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Thursday, May 29, 1997

Adult motorcyclists would be free from helmets under measure

BY PEGGY FIKAC Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN (AP) - Results are mixed when motorcyclists ride without helmets, the main legislative proponent of giving adults the option to hit the road bareheaded said as the bill was forwarded Wednesday to Gov. George W. Bush.

"I think this is good state policy," said Sen. Jerry Patterson, R-Pasadena. "It will result in fewer accidents because you will have enhanced your vision and hearing capability without the helmet. It will reduce the number of neck injuries ... and it may increase the number of contact head injuries.

"So there's good news and bad news," said Patterson, a former Marine who donned his camouflage combat helmet for the Senate battle on the bill. "It's either a wash or points to the benefit of the public safety."

Those who disagreed were unable to derail a proposal worked out by a House-Senate conference committee to repeal the mandatory helmet law for those who are at least 21 and either carry a minimum $10,000 in health insurance or successfully complete a safety training course.

Both chambers approved the bill Wednesday, sending it to the governor. Bush spokesman Ray Sullivan said the governor must review the bill but is inclined to sign it.

"The accidents are going to happen, and they're going to cost the state a mother lode," said Sen. Mike Moncrief, D-Fort Worth.

An estimated 500 fewer motorcyclists were injured in the first year after the helmet law was enacted in 1989, according to Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, another repeal opponent. Patterson has said that motorcycle license registration also declined.

Ratliff questioned the value of the safety training course, likening it to defensive-driving courses for automobile drivers.

"About half the people slept through it. Is that what's going to happen?" he asked. Patterson said the motorcycle safety course was more intensive, citing its $100 cost.

The measure provides for helmetless riders to have licenseplate stickers showing they have complied with the law. That would keep police from stopping them just to check for their proof of insurance or course completion, Patterson said.

But Ratliff noted that there's nothing to stop a person who hasn't complied with the law from driving someone else's motorcycle.

"I don't think that this sticker really does much good," he said.

The bill was strongly backed by a group of motorcyclists including H.W. "Sputnik" Strain, a mohawk-sporting straight-talker who proved an effective lobbyist.

"What the Constitution does is guarantee that no manmade law is going to trample on your God-given right, and God gave us the right to make our own choices in our personal life," Strain has said in supporting the measure.

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