Robert Rasor: Members of the Committee, my name is Robert Rasor. I'm Vice-President of Government Relations for the American Motorcyclist Association. We are an organization of about two hundred and ten thousand members. We have about thirty one thousand members in the State of California, and I appear here today to support AB -244.

One of the issues that we feel is most misrepresented in the debates around mandatory helmet use is the assertion that motorcyclists are a burden to tax payers because they are less likely to have health insurance or health care benefits to pay in the event of an injury. We believe that this is simply not true.

There are a limited number of studies cited by promoters on mandatory helmet laws. We'd like you to consider the following.

One of the most frequently cited is one called "The Public Cost of Motorcycle Trauma" which was done by Dr. Rivera at the Harborview Trauma Center in Seattle, Washington. In that report they charge that 63.4% of the direct costs associated with injured motorcyclists in the study were paid by public funds. What is not revealed in this study was presented in testimony by the Harborview Trauma Center Director, a Mr. David Glitch, before the House Ways and Means Committee in testimony on the cost of health care about one year later. In that testimony he stated that 67% of the general patient population at Harborview also relied on taxpayer dollars during the same period. That's 3.7% more than the injuries associated with motorcycle accident victims.

A 1980-83 study on motorcyclists admitted to the orthopedic unit of the University of California, Davis, is also frequently cited, and they claimed 82% of their acute hospitalization costs were paid with public funds. We believe this study is not representative of broad patient population or of general hospital experience. The study is limited to fifty-one patients in a public supported teaching hospital known to receive higher levels of indigent patients. This study was done retrospectively, after the fact, following a larger study of open fractures. Their review not done to assess costs or the validity of helmet use. It was done to assess costs of open fractures.

One of the last proponents of helmet laws has been the advocates of highway and auto safety. What we call the advocates. Their enthusiasm for the cause has lead we believe to distortions of the record. In the 1994 booklet that they publish, "Motorcycle Helmet Laws", the advocates state: "Taxpayers pick up at least 40% of the costs of acute hospitalization for non-helmeted motorcyclists. In addition 21% is not reimbursed." Ignored in this statement is that 60% was paid from other than public funds, and that over 79% was ultimately reimbursed which is consistent with other studies, and at a greater percentage than the general patient population.

More recent, and we believe a representative study, by James Stotts and Carol Martell at a respected University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, specifically compared motorcycle crash injuries and the health care services they require. Their conclusions are decidedly different and involve a larger sample. They state in their conclusions: "Our analysis fails to support earlier studies suggesting that motorcyclists injured in traffic crashes disproportionately rely on public health care funds to pay for their hospitalization. They are also less likely to rely on Medicaid and Medicare, and they have about the same level of commercial or private insurance." This study revealed that 49.4% of motorcyclists had their medical care covered by insurance while 50.4 of other road trauma victims were similarly insured.

Motorcyclists are just as likely to be insured as any other privately insured individual injured in a road-user accident. Motorcyclists are no more like to present a public burden than other injuries incurred in motor vehicle crashes. The suggestion that motorcyclists are more likely not to have health insurance is not true and should not be a deterrent in passing AB-244.

Senator Kelley: Thank you. Would you please state your name again and who you represent.

Rob Rasor: My name is Robert Rasor, that's R-A-S-O-R, with the American Motorcyclists Association.

Senator Kelley: Thank you very much for your comments. Mr. Weisman.

Assemblyman Morrow: Senator, if I may interrupt for just a moment.

Senator Kelley: Sure.

Assemblyman Morrow: For the benefit of Senator Russell, we have that page number on the report dealing with the number of fatalities from spinal-cord injuries.

Paul Lax: If you're looking at the page numbers as they appeared in the original Journal of the American Medical Association, it's page 1509. The exhibit is table five.

Assemblyman Morrow: Thank you, I apologize for the interruption Mr. Chairman.

Senator Kelley: Go ahead.

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