On September 19 2014 Devin Prewitt was in a life threatening motorcycle accident on Old 3rd Street, Louisville, Kentucky. She was the passenger and landed in the grass, she was not wearing a helmet. She suffered the following injuries: Two broken ankles, a broken leg bone, broken ribs on her right side, a fractured chest bone, skull and face fractures, broken ear bones that have caused hearing loss in her left ear, and traumatic brain injury. Had Devin been wearing a helmet statistics say 37%-41% of Devin's injuries could have been lessened in severity or prevented. By medical standards she died three times. She was on life support for 7 days. She almost left her young child, her family and friends behind. Against all odds Devin pulled through and is alive and fighting everyday. As of October 20th 2014 Devin has a scheduled throat surgery to enable her to breathe correctly on her own after being on a ventilator for 7 days. She has a long road of recovery to venture down, but she has the help and encouragement of her friends and family and she is a fighter, she will make it through this.

 However had anything in her story gone the slightest bit different she would not be here with us today. Because of that reality along with the help of her community  we are taking a stand and demanding change. In 1998 Kentucky repealed its Universal Helmet Law in favor of a Partial Helmet Law. In the two years after Kentucky weakened its universal helmet law to a partial law, deaths jumped 58% compared to the two years prior to repealing its law.

 We are asking the law be changed back to a Universal Helmet Law, that would require all motorcycle operators and passengers to wear a helmet or be subject to lawful punishment, similar to Kentucky's seatbelt law Per KRS 189.125. Kentucky's current motorcycle helmet law states Per KRS 189.285., 

The following persons shall be required to wear protective headgear, in the manner prescribed by the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet, at all times the motorcycles they are riding are in motion on a public highway: (a) A person under the age of twenty-one (21) years who is operating a motorcycle or who is a passenger on a motorcycle or in a sidecar attachment; (b) A person who possesses a motorcycle instruction permit and who is operating a motorcycle; and (c) A person who has held a valid motorcycle operator's license, or combination motor vehicle-motorcycle operator's license, for less than one (1) year and who is operating a motorcycle.

This law needs to change to require anyone operating or riding a motorcycle regardless of age, experience and licensing to wear a helmet or face legal repercussions.

We refuse to sit back and keep silent, we will be heard.Here are some statistics to keep in mind.

UPDATE 10/22/2014

Helmets for Devin has decided to add a couple mini goals that will be stepping stones to our main goal.

First mini goal is to ask our legislation to create a new law (Landen's Law, named after Devins precious son)that requires all new and old licensed motorcycle Operators to attend and pass a one time motorcycle safety class. After receiving a passing credit in the class they would receive an indicator on their license as proof. Very similar to the condition stated on page 8 of Kentucky State Drivers Manual. As well as KRS 186.574.

Second mini goal in-conjunction with the first is for legislation to establish a motorcycle safety committee to conduct the classes that were mentioned above. In addition the committee would conduct quarterly mini seminar like events for the the next 4 years to raise helmet and motorcycle safety awareness.  Comparable to KRS 186.574.

Kentucky State Drivers Manual : http://www.kentuckystatepolice.org/pdf/2011_ky_drivers_manual.pdf

KRS 186.574: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43295

KRS 189.125: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Statutes/statute.aspx?id=40597

KRS 189.285: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Statutes/statute.aspx?id=6361

CDC Stats/Info: http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/mc/states/ky.html​

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6123a1.htm 

GHSA: http://www.ghsa.org/html/media/pressreleases/2013/20130530hldi.html

IHSS Stats/Info: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/laws/helmetuse/mapmotorcyclehelmets?topicName=Motorcycles#map​

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/motorcycle-injuries-worsen-weaker-helmet-law

Helmet required by law when riding off road, but not on road. Does that make sense to you? http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Rights/State-Laws.aspx?stateid=17

Helmet Info and Statistics

http://leatherup.com/g/DOT-Approved-Helmets/89.html​

http://www.smf.org/docs/articles/dot​

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/DOT-standard.htm​

http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/motorcycle/unsafehelmetid/pages/page2.htm​

http://www.smf.org/stds​

http://www.smf.org/testing

Is your helmet certified?

http://www.smf.org/cert

Motorcycle Accident Injuries

In 2011, there were 104,576 motorcycles registered in Kentucky. According to Kentucky State Police statistics, 1,884 registered motorcycles were involved in collisions that year, injuring 1,145 people. On a national basis, each year more than 80,000 motorcyclist are injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

While some lucky motorcycle accident victims will suffer relatively minor injuries, most face severe or life-threatening injuries such as:

Broken bones / fractures

Severe injury to lower extremities, some requiring amputation

Painful skin abrasions (road rash)

Internal bleeding

Organ damage

Spinal cord & neck injuries

Closed head injury / traumatic brain injury.

 Injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident can also be emotionally and financially draining. Often, those who are seriously injured are unable to work – at least for a length of time.

Motorcycle Accident Fatalities

While motorcycles represented only 1% of the vehicles in all Kentucky collisions in 2011, they represented 8% of the vehicles in fatal collisions. The NHTSA statistics show that each year more than 4,500 people across the country are killed in motorcycle accidents. Motorcyclist are about 30 times more likely to die in a crash than those in passenger cars.

In the state of Kentucky in 2011, 72 motorcyclist died in highway accidents; 42 were not wearing a helmet, according to the Kentucky State Police. The NHTSA estimates that helmets are about 37 percent effective in preventing fatal injuries to motorcycle riders and 41 percent for motorcycle passengers.