Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

r EDITOR'S MEGAPHONE By Charles Clayton hat's a little freedom? Chalk up a major setback for the cause of motorcycle safety. T wo weeks ago the state of California enacted the drea ded Hel met Law an d the Govern or signed it. We have j us t seven months of full-freedom Californ ia road riding before the law goes into effect. Enj oy it whi le you can . I Be thankful tha t for 25 years Californ ia was spared the in dignity of a law tha t implies "Since you 're ignorant of your own safety enough .to ride a motorcycle, then you have to wear this Super Dave hat. " We used that grace period to promote rider training, driver awareness, motorcycle drivers licensing, ama teu r road racing, AMA's R ide Straight publicity and, yes, more riders voluntarily wearing better helmets. Cali forn ia 's recent mo torcycle safety records have improved by leaps of 30 to 50 percent a year! I hope that record will insulate this state from what happened to ride rs in other states that tried the H elmet Law. You would think the number of motorcycle accidents goes down because people ride less. But the death co unt stays about the same. Wh y is this , when presu mab ly every victim was wearing some kind of helmet? We know from racing experience that even the best helmet does not always save the rider's life in a crash. But do our major highway nemeses, the other drivers, know that? The law implies that we are immortal in our protective headgear . If you ever rode in a Helmet Law state you probably noticed the difference in how drivers tr eat th e motorcycle's right of way. So be ready Jan uary First, 1992. From then on we will not only be nearly invisible on o ur motorcycles, we will be "protected" , immune from head harm. Or so our nemeses believe. We can only ho pe that California will be the exception to the rule. I wish we cou ld continue on that happy-face safety curve, and there is some chance that we can. The trai ni ng, licensing, racing and publicity programs will go on. But we may be riding in a different, more dangerous environment, where drivers think all they risk is a fender bender when they cut one of us off. If, as I fear, our injury statistics level off or start getting worse, we will have to try an d repeal the He lmet Law, as over half the United Sta tes have already done. We lost a freedom ; let's not lose our life. The week the Governor signed the Helmet Bill, makin g it law, Bob Dylan was celebrating his 50th birthday, and I thought of a line in the song Memphis Blues Again. Dylan said he was .... .. Trying to find out what price, you have to pay to get out of, going thro ugh all this twice." The an swer, I th ink, is you have to go throug h it three times, or four times, or countless times. Bu t rarely only just twice. Dylan learned the value of a good helmet when he crashed his Norton over 20 years ago. We have been dealin g with the Helmet Law ha lf of hi s life. Happy birthday, Bobby. GOOD1YEAR EAeLE RACINe TIRES Suzuki Specialists RM 80. 125. 250 only ·Performance Engine Kits ·Motocross Suspensio'n " COMPETITION TIRE EAST 213-864 8218 W Charles " Chuck" Clayton and his w ife, Sharon, founded Cycle News in 1965. Ch u ck served as this publication 's editor from 1965 to 1975. H e's now ret ired and liv in g in Cambria, California . . . Editor. DRAG-Wider fOr Increased Traction EAGLE DTII-Short and Long Track compounds ,Whi t'S happenicg? Cycll 'bwS Cllendar. BOYESEN REEDS OSC Distributing 4232 Dixie Hwy. Waterford. MI 48329 (313) 673-3366 (313) 673-8144 FAX U PS Da i ly WEST , P.O, Box301 I!eacl;ng , PA19603 12151375-6191 CANADA P,O ,BoX666 Brool

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