New effort launched to repeal helmet law

CARSON CITY -- Another effort was started Thursday to repeal the law that requires motorcycle riders to wear helmets, and this time the sponsor says there's a good chance for passage.

Assemblyman Don Gustavson, R-Sun Valley, said the vote on Assembly Bill 201 will be close, but he thinks it will be approved this session.

Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, chairwoman of the Transportation Committee, however, said repeal of the helmet law, enacted in the early 1970s, would sock taxpayers in the pocketbook to pay for the injuries to riders who may have insufficient insurance or none at all.

"We are forced to look at the freedom-to-choose issue, which I'm totally in favor of," Chowning said. "But with this issue, the impact on the taxpayers is great."

An attempt was made two years ago to mandate that all riders carry insurance.

"We were told by insurance companies that they could not and would not cover the injuries because they were so massive. In some cases, they are up to $400,000," Chowning said. "So we have no choice. The taxpayer has to take the hit financially."

Gustavson counters that medical bills are no more for motorcyclists than for those in automobile accidents. And 1 percent or less of all accidents involve motorcycles, he said.

"The figures show there is not an extraordinary burden to the state," Gustavson said. "I feel strongly about freedoms of choice ... and we have to fight for our freedoms."

Chowning said she had a friend who was involved in a motorcycle accident and lost his leg. She said he told her he would have been killed if he did not have a helmet.

There have been many attempts through the years to repeal the law and all have failed. Two years ago, the bill was approved by the Assembly but died in the Senate Transportation Committee in the closing days of the Legislature.

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