Missouri Repealed Its Motorcycle Helmet Law, And The Most Obvious Thing Imaginable Happened

Riding a motorcycle is about as much fun as you can legally have as an adult, but there’s no getting around the fact that they’re incredibly dangerous. Even if you do everything correctly, you can still end up in the hospital courtesy of other drivers. Outcomes are much better if you’re wearing a helmet when you crash, which is why most states require them. Back in 2020, though, Missouri did the opposite and repealed its helmet law. And what do you know, motorcycle deaths skyrocketed.

KCUR reports that according to the Missouri Department of Transportation, since the law was repealed in 2020 motorcycle deaths shot up by 47 percent. Last year was also the deadliest year on record, with 174 deaths. Those statistics were shared as part of a report MoDOT presented to the House Transportation Accountability Committee outlining the continued increase in motorcycle deaths in the state since 2018. And while the committee did listen to the report, it reportedly did not discuss reinstating the old helmet law.

“We’ve seen that in other states,” Jon Nelson, MoDOT’s assistant to the State Highway Safety and Traffic Engineer told the committee. “Whenever they’ve repealed a helmet law, (there are) similar increases.”