Next, the correlation between motorcycle casualties and helmet laws. Judy Woodruff has the story. Fatalities on the nation's roads may be declining, but motorcycle deaths are not. And yet state laws requiring helmets have been weakened. In the 1970s, 47 states shown here in gray required all motorcycle drives to wear helmets. Today, just 19 of them, all in dark blue, require them. Most of the rest in light blue still require helmets of younger riders. That's the finding of a new report released earlier this month by the investigative group FairWarning. org. Days later, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued its own report, finding that five times as many cyclists who do not wear helmets die in accidents compared to those who do wear one. All of this has stirred plenty of anger in the motorcycle community. Historically, the enforcement of helmet mandates has siphoned away scarce funds from effective crash prevention programs such as rider education and motorist awareness." Well, we get the latest on these studies from Rick Schmitt. He's a reporter for FairWarning. org. And, Rick, thank you very much for being with us.
Those deaths have increased from about 3,200 in 2002 to 4,500 in 2010.
