Over the winter break, MotoGP’s rule-making body, the Grand Prix Commission, met to adjust a few rules for the 2022 season and beyond.
Among a host of confirmations and minor adjustments, there were one or two small but significant changes, tightening up important parts of the rules for MotoGP.
The link between helmet laws and motorcyclists fatalities may seem intuitive and obvious, but now because of a study published in the American Journal of Surgery we have scientific proof that helmets save lives.
The study focuses around Michigan, which repealed its mandatory helmet law (thanks to help from the AMA) in April 2012, and has since had three riding seasons with a greatly reduce helmet-wearing requirement.
After the repeal, motorcyclists in Michigan can now ride without a helmet if they are over 21-years-old, have had their license for at least two years, and have at least $20,000 in additional medical insurance coverage.
Postulating that legislatures made a mistake in that repeal, the basic conclusions from the study are that the state has seen an increase in injury severity for motorcycles, a higher in-patient mortality for motorcyclists, and worse neurological damage for motorcyclists.
While those are all painful logical results, the numbers paint an even more grim picture.
Troy Corser will miss the next Word Superbike round at Brno after surgery to repair injuries he sustained this past weekend while racing in Spain. The former world champion, already suffering a cracked rib, crashed in the second race at Motorland Aragon in a collision with Maxime Berger. He sustained a broken ulna and radius, injuries that were suspected after examinations at the circuit.
Corser explained, “I braked late at the end of the back straight and passed two other riders but I overshot the corner and turned in late. I saw Maxime Berger coming. I could see that his rear wheel was off the ground when he was braking and he just went straight into me.” He continued, “I am not blaming him. It was just unlucky.” The incident occurred on the first lap of Aragon Race 2, after Corser finished Race 1 in tenth position.