
A comparison between safety features today compared to fifty years ago is off the charts. Today we have necklaces that call 9-1-1 with just a push of the button, cars with reverse cameras and average houses with their own security systems. One big area where safety equipment has also advanced is sports equipment. Players that play contact sports now look as if they are armed gladiators. Despite this new equipment players are still susceptible to acquiring concussions. The Peltzman effect explains why players continue to get concussions despite advances in technology. The Peltzman effect claims that people indulge in riskier behavior the safer they feel, this leads to more dangerous hits in football which cause concussions. Equipment in sports is beneficial to preventing injuries; however it may actually be causing injuries as well, due to the psychology behind players making hits. 

Concussions are a substantial part of contact sports like football and ice hockey. About 1.6 to 3.8 million sports concussions occur a year in the United States, 60% of those concussions occur in football. "Tackling is responsible for almost two-thirds (63%) of concussions in high school football." (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Improper tackling techniques are the most common factor in causing concussions. Youth hockey players may experience injuries due to poor checking habits as well. In a research study done by Anthony Kantos his study showed that illegal hits caused 43% of concussions in ice hockey for players between the ages of twelve and eighteen. Kantos also discovered that a majority of concussions that occurred happened in players between the ages of twelve and fourteen. This discovery suggests, "Younger players may be at higher risk for concussion than older players, possibly due to unfamiliarity with checking and disparities in body size and strength". (Kantos). Sports that so many kids play should be safer when it comes to protecting their brain. If players were to follow the rules and play properly there is no doubt less concussions would occur. Perhaps the question lies in how to get players to follow the rules more obediently. 

Concussions can affect the brain in more ways than one may think. In a study with the results published in the journal Pediatrics ImPACT neurocognitive testing results showed that concussions actually caused a decrease in cerebral blood flow. Cerebral blood flow is the measure of how much blood flows to the brain in a certain amount of time. The brain experiences complications if cerebral blood flow levels drop, due to a lack of oxygen. In the study the subjects who had sustained a sports related concussion showed significant drops in cerebral blood flow. Subjects with sports related concussions showed cerebral blood flow of 38mL/100g per minute compared to 48mL/100g per minute. The subjects in these tests were between the ages of eleven and fifteen years old. Adolescents this young should not have their brain experience trauma such as this because of a sport. 

In another study, published by the journal Pediatrics, researchers wanted to test to see if children with previous concussions suffered more elongated symptoms after sustaining a second concussion. After the study was completed the results showed that subjects with a previous concussion suffered from symptoms for twenty-four days, compared to only twelve for those who had not suffered a concussion previously. The results were even more drastic for those who had suffered multiple concussions and for those who have suffered a concussion in the past year. Those who suffered from multiple concussions had symptoms for twenty eight days and those who had a concussion in the past year had symptoms for thirty-five. With such severe increases in the duration of concussion symptoms it is essential for athletes to do everything they can to try to avoid a repeat concussion. 

"Protecting the brain from concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy requires more than just increasing the amount of helmet padding." (Piazza). In an article written by Stephen Piazza he explains that a brain injury can occur due to the brain colliding against the skull, making a padded helmet almost useless. Piazza mentions that the brain is the most vulnerable during rotational movements because the fluids between the brain and the skull can do almost nothing to prevent the brain from slamming into the skull while experiencing rotational movement. The brain does not move with the fluids when the head moves rotationally. Piazza also shows the differences between the human brain and the brain of a wood pecker to explain why we get brain injuries and wood peckers do not. Wood peckers have a hyoid bone system which acts as a harness for the brain. The hyoid bone system inside of a wood pecker explains why the bird can slam its beak into an object at "accelerations of 1,200 g" (Piazza) and not suffer from any brain injuries. If a human head was to undergo that type of acceleration the fluids between the brain and the skull would stand a small chance of being able to stop the brain from hitting the skull. Without being able to secure the brain or find a way to divert the forces against the head it is challenging to stop some brain injuries from occurring.

Another reason why it may be so hard to prevent concussions in sports is the psychology behind the hits that players make. In the article "Investigating Peltzman effects in adopting mandatory seat belt laws in the US: Evidence from non-occupant fatalities" by Jinpeng Lv he explains the theory of the Peltzman effect and how it correlates to peoples driving habits. The Peltzman effect suggests that humans indulge in riskier behavior the safer they feel. This article argues that when people wear seatbelts they tend to drive more reckless. Since seatbelts help to protect against fatalities and other injuries for those involved in a crash previous researchers have not found the Peltzman effect to be meaningful. The Peltzman effect also fades over time so people who grew up with seat belt laws do not experience it as much and any research done on that group of people would not be accurate. The data used for the article was from 1983 to 1997, when the government started to enforce seat belt laws. Lv explains that while fatalities and injuries decreased for people inside the car people outside of the car, like joggers or cyclists, were at a greater risk of injury due to reckless driving. Football is continuously creating more modern and "safer" helmets which recreates the Peltzman effect with every updated version.   

Elaine Schwartz also makes the argument that football helmets may cause more brutal hits because of the Peltzman effect in her article "An Unintended Consequence of Football Helmets". Schwartz mentions, "A recent article in SFGate noted that after a new Golden Gate bridge safety barrier was installed, the number of minor accidents increased." (Schwartz). This statistic correlates to how players with modern helmets play more aggressively and therefore make bigger hits which cause more injuries. 

