The most deadly Injuries to the accident victims were injuries to the chest and head. The use of the safety helmet is the single critical factor in the prevention or reduction of head injury; the safety helmet which complies with FMVSS 218 is a significantly effective injury countermeasure. Safety helmet use caused no attenuation of critical traffic sounds, no limitation of pre-crash visual field, and no fatigue or loss of attention; no element of accident causation was related to helmet use. FMVSS 218 provides a high level of protection in traffic accidents, and needs modification only to increase coverage at the back of the head and demonstrate impact protection of the front of full facial coverage helmets, and insure all adult sizes for traffic use are covered by the standard. Helmeted riders and passengers showed significantly lower head and neck injury for all types of injury, at all levels of injury severity. The increased coverage of the full facial coverage helmet increases protection, and significantly reduces face injuries. There is no liability for neck injury by wearing a safety helmet; helmeted riders had fewer neck injuries than unhelmeted riders. Only four minor injuries were attributable to helmet use, and in each case the helmet prevented possible critical or fatal head injury, Sixty percent of the motorcyclists were not wearing safety helmets at the time of the accident. Of this group, 26% said they did not wear helmets because they were uncomfortable and inconvenient, and 53% simply had no expectation of accident involvement. Valid motorcycle exposure data can be obtained only from collection at the traffic site, Motor vehicle or driver license data presents information which is completely unrelated to actual use, Less than 10% of the motorcycle riders involved in these accidents had insurance of any kind to provide medical care or replace property. External links The Hurt Report MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT CAUSE FACTORS AND IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTERMEASURES VOLUME I: TECHNICAL REPORT NHTSA-DOT-HS-5-01160 "The Hurt Report" Motorcycle safety Hurt Report