. Results also show that South Carolina’s under-21 helmet requirement was not effective, with 33% of that state’s young riders not wearing a helmet during a crash compared to 10% in North Carolina.

In short, the study shows that universal helmet laws reduce the risk of serious injuries in a motorcycle accident. We’re all for personal choice and individuality. We take serious issues with government overreach. But a universal helmet law gives riders a better chance of walking away from a crash. It’s time for a tougher helmet law in Pennsylvania.