Fountain Valley : Legislator Starts Push for Cycle Helmet Law

A state legislator, flanked by medical experts and parents, launched a statewide campaign Thursday to gather support for requiring motorcyclists and their passengers to wear safety helmets.

Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Hawthorne), who began his grass-roots campaign with news conferences at the Fountain Valley Regional Trauma Center and hospitals in San Francisco and Sacramento, said he was seeking support for legislation he introduced Dec. 3 that would make wearing helmets mandatory in California.

Joined by parents whose children have been killed or injured in motorcycle accidents, Floyd repeatedly warned that the lack of a helmet bill has resulted in thousands of deaths and is costing state taxpayers millions of dollars.

“I want the taxpayer to know that in 1985 there were 26,511 riders and passengers injured in accidents on motorcycles and motor scooters in California, and most of the 3,766 who were seriously injured were not wearing a helmet,” Floyd said in a prepared statement.

Each seriously injured biker incurs $18,000 in medical bills, Floyd said, adding that taxpayers are paying more than 70% of the tab.

Current state law requires only passengers under the age of 15 1/2 to wear helmets. Under Floyd’s bill, SB 36, drivers and passengers regardless of age would be required to wear helmets. Floyd failed in an attempt to get similar legislation enacted in 1981.

This time, Floyd said, he has set up a statewide grass-roots organization with six regional coordinators who will gather support and enlist volunteers to work to enact the bill.