AVALON : Senate Panel Approves Helmet Law Exemption

The state Senate Transportation Committee has approved by a 7-1 margin a bill to permit the Catalina Island city of Avalon to exempt motorcyclists from the state’s mandatory helmet law.

The bill, by Sen. Robert G. Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach), now goes to the Appropriations Committee. Beverly said the proposal is “not a mandatory exemption” but instead “allows the city to control traffic” within its one-square-mile boundaries. Beverly and city officials maintain that Avalon is a unique area that should be allowed to take this step, in part because its speed limit is 20 m.p.h. But Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson), who carried last year’s helmet law, vowed to stop the measure if it reaches the Assembly floor.