Bikers want helmet law repealed

Motorcycle enthusiasts filled legislative hearing rooms in Northern and Southern Nevada in renewed efforts to get the state's helmet law repealed.

For more than a decade, bikers have lobbied the Legislature unsuccessfully to join 30 other states that have flouted federal efforts to require all motorcyclists to wear protective headgear.

Motorcycle enthusiasts tried again on Tuesday, armed with their own statistics, economic arguments and quotes on freedom from America's founding fathers to support AB300, the repeal plan sponsored chiefly by Assemblyman Don Gustavson, R-Sparks.

They faced representatives from insurance companies, emergency room doctors, advocates for the disabled and law enforcement officers who argued against repeal during an Assembly Transportation Committee hearing.

Backers of AB300 argued helmets do nothing to prevent accidents and said most bikers likely will continue to wear helmets even if the law is repealed.

"We're not out there trying to kill ourselves," said Dale Andrus, a Reno motorcyclist. "Our goal is to prevent or have accidents avoided, not have safer accidents."

John Johansen of the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety cited reports indicating spikes in motorcycle fatalities after states repealed helmet requirements.

Dr. Wayne Hardwick, a Reno emergency room physician, testified he's seen "countless head injuries" during his 32-year tenure in the trauma center.

"The sad ones are the ones we see years later, the chronic brain injuries," Hardwick said. "They're taken care of by family or living in nursing homes. I think you know who pays for their care."

Law enforcement officers also testified against the bill.

"We're the ones who scrape up these guys off the road, take them to the hospital with the EMTs, and we are the ones who make the death notification," said Frank Adams, a lobbyist for the Nevada Sheriffs and Chief Association.