IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.2005.083204_4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Paternalism and its discontents: Motorcycle helmet laws, libertarian values, and public health

Author

Listed:
  • Jones, M.M.
  • Bayer, R.

Abstract

The history of motorcycle helmet legislation in the United States reflects the extent to which concerns about individual liberties have shaped the public health debate. Despite overwhelming epidemiological evidence that motorcycle helmet laws reduce fatalities and serious injuries, only 20 states currently require all riders to wear helmets. During the past 3 decades, federal government efforts to push states toward enactment of universal helmet laws have faltered, and motorcyclists' advocacy groups have been successful at repealing state helmet laws. This history raises questions about the possibilities for articulating an ethics of public health that would call upon government to protect citizens from their own choices that result in need-less morbidity and suffering.

Suggested Citation

  • Jones, M.M. & Bayer, R., 2007. "Paternalism and its discontents: Motorcycle helmet laws, libertarian values, and public health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(2), pages 208-217.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2005.083204_4
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.083204
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2005.083204
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2105/AJPH.2005.083204?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dee, Thomas S., 2009. "Motorcycle helmets and traffic safety," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 398-412, March.
    2. Pedro M. Valero-Mora & Juan José Zacarés & Mar Sánchez-García & María Teresa Tormo-Lancero & Mireia Faus, 2021. "Conspiracy Beliefs Are Related to the Use of Smartphones behind the Wheel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Michael D. Makowsky & Thomas Stratmann, 2011. "More Tickets, Fewer Accidents: How Cash-Strapped Towns Make for Safer Roads," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 863-888.
    4. French, Michael T. & Gumus, Gulcin & Homer, Jenny F., 2012. "Motorcycle fatalities among out-of-state riders and the role of universal helmet laws," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1855-1863.
    5. Abebe, Henok Girma & Belin, Matts-Åke & Björnberg, Karin Edvardsson, 2024. "Equity and Social Justice considerations in road safety work: The case of Vision Zero in New York City," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 11-20.
    6. Keane, Christopher R. & Lafky, Jonathan M. & Board, Oliver J., 2012. "Altruism, reciprocity and health: A social experiment in restaurant choice," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 143-150.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2005.083204_4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.