Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Bel ellaw -aalbor . . Califo.-Dia Sialelisseaablyaaali Dick Floyd By Dale Brown Assembly Bill 996. Remember the number. /t's just been introduced into the California state legislature and, if passed, would require mandatory helmet usage by all motorcyclists. Few issues can spark the i"e ofstreet-riding motorcyclists qu~'te like helmet laws. In the mid-70s motorcyclists worked together on the federal and state levels, first fighting the National Highway Traffic Safe~y Administration's blackmail authority to withhold federal fUTJ-ds from states not having a mandatory helmet law. NHTSA's director from 1976 to 1980, Joan Claybrook, was an .outspoken advocate of helmet laws and so became a. /l,ousehold vz'llain. Where once there were 48 states with mandatory helmet · laws, more than half'of them have ,repealed the statutes under We'd like to confirm what we've heard, 'that' you're introducing a man~atory helmet law bill. I'm introducirig a mandatory helmet bilL 1 know that cenain groups really · come unglued - and 1 don't really like to wear a helmet - but I've fol· lowed up with Dr: Harry Hun's 'study out of USC. Not only that, but we've . juSt had a hell'of a lot of less experienced riden hitting the streets, more than' we've ever had. Mopeds: We're · putting a lot of 15-year-old girls on the streets on mopeds. Perhaps a wellexperienced rider may not like it, but . it's jUst one of those things that 1 feel the time has come. . I know the a~gument, "It',s my constitutional'right to go ou~ and kill myself if I want." I don't disagree with. that rider's viewpoint. Unfortunately, he lives. He doesn't kill himself, he sits in a hoSpital or a nuning home for yean - a lot of t~em - .and that's a direct cost to the local tupayen, right down the line. If he could ,guarantee that when he crashed and banged his head on the'curb that he ,checked out, that's ·differen.t.· But 'nobody can guarantee that. We have vegetables laying around all up and down this state. Some of them were damn good riden, but most of them weren't and I think it's just a basic situation. I know that a lot of my friends who ride are not gonoa like it, but we'.!1 just have t.Q wait and see what happens. . "If he could guarantee thq,t when he crashed . , , that he checked out, that s different. , , We have vegetables laying around", Some of them were damn good riders, " Whthl~ you. channelling your effotu 26 in, '~ndael'than.in eclUcaUoli1 - .... rider .I'm doing both. I worked for a lot of number of years with Senator Dills. I carried (as a consultant . .. Editor) the motorcycle driver training ·bilL We made it all the' way to the governor's desk'with it last time. Right now we've got ,a big question on drivers' training, period. I'm a strong supporter for all driven' training situations. If we save the driven' training program, which I think we're going to do, then we'll introduce the mO.lorcycle driver educa- . tion bill again. Until we're certain that we can save the four-wheel program, I think we may be spitting in the wind'to . go with the other bill. But I'm still very much in favor of it. I think it's probably more imponant than the other, but I'm not b~ncing either on imponance. "Perhaps the wellexperz'enced rider may not lz'ke i't, but z'ts just one of those thz'ngs that I feel the tz'me· has come," Now you realize you're going to be stepping into a buzZAW u far u the amoullt of oppolition. Oh, no question about it, A lot of opposition and that's fair. I sure as hell wouldn't want to say that I'm 100% right about everything. There's some good opposition, there's some ~ arguments. . The bill has been introduced many times before. I lived around this legislature as it went through; I saw it defeated. On the othe,r hand when we took. over the motorcycle driver ,training bill i(d been defeated three or four times before we finally gOt it to the governor's desk. I'm gonna'incur some animosity. I have a viewpoint; the otht-o' people have a viewpoint too. 'And I respect their viewpoint. I just think may• be it's time that we take a real close look, get a debate going. We m"aY find a lot of riders are really in favor of it. It might have something to do down the line with wurance and things like that. pressure from motorcyclists. Many motorcycl~sts who wouldn't dream of Tiding' without a helmet still regard helmet laws as an invasion of their personal freedom. And they're no different than the general ·public. Remember how long seat belt interlock systems. lasteq 'as req,,!-ir~d equipment on caTS.' The Amen'can Motorcyclist ASsociation actively encourages vo~untary helmet Usage while act~vely fighting manda~ory helmet laws. . Back to AB 996. .Its author is freshman Assemblyman Dick Floyd, a long time n'der who represents the 53Td Assembly l!ist.n'ct, which includes Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale and Carson, California. Ascot Park falls within his distn·ct. We talked to him about wh~t he was rioing . .. "He doesn't kz'll hz'mself, he si'ts z'n a hospz'talfor years, , ,. and thats a dzrect cost to the local taxpayer," Do' y~u think that if this bill pueet that motorcycle inlurance premiulDI in California would be reduced? I don't have a Jot of faith in the insurance companies giving Us break in' any way, but over a period of time the statistics may show that, we're a little better risks. I'm not cenain of it· - I'm not cenain of anything on this thing - but it would seem to me that it may. I would hope it would, but there again, if we do I'm not going to be naive· enough to assume that the insurance companies, out of the goodness, of their ,hearts, are going to say, "Hey look, we' don't have the . heavy claims that we did before or any of those things." Hell, you never know how many people break their legs, but ,you can maintain your speech with a broken leg, you can maintain your hearing, your sight, and yOUT sanity. Sometimes that's not true with a broken head. a· '1'm a strong supporter for all drz'vers' traz'nz'ng sz'tuatz'ons., " I don't know if you wendn tlle Iegiala.lUre tennl yean ago when California wu thn:arened with the 11* of milliollf of dollan in highway funm and still didn't paa a helmet law. ' If all of a lIUdden' we were threatened with a lou of highway funds if we didn't have the law, I would think tQat would be th~ stupidest reason for the law that I can think of, and that's not my reason. I. doll't think that thac's going to happen from the federal govertUDeDt at this point, I hope. it doesn't. I would think that the , protective headgear law should live or , die on the basis of 1.) Is it protective for the riden on streets and highways? And 2.) Are we going to save a fewbucks? 1 don't know what it costs to keep a penon in intensive care for a , long time and then warehouse them in a musing home for three yean, but it seems to me that we do have these in· stances and I've been appraised of sev· 'eral of them. It might be wonh it to all of us, 1 don't know. ", , .you can maz'ntaz'n your speech with a· .broken leg, , .your hearing. , ,your sz'ght and your' sanity, Sometz'mes that's not true with a broken head, " The fact that it didn't get JIlUIed under all that preaure - dae. that indicate what kind of fight you're going to have ahead of you? Yes, every piece of legislation I have is going to be a fight. Whether it's in this· field or t\le legislation relating to driving' under the influence. I have some legislation, relating to PCB's and telephone and electric cOUlpany transformen, all these types of things. Sure, I'm well aware that it ain't gonna be easy, baby. I unclentand that you've been riding for a number of yean. I think my first ride Was when I was 14. I've been quite active, I have a lot of friends who are active and I like it. I've ridden a whole lot without a helmet to ~11 you the tTUth, but I wouJdD't now. There was a time, when down in my area in Lawndale and Hawthorne there weren't that many 'cars, there weren't that many freeways and you know every street hai a curb now, the streets didn't always have curbs men. • Commenla regarding Assembly .Bill 996 maybe directed to theCycle News "Voices" mlumn and III ~yman Floyd at tie following addras: State Capitol, Sacramento, CA'95814..

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