Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Legislators' Replies To Letters By Cli rr Boswell Cyc l e Ne ws re a de rs may be i nterest ed in the re plie s given to my l etters by l egis lators re gar di ng th e proposed re s tr i c ti ve he lmet a nd eye shield laws . My co nte ntio n wa s that co mpulso ry helmet wearing will no t ' solve the ac cident pr o bl em , and IS a vi olation of a n individual's ri gh t s , also , t hat eye s hields a re not ne ede d with windshi e lds nor at all in many ins tances . W eld Shoemak er, 36th Ili st. I\ S infi semblyman : "I agree with yo ur de duction that th e best way to pre vent a cc i de nts is to educat e th e us er s o f mo to r vehicles, " -\"ou may res t as sure d th a t I will ~h'e deaths.· So te : I (the author) do not remember makin g the su gge sti on to Mr. v en eman tha t helme ts be REQ UIRED in traffic, al though I probab ly said that it is sensi ble to wear them i n traffic , J es s e ~I. Unruh, Spea ke r of the Assembl y: "Should such le gi sl ation rea ch the As sembly Door, I will ce rtai nly ghe careful co nsideration to the obj ections you rai s e befo re casting my \ote." Jo hn Foran, Assemblyma n trom San Fra ncisco and a utho r o r the contro vers ial bi ll : "The 1968 motorcycl e bill " ill be int roduce d la ter thi s mon th (,Ia nua ry). Discus s ion s ha ve been, and will co nti nue to be , held " lUI person s and o rgan i za ti o ns representing th e mo to r cyctrst, " the compul sory wearin g o f a hel me t and gog gle s car e ful consideration" . George S. Zeno \i ch, Assemblyma n, 32nd Dist. :"1 wa s partfeul arl y intere s te d in your point about su ch Ie gi s latien vt olauna one of the basic right s of freedom of cho i ce. Plea s e be assured tha t I will keep yo ur l eUer o n fil e and will ha w it I am encl os i ng a copy of Ylr. F oran ' s statement made a t the Gowrno r' s Annual Traffi c Sa fety Con ference on Dec embe r H, 1967. Yly own observa tio n i s tha t Mr. Foran is su bj ect to a great dea l o f emotiona! appeal from paren ts or young people who hav e had so ns inj ured or kill ed, then hav e heen told that ha d the in mind when I co nside r my po s ition o n vi ctim been wearing a helm et. thin gs As semblyman Foran's bill.· William M. Ketchwn, Assembly man, 29th Dis!. : "I am s orry tha t I ca noo t agre e with you a s to the propriety of requi ring helmets and eye sh ie lds , nor do I beli ev e that it is a violation of a basi c ri ght or freedom," "The fact that man y of these cycle s are us ed on back road s and in the back country mak e s protection of the rid er all the more important, in my opinion. F ederal law requires that a pilot performin g AEROBATI CS in an a trpl an e to wear a parachute. .. 5 a pilot, I \ don't re s ent this." (Caps o urs ). J ohn G. Veneman, As semblyman, 30 th Dist.: "\\lIile I would hav e s eriou s re s ervations in supporti ng le gislation which would ex act such a severe penalty' for viola tio n of this provi sion , I do re el, as Jo ur le tter states, that requirin g helmets to be "om whil e operatin g motor cycle s i n traffic would be a ' s ensibl e ' appro a ch in prev enting addi tiooal unn ec e s s a ry would have heen diff erent. T hey' can' t make their kid s we ar hel mets ; so they want a law. Mr. F ora n state s that, "the mand atory helmet requirement is perhaps the most controversial part or my bill. Yet it i s not diffi cult to justify.