Court Rejects Last-Minute Plea by Bikers

An appeals court on Tuesday refused a last-minute plea by motorcycle riders to block enforcement of the state’s new helmet law.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal means that law enforcement officers can begin ticketing helmet-less riders today.

Wendy C. Lascher, the lawyer who filed suit in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of four bikers from around the state, said she was “very disappointed.”

However, she expressed optimism that Superior Court Judge James J. Alfano will halt enforcement of the law on Feb. 26 when he hears arguments that the law violates bikers’ rights to freedom of expression. On Dec. 27, Alfano declined to issue a temporary restraining order that would have blocked the law’s enforcement, saying that the bikers had failed to prove they would suffer irreparable harm if the law went into effect as scheduled.

Motorcycle riders were bitterly disappointed that the law will be enforced.

“It’s unfortunate,” said lawyer Paul Lax, state coordinator of ABATE, American Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education, a motorcycle riders group. “We’re very disappointed. If dressing yourself is not a protected liberty, then what is?”

The law’s supporters contend bikers should wear helmets for their own protection and to lower the cost to the public, which covers the hospitalization and disability payments for severely injured riders through higher insurance premiums and taxes.

Lax rejected those arguments, saying that only 9.7% of the head injuries in California traffic accidents in 1990 were to motorcycle riders.

However, Dr. Douglas Zusman, one of the chiefs of cardiac transplants at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, said his work graphically demonstrates the number of fatalities from head injuries in motorcycle accidents. He predicted that while the new helmet law will protect riders, it will also result in far fewer organs being available for transplant.

Lax objected to the principle of the law. He said the state has no right to restrict a motorcyclist’s behavior to avoid the cost of the resulting injury.

If the helmet law is upheld, he said, the state could logically outlaw smoking to save the expense of caring for cancer patients, and the wearing of high heels to avoid paying for spinal problems, Lax said.

“Where would it end?” he said.