OLYMPIA, Wash. — Motorcycle riders over 18 in Washington would no longer be forced to wear helmets if a state Senate bill becomes law.
Washington is one of 19 states that requires all riders to wear a helmet.
The Senate Transportation Committee is set to discuss Senate Bill 5198 Monday afternoon. Mark Medalen with the Traffic Safety Commission is set to testify against it.
A partial helmet law was then passed in 1992, and a couple years later, a universal law was passed.
“Helmets reduce fatalities, they reduce injuries and reduce medical costs for all of us,” said Medalen. “We had a universal helmet law in the state, and in 1977 that universal helmet law was repealed. It went away, and almost immediately, we saw fatalities from motorcycle crashes double.”
Bardsley Donovan, a mechanic at Seattle Used Bikes, learned the hard way how important his motorcycle helmet can be. He was hit by a car in a Chicago intersection.
“We collided and bumped my head really hard, and without a helmet, I'd either have a plate or be dead,” said Donovan.
That being said, he supports the bill and says riders should have the right to choose whether they wear a helmet.
“I think it gets down to natural selection,” said Donavan. “If you don't want to wear a helmet and you bust your head open, so be it. That's your problem.”
“I introduced Senate Bill 5198 because I believe that adults should have the right to choose when it comes to wearing a helmet.
“I’ve heard from scores of riders over the years who feel they are in far greater physical danger [with a mandatory helmet law] because helmets significantly impair their hearing and vision – two things essential to the safe operation of motorcycle.
“While I appreciate the safety concerns of helmet-advocates, the bottom line is that I come down on the side of personal freedom and individual responsibility, and I always will.”