· Yet,h e doe s not j usti fy it on a ny basi s oth er than the s imple on e that Ii ves and bra in dama ge MAY be save d if a helmet is worn. The s ame reasonin g is j ust as good tor rid er s in automobiles and parti cul artly in co nve rti bles , T he same re asoning ca n be us ed to j ustify a law requiring all rid er s in boats to wear lire bel t s , a nd al l who ride in ai rplanes to wear par a chu te s. I do no t feel that it is too la te for a delu ge o r letter s to sean tors an d assemblymen, ~lost le gisl a tors who ha ve repli ed to my letters hav e known li ttl e or nothin g abl1ut motorcycl e s or abo ut "hat it is tha t riders need and wan t. Th ey appreciate he aring our si de of the s tory. It's helm et legislati on time again! Once more, with what we will credit as the be st of intentions, some of our lawmak er s hav e decided to s tar t the process by which they hope to produce the la w which will te ll us we MUST wear a ha rd ha t. And once again it is the ti me for California cyc li s ts to say «not ' We must hav e the r ight to decide at any given time whether we will wear one ." Afte r the Feder al safety Act, thirty s tates meekly follo wed s uit . They are requi r ing a wide va riety of helme ts and eye pro tec tion and other gad getry and in the ir ha s te to follow the lead of the fe der al governme nt, some of the la ws turned out to be pr etty aburd , Califor nia wasn' t s tamped ed Into follow(Conti nue d on pa ge 23) HOW TO WRITE TO YOUR LEGISLATOR You say you've been done in by your elected representative? You say your politician let you down? You feel like a wad of gum on the bootheel of progress? Tell you what you ought to do. Write a letter to your legislator. I n this day of mass demo nstrations a nd political violenc e you might think that the quai nt oldfashi oned letter from a constituent to a cong ressman doesn 't carry mu ch weight . B ut you' d be w rong . E spe c ially in an e le c ti o n year , lik e th is is. legislato rs votes are affe cted by your le tt er s . ,A few weeks a go , S enator R a lp h Dills , to ld yo ur pub lis he r that he had only re c e i ve d two le tt er s from vote r s ab out the controv ersial co mp ul s ory hel me t i ss ue . S en a t or Dill s is the a ut ho r of SB Ill , a bill which would, unle s s ame nd e d , s e nte nc e e ve ry moto rcyc le rid er to jail if he failed to prot e c t him s e lf. D oe s n't anyon e e l se c a re if th is fre e dom is tak en aw ay ? T he n write a nd.l et yo ur l e gi s l a to r know y o ur o pi nion . Your l ette r will re c eive a fai r a nd o pe nmind ed hearin g if you rem e mber th e followi ng hints whe n wr i ti ng to yo ur congressman . I. Op en with -D e ar Si r ," a nd ge t ri ght to the point . L a wma ke rs a re too bu s y to p low t hrou gh p ages de sc ri bi ng yo ur life on two wh eel s . Simply s tale , -I am o ppose d to (o r in favo r of) l egislalion to fo rc e motorcycle rid e rs and pas s engers to we ar helme ts whe n th e y ar e usin g th e i r ma c hi ne s .2. S tate your reas ons for o r agai nst th e issue , k e epi ng th em down to o ne page o r le s s . 3 . Clos e with somethin g lik e , - As a re gi s te red vote r (if you ar e ) , I would app re ciate a nythin g j'OU c a n do to assure defeat (o r passage) o f thi s regul ation i n the c urre nt sess io n of th e legislat ure . " 4 . Si gn your name legibly and print your add ress beneath it . 