If Governor Jay Nixon signs Senate Bill 202 into law, Missouri motorcyclists over 21years of age will no longer be bound by law to wear helmets when they ride, except on state highways. Cyclists who love the feel of the wind in their hair (and hate to have government regulations weighing on their handlebars) have Clay County Republican Sen. Luann Ridgeway to thank if the helmet law dies at Nixon's hands this month.
Ridgeway says that she's been trying to bury Missouri's helmet law since shortly after her freshman year, in 1992. Organizations of cyclists who chafe against the idea of helmet laws, like the Freedom of Road Riders, lobbied Ridgeway enthusiastically, and while she initially thought a helmet law made common sense, the FORR was able to sway her views.
"They made a very compelling case that this is not anything more than basically a nanny state issue," Ridgeway says. "If we wanted to talk about safety, and if safety was the gold standard ... the number-one cause of serious head injuries that result in people being either permanently disabled or on Medicaid and a burden on taxpayers, is automobiles. And no one would seriously file legislation saying that you should wear a safety-approved helmet inside the passenger cabin of a car."
(Though Katie Horner might advise donning one during a tornado warning!)
For years, Ridgeway's attempts at a helmet law repeal were shot down. After passing the Senate and the House this year, though, she was able
to tack it onto H.B. 202 as its single amendment. H.B. 202, sponsored by
freshman Sen. Kurt Schaefer, dealt with "what I felt was a major
flaw in the state insurance code," Schaefer told The Pitch via e-mail.
Previously, if a car hit a motorcyclist and the motorcyclist was found
to be completely fault-free in the accident, the car driver's insurance
company could use the fact that the injured party drives a motorcycle
-- a more hazardous vehicle, they would say -- to deny the cyclist 40
percent of what they would have paid a car driver in the same type of
claim. H.B. 202 was written to get rid of the discrepancy.
A mighty effort was put up to fight the helmet law portion of H.B. 202,
much of it by the Missouri Department of Transportation. In a statement
issued to express his disappointment in the legislature's vote for S.B.
202, MODOT head Pete Rahn wrote: Nine to one. That's the ratio by
which Missourians support the state's current law requiring all
motorcyclists to wear helmets. A recent telephone survey conducted by
Abacus Associates shows 84 percent of Missourians are in favor of the
law. ... Repealing the state's helmet law makes as much sense as ripping
out the guard cable (installed in the medians of our interstates).
Schaefer was ambivalent about Ridgeway's amendment, but the senator was seriously peeved with Rahm's interference in the
passage of his bill and his attempts to influence Nixon to veto it now.
The telephone survey Rahn references in his statement was funded with more than $30,000 in
taxpayer dollars, according to Schaefer's aide, Yancy Williams. "Pete
Rahn is an unelected bureaucrat wasting tens of thousands of taxpayer
dollars to push his personal agenda," Schaefer says. "Maybe Pete Rahn
should focus more on improving mass transit in Kansas City and less
time pretending to be an elected official."
Oh snap. For her part, Sen. Ridgeway doesn't ride motorcycles -- she rides horses. And when she does, she wears a helmet.
So does Gail Worth, owner of Gail's Harley-Davidson,
when she rides her Harleys. A full-face helmet is her preference. "The law
of gravity says that the heaviest part of your body will hit the floor
first. There's a fifty-fifty chance that either it'll be the back of
your head or the front ... but I want my face to survive an accident,"
Worth says.
As for the helmet law, Worth isn't alienating customers who feel either
way. "You will never see me riding without one," she says. "However, I
don't think I should be forced to wear one. I think it should be my
decision."
What's the big deal about not wearing helmets, anyway? Do the Freedom
of Road Riders really do all that lobbying of legislators like Ridgeway just to feel a little wind
their hair? "I believe the feeling of freedom is what they like," Worth
says. "It's like drivng around in your convertable with the top down.
Even though I feel like that even in a full face helmet."
I don't blame her. While the typical image of bikers might go something like this...
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This is not a good bill at all, everybody should still wear helmets anywhere on the road. It's for everybody's safety.
I might warning you with respect to the use from the spot. Possibly a strong shellac (an amber or garnet) may do the magic? Or, a blonde shellac as well as then a glaze above the top of it with a coloured varnish of some sort if you want something darker? You are going to need to keep the ability to see the number of your top, so might not wish the stain straight in the pores with the wood�
How quick we are to judge others...I have been fighting for my rights as a biker and as an American for as long as I can remember! This bill has brought out the true colors of many Missourians... The name calling and bashing of those fighting for our right to chose is disheartening! If you are so worried about taking my rights away to save yourself a little on medical coverage; MOVE TO RUSSIA where medical coverage is provided by the government at no cost to you! Also where you are not given the many freedoms you so enjoy and ABUSE as an American! If you dont ride how can you know what it is we as bikers enjoy? It should be our choice! At 18 you can vote. buy cigs, and guns...at 21 you can buy alcohol and have handguns... you telling me at 30 I should not have the right to decide if i wear a helmet-this is America right?
I am a single mother, an only child & the love of someone's life... what I am NOT is a lazy, ignorant careless soul. I work my tail off for EVERYTHING I have and I support my children better than most two parent families. If this is what you call lazy and ignorant - then I'll wear that badge with pride.
I am also a FIRM believer that we as AMERICAN'S have the right to choose!! FREEDOM is something my ancestors fought long and hard and died for. My FREEDOM to choose to wear a helmet or not, your FREEDOM to stereotype and call people you've never met names. FREEDOM is what this is about and I think rather than judge, you should refresh your memory on American History!
My husband and I will still be wearing our helmets; we're not comfortable without them. Besides, we have the mics in our helmets so we can talk to one another.
Oh yay, maybe she'll get the seat belt laws repealed too, and we can all look forward to paying even higher medical insurance to cover all the lazy, ignorant, careless souls (who probably aren't the best operators of motor vehicles either, be they autos or cycles) who can't be bothered to wear a helmet or seat belt.
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