Helmet laws: New Jersey
Introduction and scope
The New Jersey helmet law was introduced in 1992 and at first applied only to children under 14 years. In 2005 the law was extended to include children under 17 years and the use of skateboards and roller-skates.
Compliance and enforcement
There is no known data but enforcement is believed to be lax.
Effect on casualties
The State of New Jersey has claimed that the law reduced child cycling deaths by 60%. This is based on a comparison of the years 1987 to 1991 pre-law, when there was a total of 41 deaths, with the years 1994 to 1997 post-law, when there was a total of 16 deaths.
However, this claim is not justified by the statistics for fatalities in New Jersey (FARS, 2):
| Year |
|
1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
| Deaths, <14yrs |
|
19 |
14 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
2 |
| Deaths, 14+ |
|
17 |
18 |
13 |
11 |
20 |
14 |
9 |
17 |
15 |
18 |
16 |
16 |
12 |
21 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
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|
| Year |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Deaths, <14yrs |
1 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Deaths, 14+ |
12 |
20 |
12 |
7 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
9 |
20 |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
- There is no information about the levels of cycle use or helmet use in the period before and after the law, nor the level of enforcement post-law. Without this data it is impossible to show that the helmet law had any particular effect.
- 5 years of data pre-law were compared with only 4 years of data post-law. By adding 1993 to the post-law period the number of fatalities increases to only 17. However, by removing 1987 from the pre-law period, the number of fatalities decreases to 27, a large difference (see below).
- In each of the 3 years immediately pre-law (1989 to 1991) there were 7 fatalities per year. The total of 41 fatalities used for the comparison includes the year 1987 – 5 years before the law – when there were 14 fatalities. This weights the comparison to suggest a much higher benefit of the law than it is reasonable to deduce by considering only data closer to its implementation.
- 1987 (14 fatalities) and 1986 (19 fatalities) were years with relatively high numbers of child deaths. However, these had already reduced to only 6 deaths in 1988 without the influence of a helmet law – a much more dramatic reduction than anything seen since. Clearly other factors were also at work to reduce child casualties.
- In 1994, 2 years after the law, deaths had risen again to 5. This was repeated in 1997 and in 1998 there were 6 deaths (the same as in 1988 pre-law). If the law led to any decrease in child deaths, then the decrease was not sustained. Much more likely is that these statistics are just the result of the random variation that is associated with small numbers. Large differences in the number of deaths per year continues to the present, not only for children in New Jersey but also for adults. Far from proving the success of the helmet law, the pattern of child deaths in New Jersey is more likely a reflection of the safeness of cycling.
Effect on cycle use
Not known.
Benefit cost
No known analysis.
References
FARS, 2
Fatality Analysis Reporting System. National Center for Statistics and Analysis. 