5 . Address t he let ter to th e l egislators nearest your home (see C alifornia congressional ros ter b elow ), i n car e of "St ale C ap ito l Building , Se nate (o r A s s e mbly ) P o s t Offi c e , Sacramento , C ali forn i a 95814 . - MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY I • Pauline L. Davi s ( D) ••••• P ortol a 2. Frank P. Belotti (R) ••••• Eureka 3. L eroy F. Greene (D) •• Sacra mento 4. Ray E. Johnson (R) ••••• Chico 5. John F. Dunlap (D) ••••• Vallejo 6. Eugene A. Chappte (R) • • •• Cool 7. William T. Bagley (R). San Rafael 8. Walter W. Powers (D)• • Sacramento 9. E dwin L. Z'berg (D) . W.Sacram ento 10. James W. Dent (R) ••••• Conco rd n. John T. Knox (D) ••• " Richmond Stoc kton 12. Robert T. Monagan (R) 13. Carlos Bee (0 )• • • • • • • • Hayward 14. Robert W. Crown (D) •••• Oakland 15. March K. Fong (D) ••••• Oakland 16. Don Mulford (R) ••••••• Oakland 17. John J. Miller (D) •• •••• Oakland 18. W.L.Bro"n Jr.(D) • • San F rancisco 19. Cha s.W Y . leye rs( D)•• San F rancisco 20. J ohn L.Burton (D) •• San Fran ci sco 21. Gordon W. Durfy (R) •••• IIanford 22. Geor ge W. Milias (R) ••• Lo s Gatos 23. ,John F. Fo ran ( D)•. San F ra nc isco 24. John Vascon cellos (D). . San Jo s e 25. Ea rle P. Crandall (R) •• San Jo s e 26. Carl A. Britschgi (R). Redwo od City 27. Leo J. Ryan (0 ). So. San Fran ci s co 28. Ken t H. Sta c ey (R) .•• Ilak ersCield WHAT COMPULSORY HELMET LAWS WOULD MEAN TO YOU You c ou ld n 't take i t off for a few mi nutes to let th e bre eze dry o ut yo u r hai r when th e temper ature is 110 d egrees and humid . • * • • . • • • • • • • • • • * .* • • • • • • • • • • • . .. . ... . .. Yo u wo uld hav e to c a r ry it with yo u wh e re ver yo u go o r find so me way to hid e it so as to di s courage thieve s . ·.. ...... .. . ....... .. .. .. .. .... .. ... .. . If yo u take yo ur lady fri end fo r a ri de s he ' ll ha ve to plan her hairdo so that he r helmet won 't d estroy it . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • * • • • • • • • • • • • • • • If yo u r he lme t were s tole n , s ay while you ar e at school , yo u c ouldn 't rid e your bike h ome un til yo u obtai ne d an oth er o ne . You won ' t be ab l e to off e r a friend a rid e unl ess you h av e a n e x tra helmet with yo u in his or her size . · .. . . . ... . .. ..... ... .. . .. . .... . . . .. .. . . wm, M. Ke tchum (It ) •• lIak er s Cield J oho G. v enema n (R)•• • • ~l od e s to F ran k ~lurphy , Jr. (R ) •••• • Merced Geo. :'\. Z eno\'ich (D) • ••• Fresno Ernest N. Mobl ey' (R) • •• • Fre sno Alan G. P a ttee (It) •••••• Sali na s J ohn V. Bri ggs (R) • • •• F ull erto n W ..-\.Shoema ke r(D)• ••Santa lla rbara Ken MacDonald (D) . • • •• Ven tura Ca rle)' V. Por ter (D) • • • . Compton J ame s A. IIay es (R) • • • Long Be ach Edward E. Ell iott( D). Lo s Anaet e s n. David S e gri (D) •••• San Ferna ndo 42. Bob ~ Ior etti (D) •• l'iorth Hol fywo od 43. Ca rlos J . Y rhead ( R) •• Gle nda le loo H. ~1ike Culle n (D) • • • • Lon g Beach 015. W.J . Karabian ( Il) • • ~l o nt er ey P ark 016. It. G. Beverly (R)••• Reoon do Be ach 47. F rank Lanterman (It) •• • P a saden a 48. David A. Rob erti (D) • Los Angel es 49. P eter F .Schabarum ( R) • •• Covina 50. William Campbell (R)IIa cienda Hgts, 5 1. Jack R. Fenton (D) ••• Monteb ello 5 2. FloydL.WakeCield(R ) lIuntington Pk 53. Bill Green e (D) • • •• Lo s Angeles 54. John L . E.Colli er( R) • So. Pasadena 55. Leon Ralph (D) • • •• Lo s An zel es 56. Cha rl es Warren (D) . . Lo s Angel e s 57. Charle s J .Conra d(R) . She rman Oaks 58. Harv ey Johnson (D) ••• • EI Monte 59. Alan Sieroly ( D) ••••Lo s Angel es 60. Paul Priolo (R) ••• ••Lo s Angeles 6\ . L ester A. McMillan(D) .Los Anzel e s 62. Sewton R.Ru ssell (R) ••• Burhank 63. Yvonn e W.Brathwaite(D)Lo s Angel es 64. Patri ck D.McGee(It) Woodlan d IIills 65 . J es s e ~l. Unruh (D) • •• Lo s Ange les 66. Jo e A. Gonsaive s (D)•••• So",'alk 67. L.E. Towns end (D) •••• To rra nce 68 . Vincent Th omas (D) ••• Sa n P edro 69 . Kenn eth Cory (D) •••••• Anaheim 70. Rob!.H.Burk e(R ) •• Huntington Bch 71. Rob!.E.Ba

• Cover