{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,4]],"date-time":"2026-10-04T12:32:28Z","timestamp":1791117148920,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"American Public Health Association","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Am J Public Health"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2007,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> 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\u2019 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 needless morbidity and suffering. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.2105\/ajph.2005.083204","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2006,12,29]],"date-time":"2006-12-29T01:40:06Z","timestamp":1167356406000},"page":"208-217","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":91,"title":["Paternalism &amp; Its Discontents: Motorcycle Helmet Laws, Libertarian Values, and Public Health"],"prefix":"10.2105","volume":"97","author":[{"given":"Marian Moser","family":"Jones","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Marian Moser Jones is with the Center for History and Ethics of Public Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Ronald Bayer is with the Center for History and Ethics of Public Health and the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ronald","family":"Bayer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Marian Moser Jones is with the Center for History and Ethics of Public Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Ronald Bayer is with the Center for History and Ethics of Public Health and the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"844","reference":[{"key":"R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"\u201cObituary, Hugh William Bell Cairns,\u201d Lancet, July 26, 1952, p. 202.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(52)91735-2"},{"key":"#cr-split#-R7.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nicholas F. Maartens, Andrew D. Wills, Christopher B. T. Adams, \"Lawrence of Arabia, Sir Hugh Cairns, and the Origin of Motorcycle Helmets,\" Neurosurgery, 50 (2002):177. R. F. Hugh Cairns, \"Head Injuries in Motorcyclists: The Importance of the Crash Helmet,\" British Medical Journal 2:465-483, 1941","DOI":"10.1227\/00006123-200201000-00026"},{"key":"#cr-split#-R7.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cairns, \"Crash helmets. Br Med J 2:322-324, 1946","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.2.4470.322"},{"key":"#cr-split#-R7.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cairns, AHS Holbourn, \"Head injuries in motorcyclists, with special reference to crash helmets,\" British Medical Journal 1 (1943):592-598.","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.1.4297.591"},{"key":"R14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.85.1.96"},{"key":"R15","unstructured":"Emma E. Pullen, \u201cState Faces Loss of U.S. Road Funds,\u201d Los Angeles Times, August 5, 1975, p. B3."},{"key":"R16","unstructured":"James Quinn, \u201cCyclists Take Aim at Proposed Helmet Law,\u201d Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1973, p. GB1; \u201cMotorcycle Helmet Proposal Withdrawn By Councilman,\u201d Los Angeles Times, September 23, 1973."},{"key":"R31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/2149365"},{"key":"R36","unstructured":"David Young, \u201cState to Present Case on Cycle Helmet Ruling,\u201d Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1975, p. B10; \u201cSenate Votes Reprieve for States Lacking Motorcycle Helmet Law,\u201d Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1975, p. B10; \u201cFord Signs Extension of Highway Aid,\u201d Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1976, p. B14. Dennis V Cookro, MD, MPH, \u201cMotorcycle Safety: An Epidemiologic View,\u201d Arizona Medicine, August 1979, pp. 605."},{"key":"R37","unstructured":"\u201cLaw eased, cycle deaths soar,\u201d Chicago Tribune, September 7, 1978, p. W_A4."},{"key":"R38","unstructured":"Peterson, \u201cMotorcyclists, Helmeted or Not, Fight Restriction,\u201d New York Times, July 31, 1978, p. NJ11, citing Claybrook."},{"key":"R39","unstructured":"\u201cHighway Panel Seeks Required Helmet Use by Motorcycle Riders,\u201d Wall Street Journal, January 12, 1979, p. 8; Peterson, July 31, 1978, p. NJ11; Ernest Holsendolph, \u201cU.S. Safety Chief Urges Helmets to Cut Deaths of Motorcyclists,\u201d New York Times, January 12, 1979, p. A12; \u201cEvaluation of Motorcycle Helmet Law Repeal in Arkansas and Texas,\u201d NHTSA, pp. 45\u201348."},{"key":"R40","unstructured":"\u201cThe Motorcyclist as Gladiator,\u201d North Carolina Medical Journal, (1979): 362\u2013364."},{"key":"R41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.70.6.573"},{"key":"R42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.71.3.294"},{"key":"R43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.71.3.295"},{"key":"R44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.70.6.579"},{"key":"R45","unstructured":"Raj K Narayan, \u201cHow Many Deaths Will It Take?\u201d Texas Medicine, 83 (1987): 5\u20136."},{"key":"R46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/03616878-8-1-76"},{"key":"R47","unstructured":"G. C. Nurchi, P. Golino, F. Floris. et al. \u201cEffect of the law on compulsory helmets in the incidence of head injuries among motorcyclists,\u201d Journal of Neurosurgical Science, 31 (1987): 141\u2013143."},{"key":"R56","unstructured":"Katherine Bishop, \u201cCalifornia\u2019s Helmetless Ride is Over, but Not the Debate,\u201d New York Times, January 1, 1992, p. 8."},{"key":"R57","unstructured":"David Hess, Knight-Ridder Tribune News, \u201cLeverage on budget goes to Republicans; Clinton\u2019s concessions frustrate Dems,\u201d The Houston Chronicle, December 2, 1995, p. 19."}],"container-title":["American Journal of Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/ajph.aphapublications.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.2105\/AJPH.2005.083204","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,9]],"date-time":"2022-05-09T22:48:29Z","timestamp":1652136509000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ajph.aphapublications.org\/doi\/full\/10.2105\/AJPH.2005.083204"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2007,2]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2007,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.2105\/AJPH.2005.083204"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2105\/ajph.2005.083204","relation":{},"ISSN":["0090-0036","1541-0048"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0090-0036","type":"print"},{"value":"1541-0048","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2007,2]]}}}