It's not just because of her job that Mary Peters, Secretary of Transportation, cares about motorcycle safety.

Peters is an avid motorcyclist herself and one who knows firsthand how important wearing a helmet can be. “My helmet prevented me from being a brain injury patient when I crashed my Harley two years ago,” says Peters who suffered a broken collar bone when she hit the pavement. That’s why she’s now pressing Congress to enact legislation to encourage more states to pass motorcycle helmet laws.

“I want states to be able to join in urging riders to take personal responsibility for their safety by wearing a helmet every time they ride,” said Peters who is prompting Congress to allow states to use federal motorcycle safety funding to promote the use of motorcycle helmets. Currently, states are limited to using that money for safety training and awareness programs only.

Peters notes that motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled in 10 years to 4,810 in 2006. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that helmets saved the lives of 1,658 motorcyclists in 2006—and could have saved an additional 752 lives if all riders had worn helmets compliant with federal safety standards.

Although motorcycles account for only two percent of vehicles on the road, they make up more than 10 percent of all crashes. Part of the problem, says Peters, are aging baby boomers like her. “Many of them are going out and buying bikes—and wrecking them.” As a result, crashes among the 50-plus age group have gone up 400 percent in the last decade.

Those numbers help explain why Peters calls motorcycles “our nation’s greatest highway safety challenge”—and why DOT launched a new federal initiative last fall to improve rider education and training and to curb counterfeit helmets that provide less protection on the highways. Peters even starred in a public service announcement.

Unfortunately, in recent years, efforts to encourage all states to adopt laws requiring all riders to wear helmets have collided with a strong motorcycle rights lobby.