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Twenty states currently mandate use of Department of Transportation–approved motorcycle helmets, although none require a specific helmet design (full-face, modular, open-face). In a prospective, observational study of 151 adult motorcycle crash victims, researchers assessed whether helmet type is associated with injury pattern.
Of the victims, 84 wore full-face helmets (cover the entire head, base of skull, and mandible) and 67 wore either modular helmets (cover the head but not the face, have a movable or removable chin bar) or open-face helmets (cover three quarters of the skull, no chin coverage). Victims who wore full-face helmets had a significantly lower incidence of facial fractures (7% vs. 27%) and skull fractures (1% vs. 11%) than t…