Bareheaded Bikers Rebel : But Wilson Is Poised to Sign Helmet Bill

Every Sunday, like something out of the film “Easy Rider,” Rusty Coones jumps on his maroon Harley Davidson and thunders onto the open road to relish the blue sky and the wind whipping through his long, blond hair.

But that weekly tradition, something he has been doing for 18 years, will lose its appeal, he says, if Gov. Pete Wilson signs a controversial bill that would put a helmet on his fun.

“It stinks,” Coones said Monday as a group of veteran bikers gathered at a Laguna Beach bar to grouse about the proposed law, which would make California the 23rd state in the nation to require motorcyclists to wear helmets. Wilson is expected to sign the measure as early as today.

“The country is losing its grip on freedom of choice,” said Coones, 36, who repairs and sells customized Harleys for a living. “Russia is starting to look a lot better these days.”

Spurred by Wilson’s endorsement of the proposed helmet law, some longtime motorcycle enthusiasts around Orange County are embarking on a last-minute campaign to change the governor’s mind.

The bikers-turned-lobbyists have spent the last week passing out thousands of flyers and urging fellow bikers to flood Wilson’s office in Sacramento with telephone calls.

On Sunday, more than 500 of them rode out of Buck’s Bar and Grill in Laguna Beach, the Swallows Inn in San Juan Capistrano and Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon and motored up to Los Angeles City Hall, where they joined a rally against the helmet law.

“It’s not that we are anti-helmet,” said Buck Baker, owner of Buck’s Bar and Grill on Laguna Canyon Road. “We are pro-choice.”

The bill, currently on the governor’s desk, would require all motorcycle, motor scooter and motorized bicycle riders to wear state-approved safety helmets when riding on streets or highways.

Assemblyman Dick Floyd (D-Carson) introduced the bill, which would carry a fine of up to $100 for a first offense. Subsequent violations could result in bigger fines.

Proponents of the law say that it costs California taxpayers $65 million to $100 million a year in Medi-Cal and emergency medical care to treat people for brain injuries suffered in motorcycle accidents.

But some bikers and motorcycle dealers on Monday complained that the Legislature and the Wilson Administration might not have thought hard enough about the helmet issue. They contend that such a law not only infringes on the rights of individuals to wear what they want, but it robs them of the pure pleasure they experience riding down the road helmet-less on a hot summer day.

“There’s nothing like it,” said Ron Coogan, the bar manager at Cook’s Corner. “The wind in the face just removes the stress.”

Indeed, many bikers who were interviewed on Monday say they often wear helmets but enjoy the right to go bareheaded if they choose.

“I personally don’t understand why people don’t want to wear a helmet,” said Jim Sharpe, general manager of South Coast Honda in Santa Ana. “But that’s a decision they should make for themselves as a free American.”

Sharpe said that as a dealer, he stands to make money by selling a helmet--which costs up to $500--for every motorcycle sale. Nevertheless, he opposes the law.

“I resent the fact that the government is once again going to tell me and everyone else what to wear,” Sharpe said. “They should butt out. What’s next?”

Fernando Belair, a spokesman for the Irvine-based Motorcycle Safety Foundation, stressed that the organization is taking no position on the controversial law but said that helmets do offer the best protection for a motorcyclist involved in an accident.

Studies by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation show that head and neck injuries account for a majority of fatal injuries to motorcyclists.

“Research also shows that, with few exceptions, head and neck injuries are reduced by the proper wearing of an approved helmet,” according to a policy statement issued by the foundation.

Nevertheless, local bikers who gathered at Buck’s Bar and Grill for the telephone campaign on Monday claimed that while helmets might prevent skull fractures during an accident, they also could contribute to accidents in the first place.

Bikers interviewed on Monday said that instead of a helmet law, they propose mandatory motorcycle lessons and a mandatory contribution toward a motorcycle fund that would offset the medical costs that are currently being passed on to taxpayers.

“What’s killing people,” said Gregg Howe, who has been riding bikes for 22 years, “is not a lack of safety, but a lack of common sense.”

Motorcycle Registration

How the number of registered motorcycles in Orange County compares to the surrounding counties as of the beginning of this year. Los Angeles: 147,464 San Bernardino: 31,421 Riverside: 24,161 Orange: 50,715 San Diego: 51,094 Source: California Department of Motor Vehicles