Editor,
There are two helmet laws under consideration in the Legislature. One mandates motorcycle helmets for all. The other allows cyclists to state they will, or will not, wear a helmet at the time they register the cycle. If you state you are not going to wear a helmet, you pay a $700 “no helmet” fee.
If anyone goes in to register their cycle and says they are going to go without a helmet and pays the extra $700, they’ve already hit their head without a helmet on. Many will take their chance and ride without a helmet and hope they don’t get stopped by the police.
Sure there may be a fine if they are without a helmet and declared they would use one in order to save the $700 fee. But most people will take that chance.
If traumatic brain injuries are prevented in 67 percent of accidents, and deaths are prevented in 37 percent of motorcycle accidents, only one helmet bill should pass - the one mandating helmet use by all motorcycle riders.
Let’s not start the personal freedom argument unless you want to argue against mandatory seat belt use, keeping your dog on a leash in a public place, mandatory malaria shots before travel to Africa and no serving food in a restaurant without washing your hands after going to the restroom.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Paul
Daily Lobo reader
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