Editorial: Motorcycle helmets make riders -- and everyone else on the road -- safer
If the current legislative debate over whether motorcyclists should be required to wear helmets seems familiar, it’s because Louisiana has been down this road before. Louisiana has been in the debate over whether motorcyclists should be required to wear helmets, a practice that has been abandoned by the Legislature more than two decades ago. The state Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Hornbeck, has proposed a new version of House Bill 317, which would repeal the requirement under certain circumstances. The bill would require riders who don't want to wear helmet to carry insurance covering up to $100,000 for bodily injury, give up the right to recover damages for head injuries suffered in an accident and take a motorcycle safety course. The authors argue that removing the helmet mandate would negatively impact individual riders and others involved in accidents that could have been less serious. They also express broader safety concerns for drivers and others on the road due to potential trauma and high insurance rates. The current helmet law is doing its part to make roads safer and there's no reason to get rid of it.
Published : 4 weeks ago by STAFF EDITORIAL in Auto
If the current legislative debate over whether motorcyclists should be required to wear helmets seems familiar, it’s because Louisiana has been down this road before. More than two decades ago, at the persistent urging of governor and motorcycle enthusiast Mike Foster, the Legislature did away with the requirement. Not long after Foster left office, Gov. Kathleen Blanco wisely signed a bill reinstating it. Lawmakers later rejected a push by Gov. Bobby Jindal to eliminate it, following frightening committee testimony by emergency room doctors.
But now a new version of this bad idea is before lawmakers. House Bill 317 by state Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Hornbeck, would repeal the requirement once more, under certain circumstances. Arguing for the bill, which was approved 60-43 by the House late last month, Schamerhorn cited the “personal privilege to be able to do what you want to do with your life.” But removing the helmet mandate doesn’t just affect individual riders who choose to take ill-advised chances. We urge senators to apply the brakes and take a hard look at the historical data. The most important metric is a stark one: In the three years after the last time lawmakers got rid of the helmet requirement, Louisiana saw 196 motorcyclist fatalities — up from 102 in the three years preceding the change.
Some safeguards were amended into HB 317 to make it more palatable. In its current form, the bill would require riders who don’t want to wear helmets to carry insurance covering up to $100,000 for bodily injury, to give up the right to recover damages for head injuries suffered in an accident and to take a motorcycle safety course. Riders who choose this option must be at least 21 years old; the law’s prior incarnation applied to riders over 18. We appreciate that some lawmakers worked to blunt the proposal’s bad effects, but the changes don’t alter the bottom line: One person’s freedom to ride without a helmet still affects others negatively. Even if the rider complies with the liability requirement — a big if in this state — a lifetime of care following a traumatic head injury will likely cost far more than $100,000, and someone has to pay.
Then there are broader safety concerns for drivers who share the road; the potential trauma to survivors and to others involved in accidents that could have been far less serious; and the likelihood that policies encouraging unnecessary risk-taking could send the state’s high insurance rates even higher. The times and political makeup of the Legislature have changed since the last time Louisiana had this debate, but the common sense answer remains. Along with sensible regulations like seat belt laws and bans on driving while intoxicated, the current helmet law is doing its part to make all who use Louisiana’s roads safer. There’s no good reason to get rid of it.
Topics: Traffic