Science Division, Yale-NUS College, 10 College Avenue West #01-101, Singapore 138609, Singapore.
Lyles School of Civil Engineering and Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Dr, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2093, USA.
J Safety Res. 2021 Feb;76:166-175. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2020.12.011. Epub 2021 Jan 2.
The U.S. experience with motorcycle helmets affords an important insight into the responses of adolescents to age-specific laws. Political contention has led to a number of U.S. state law changes back and forth between universal and age-specific laws. Because both kinds of law require adolescent motorcyclists to wear helmets, relatively few studies have focused on how the law type affects their behavior.
Differential behavior is tested by a systematic review of literature, leading to a meta-analysis, in relation to the experience of various states' motorcycle helmet laws. An electronic search was conducted for before-and-after studies in U.S. states that include data on adolescent helmet usage - both with a universally applicable motorcycle helmet law, and with an age-restricted law (usually, under-21 or under-18) - from observational, injury or fatality records for a certain period (e.g., 12 months) pre and post the state law change.
The search yielded ten studies, including two that compared a set of age-specific law states with a set of universal law states over the same time period. Heterogeneity analysis of seven single-state studies with raw data revealed an acceptable fit for a random-effects model. Additional noncompliance with age-restricted laws was indicated by an attributable percentage among exposed of over 65% and odds ratio exceeding 4.
About two-thirds of adolescent noncompliance with age-restricted motorcycle helmet usage laws disappears with universal applicability. Evidence from numerous international studies of youth reaction to helmet laws suggests that a large part of the greater compliance with universal laws is due to their conveying a more convincing message that helmets afford protection against injury. Practical Applications: The meta-analysis provides fresh, young-rider perspective on the continuing debate over motorcycle-helmet laws. Broader insight into adolescent psychology suggests considering alternatives to age-restricted laws more widely in safety and health policy.
美国在摩托车头盔方面的经验为了解青少年对特定年龄法律的反应提供了重要的见解。政治争议导致美国一些州的法律在普遍适用和特定年龄的法律之间来回变化。由于这两种法律都要求青少年骑摩托车戴头盔，因此很少有研究关注法律类型如何影响他们的行为。
通过对各种州的摩托车头盔法律经验进行文献综述的系统回顾，对差异行为进行测试，进而进行荟萃分析。对美国各州进行了电子搜索，寻找在一定时期（例如 12 个月）内具有普遍适用的摩托车头盔法和年龄限制法（通常为 21 岁以下或 18 岁以下）的青少年头盔使用数据的前后研究，这些数据来自观察性、伤害或死亡率记录。
搜索结果产生了十项研究，其中两项研究比较了一组特定年龄的法律州和一组具有相同时间段的普遍法律州。对具有原始数据的七项单州研究的异质性分析表明，随机效应模型具有可接受的拟合度。另外，归因于暴露的年龄限制法律的不遵守率超过 65%，且优势比超过 4，表明存在额外的不遵守年龄限制法律的情况。
大约三分之二的青少年不遵守年龄限制的摩托车头盔使用法律在普遍适用性下消失。来自许多国际研究青少年对头盔法律反应的证据表明，更大程度地遵守普遍法律的很大一部分原因是因为它们传达了一个更有说服力的信息，即头盔可以提供受伤保护。
荟萃分析为有关摩托车头盔法律的持续辩论提供了新的、年轻骑手的视角。对青少年心理学的更广泛了解表明，在安全和健康政策中更广泛地考虑替代年龄限制法律。
