East Lyme. Stonington. Colchester. Montville. Ledyard. New London. Norwich. Lisbon.

These local communities were directly impacted by motorcycle accidents this summer. Local residents died in some accidents. Others were seriously injured.

Universal helmet use would have reduced the suffering.

Helmets save lives. Period.

Yet despite the scientific evidence; despite entreaties from trauma physicians; despite the high emotional cost of motorcycle fatalities; despite the high financial cost of long-term care for severely head injured motorcyclists and despite the state Department of Transportation Office of Highway Safety’s annual calls for a universal helmet law, very few motorcycle drivers and passengers must wear helmets in Connecticut. Only drivers and passengers younger than 18 and those operating with a motorcycle permit are mandated to wear helmets.

It’s time state lawmakers stand up to the powerful motorcycle lobby and help end the carnage on the state’s roads. Connecticut needs a universal helmet law.

Setting aside the human and emotional costs of serious and fatal motorcycle accidents, consider the financial costs. One 2012 medical study estimated a cost savings of $725 per registered motorcycle in states with universal helmet laws. Put another way, helmet use nationwide saved $3 billion in 2010, but another $1.4 billion might have been saved if all motorcyclists wore helmets. A Connecticut study found between 2000 and 2004, inpatient hospitalizations and emergency room visits stemming from motorcycle accidents cost state taxpayers $1.6 billion annually.

That amount doesn’t even account for the cost of long-term case for traumatically brain-injured patients. The largest portion of the state’s Medicaid budget stems from nursing home and long-term rehabilitation costs and motorcycle accidents account for a slice of this care.

In New London County, motorcycle accidents killed between five and seven people annually between 2010 and 2014, according to the University of Connecticut’s Connecticut Crash Data Repository. Another nearly 500 were injured in motorcycle accidents in the county in the same time period.

Those who drive cars and trucks are legally protected by seatbelts, air bags, anti-lock brakes, safety glass and many other safety devices. Those who drive motorcycles do not have to wear any protective clothing or headgear. This simply makes no sense.

The vocal motorcycle lobby for too long has gotten away with its argument that motorcyclists should have the right to ignore simple safety measures. A well-worn democratic principle holds that individual freedoms end at the point where they interfere with others well-being. Yet all taxpayers continue to pay a high cost for motorcyclists’ so-called freedoms.

We elect representatives in Hartford to do what’s right, not what’s easy. They must stop taking the easy way out and pass a universal helmet law.