LAUSR

Abstract The effectiveness of safety legislation may be improved or negated as a result of behavioral responses. Recent empirical research suggests that the efficacy of mandatory motorcycle helmet laws is enhanced by the behavior of motorcyclists. This study uses a nationally representative survey of approximately 500 US motorcyclists to investigate the precursors of helmet law enhancing behavior. Favorable opinions regarding helmet safety result in a 10–20 percentage point increase in helmet use depending on beliefs regarding death and injury risks or vision obstruction. Motorcyclists living in states with mandatory helmet laws are more likely to choose higher visibility helmet colors and are 10.7 percentage points more likely to take out-of-state motorcycling trips. Each of the aforementioned factors is expected to contribute to the enhancing behavior documented in state-level panel analyses using motorcycle registrations as an imperfect measure of risk exposure.