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Effects of state helmet laws on bicycle helmet use by children and adolescents

Correspondence and reprint requests to:
Dr Gregory B Rodgers, Directorate for Economic Analysis, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207, USA;
grodgers{at}cpsc.gov

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of state helmet laws in increasing the use of bicycle helmets by children and adolescents under age 16.

Setting: United States.

Methods: A cross sectional study of factors associated with the likelihood of helmet use by children and adolescents. Data were derived from a national random digit dial telephone survey of bicycle riders. A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to quantify the independent effect of the state helmet laws on helmet use.

Results: Helmet use was systematically related to the presence of state helmet laws (odds ratio 2.65; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29 to 5.44). The increase in the average probability of helmet use attributable to state helmet laws was 18.4% (95% CI 17.8% to 19.0%).

Conclusions: State helmet laws significantly increase helmet use by children and play an important part in any comprehensive effort designed to achieve this goal.

Keywords: helmet; law; bicycle; head protective devices; transportation

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; CPSC, Consumer Product Safety Commission; OR, odds ratio

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