Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
A Villages Republican has filed legislation that would require motorcyclists to wear helmets.
Rep. Don Hahnfeldt filed a bill (HB 6009) Monday to require all riders to wear helmets when operating a motorcycle. The bill strikes the section of the law that current allows riders to operate a motorcycle without a helmet.
Under current law, a “person over 21 … may operate or ride upon a motorcycle without wearing protective headgear” as long as the person is covered by an insurance policy that provides at least $10,000 in medical benefits for “injuries incurred as result of a crash while operating or riding a motorcycle.”
Florida Today reported in May that 450 motorcycle drivers or passengers died in accidents. The newspaper reported that 210 of those were confirmed to not be wearing a helmet.
According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, 19 states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books requiring motorcyclists to wear a helmet. Twenty-eight states have laws that require some motorcyclists to wear a helmet, while three states — Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire — have no laws mandating helmet use.
States were required to put helmet use laws in place in the 1960s in order to qualify for some federal safety programs and highway construction funds. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, the requirement worked and by the early 1970s nearly all of the states had universal helmet laws. In 1976, states lobbied Congress to stop the transportation department from assessing fines on states without helmet laws.
Under Hahnfeldt’s proposal, riding without a helmet would be a “noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation.”
A Senate companion has not yet been filed.
18 comments
James
December 20, 2016 at 10:52 am
STOP WRITING MORE LAWS THAT CRIMINALIZE OR MAKE ILLEGAL ANYTHING THAT PEOPLE ARE DOING THAT ADD ANY ADDITIONAL POLICE INTERACTION INTO THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.
NO MORE LAWS!
Tom Schlechty
December 21, 2016 at 11:57 am
Not partial to laws that protect me from me!
Jon Puterbaugh
December 21, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Quit messing with motorcycles. You just can’t fix STUPID
Lee
December 22, 2016 at 9:32 am
Quit telling people how to live their lives.
xScott Peterson
December 21, 2016 at 12:47 pm
I oppose this bill and have owned and ridden motorcyles since 1965..even in the numbers shown less than half that were killed were not wearing helmets and it doesnt say if head injuries is the reason they died we already know most die from internal and leg injuries ..only a few states actually do not allow adults to decide ..the law in Florida is fine just the way it is
John Massoth
December 21, 2016 at 12:53 pm
Coffers getting low? So now you decided to take yet, another one of our Rights? I suppose Freedom of choice don’t mean anything to you. What if the roles were reversed? What if I told you, you had to wear a helmet, in the shower? Sounds pretty stupid huh. But it affects your Freedom of choice, so what do you do?
Graham Dunnege
December 21, 2016 at 12:58 pm
It should be a choice. We need to contact our local State politicians to keep it so.
Brian
December 21, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Who are you to ask us to wear helmets, maybe you need to penalize all the stupid people in cages who keep running us over or off the road, thus causing 90 percent of these accidents. Get real stop wasting my tax money!!!!
Peter C
December 22, 2016 at 1:47 pm
Just legislate raising minimum medical insurance to $100,000
Ben Ullery
December 22, 2016 at 10:15 pm
This is pure BS. If they feel bad about Florida’s death related motorcycle accidents, how about doing something about all the people texting and driving. EVERYBODY needs to write their congressmen about this one!! EVERYDAY!! I reserve the right to decide if I want to wear a helmet or not!!!
Mark karsonovich
December 23, 2016 at 9:02 am
This has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with collecting fines. You can not tell if a riders life was saved by wearing a helmet but there is evidence that helmets impare vision and hearing and may have caused the accident. It’s all about the money.
Gene Reynolds
December 24, 2016 at 2:24 pm
How about raising the penalty for crashes resulting in injury & death by people who are being careless or distracted like using cell-phones, texting or DUI when the crash occurs. I have neck issues and helmets only aggravate the issue. Let’s also mention the heat exhaustion & stroke related to wearing a helmet in the heat of summer. It took ABATE many years to repeal this law, let the rider decide.
JB
December 27, 2016 at 11:14 am
If you’re hot to ride without a helmet, go for it. But the $10,000 insurance minimum needs to be far far higher. $10m doesn’t cover the ambulance ride if you survive. And why should everyone else be required to cover your eternal care when you turn yourself into a potato? If you want the freedom, take the responsibility that comes with it.
Gene Reynolds
December 27, 2016 at 6:24 pm
Actually, I do go for it. That minimum IS way too low, I carry a $ 350K bodily injury, plus un-insured (to include under-insured) policy. My health insurance, which also far exceeds the minimum, is also there should the need arise. All of this doesn’t prevent some distracted or aggressive or careless or drunk or feeble driver from try to kill me. That said, maybe there’s a few people who should not be given a license or be cited for more than a $186 ticket when the cause a crash.
Peter Sadlon
December 28, 2016 at 10:48 pm
It’s not a horrible idea to bring back that law as it will save some lives, That said it’s exact great either so do not expect it to save many lives. Roughly 90% percent of fatal motorcycle accidents have the victim suffering injuries which would kill them regardless of whether or not they were wearing a helmet. For them the helmet mostly provides the opportunity of an open casket funeral. That said it strikes me as an opportunity to look like they are doing something to improve safety which will be marginally effective at best while simply adding another government revenue stream in lieu of taxes and leaving room for other similar “solutions” in the future.
Rob
December 30, 2016 at 8:11 am
The Government wants ANOTHER Law So they can Write Tickets, Fines. It’s about money!
Do you REALLY Think them snobs in ta government care about this long haired, Tattooed up Person Who rides a Harley? NO..!
If I’m going 70 mph on the turnpike and some how Wreck, there ain’t No Helmet that’ll save me.!
Rob
December 30, 2016 at 7:54 am
I’ll THINK about wearing a helmet When People Who Drive
A CONVERTIBLE CAR Has to wear a Helmet.
Until Then, F.O
Perry Smith
December 31, 2016 at 5:01 pm
This is suppose to be a FREE COUNTRY. I am 75 years old and have riding a motorcycle since I was 16 years old. It has to be your choice not somebody else’s. The guy that is trying to get this passed Don Hahnfeldt from the Villages should be voted out of office as with any other elected official that try’s to push this through.
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