the 1966 Highway Safety Act, in which the federal government first threatened to withhold funds from states failing to pass such laws. Within three years, forty-seven states (as well as Washington D.C.) had passed mandatory helmet laws, with only California, Utah, and Illinois holding out for the motorcyclist's freedom of choice (Heard, 1989, p. 11). In the late 1970's, the federal government began taking a less active role in the helmet issue. In particular, the passage of the 1976 Amendment to the Highway Safety Act "gutted the federal power to enforce the helmet issue, and by 1981, 29 states had repealed their helmet laws or modified them to apply only to riders under a certain age - usually 18" (pp. 11-12). Nevertheless, the controversy over the issue has continued in the various different states of the union.
Those who are in favor of mandatory helmet laws point out that head trauma is a leading cause of death in motorcycle accidents. On this basis, it is evident that helmets can help to save lives because they help to reduce the risk of head injury in the event of an accident. In addition to deaths, it has been noted that severe disabilities are often caused by head injuries. Statistics are often cited in support of this point of view. For example, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Associatio
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