An article written in Psycology today offers a similar opinion on football players playing less cautiously due to the large amount of safety equipment players wear. The author of the article Harry Kerasidis mentions how people indulge in riskier behavior when they feel safe by stating, "Cyclists wearing helmets rode faster." (Kerasidis). This article also mentions a rugby coach from Leeds Metropolitan University named Jim McKenna talk about the differences between rugby and football. Mckenna mentions how the tackling techniques differ drastically. He explains that football players often lead with their heads when making a tackle and rugby players try to focus on using a wrap tackle technique. "Without helmets (although some rugby players wear padded hats that are a little like football helmets from the 1920s), rugby players are taught from an early age to get their head to the side, and make contact with the shoulder." (McKenna). If football players used the same tackling technique as rugby players there would be a large decrease in the amount of concussions sustained during a football season. 

While some of the theories on how to prevent concussions are logical it is hard to spread awareness when the person who created the theory of the Peltzman Effect did not play football. Hines Ward however agrees that football helmets cause players to play more violently. Hines Ward was a wide receiver on the Pittsburgh Steelers and has seen his fair share of violent hits. In an interview on the Dan Patrick Show Ward said, "If you want to prevent concussions, just take the helmet off." (Ward). Ward then goes on to explain that if players have a helmet they are going to use it as a weapon. Ward states, "It's a gladiator mentality" (Ward). If a player has the approach of a gladiator going into a football game players are going to use whatever they can to get an advantage. The game allowing its players to be equipped with armor like protective equipment is a recipe for disaster. 

In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Darren Everson explains former head coach of the Penn State University Nittany Lions Joe Paterno's thoughts on helmets. Paterno makes the argument that facemasks are the cause of some viscous hits. Joe Paterno explained how when he played football in the 1940s that his helmets only had a single bar protecting his face. He then went on to explain that the facemasks on the helmets of players today are weapons for the players. Paterno believes that if players do not have giant facemasks they will have to resort to safer tackling methods. "Then, you would get back to shoulder blocking and shoulder tackling and you wouldn't have all those heroes out there." (Paterno). Paterno clearly thinks that the reason so many players try to make demolishing hits leading with their heads is because of the face masks. Paterno brings up some interesting points and since he has experienced football with a full face mask and just a single bar he is a reliable figure to trust with this matter. 

I have recently conducted an interview with former Colorado State hockey player Matt Fulcoly to see what his take was on the subject facemasks and how helmets can be weapons. Matt Fulcoly has played hockey for thirteen years and has obtained concussions during those playing years. Fulcoly mentioned that he would often lead with his helmet to make hits. The reason Fulcoly would lead with his helmet to make hits was because he was a small player and he explained that using his helmet allowed him to get more leverage while delivering a hit. Since hockey players in college and high school are required to have cages over their faces it is rare for someone to get a face injury when using a helmet to make a hit. When discussing if the college level and high school level should start just using a visor over the eyes instead of cages Fulcoly said, "Yes, I believe the game would become more skill based. Taking away the face protection would keep players from making reckless hits" (Fulcoly). Since the game is designed to be skill based it would be intelligent for the NCAA to look into changing the rules to help prevent injuries and to make the game more entertaining to watch. 

While playing the game without a full face mask sounds good on paper and could significantly help reduce head injuries it could also be extremely dangerous. On the front page of the Des Moines Sunday Register paper it shows former Drake University quarterback Johnny Bright breaking his jaw. This incident occurred October 20, 1951. At this time the helmets used had only a single bar to protect the face. However, the player who broke Bright's jaw Willbanks Smith had targeted Bright. If someone targeted someone today it would be quite hard for him to break the jaw of the opposing player due to the large facemasks on helmets. However, a player targeting someone today could deliver a gruesome head shot and cause a serious head injury. If Bright had a bigger facemask he probably would not have broken his jaw, but if Willbanks Smith did not target Bright, Bright would not have broken his jaw either. This incident comes back to players having to follow the rules to prevent injuries. 

In an ideal world a great way to measure how well removing the facemask or the helmet all together would work would be to compare the number of concussions in football to the number of concussions in rugby. The problem with this course of action is some players in rugby may not report a head injury due to the fact that players who exit the game in rugby cannot return to the same game. While players in hockey and football can return to the game a similar issue arises. In my interview with Matt Fulcoly he mentioned that for some of his less severe concussions he would not tell anyone, because he wanted to continue playing in the game. Since a concussions go unreported in all contact sports especially rugby the data would skewed.  

Although massive helmets help to prevent serious injuries I believe that they cause more harm than good. Creating larger helmets does not do anything to help prevent concussions from occurring. Since the human brain does not have a hyoid brain structure to hold it in place, like a humming bird, the league should try to get players to stop making vicious hits to prevent concussions. 

After researching the Peltzman Effect I believe the reason players are willing to make such brutal hits is because they have a false sense of protection, from the copious amount of equipment they have. If these different sports organizations keep trying to make the equipment bigger the hits that player make will continue to get more aggressive. One can witness the Peltzman effect in everyday life as well. When the Golden Gate Bridge installed a safer median drivers drove more reckless than they did previously and the result was more minor accidents. How can the NFL and other contact sports organizations expect the people playing their sport will be any different from normal citizens? I think that the best way to prevent players from feeling invincible but still protecting them would be to have the NFL use helmets with a single bar across a players face. This would prevent the Peltzman Effect since players would now have their faces exposed. Players can avoid serious head injuries by wearing a hard helmet unlike the players who only wore a leather hat in the early 1900's. Having a single bar across the face would also stop any accidental contact to the face of a player. Even though Johnny Bright got his jaw broken while he was wearing a helmet with just a single bar over his face it would be unlikely for that to occur. As long as players do not target other players, having a helmet with a single bar should protect a player's face just fine. By eliminating the Peltzman Effect there will be less concussions in football, which will lead to more parents allowing their children to play and ultimately more skilled players in the NFL.  

