MASSACHUSETTS - Motorcyclists push again to make helmets optional

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/12/01/motorcyclists-push-again-make-helmets-optional/6mmp3c6EfmisU20QpUu8BM/story.html

Motorcyclists push again to make helmets optional
By Kyle Cheney | State House News Service
December 01, 2011
Advocates for motorcyclists, long stymied in their bid to make helmets optional for riders, yesterday invoked the Legislature’s change of heart on casino gambling - and the economic arguments that led to its recent passage - in a renewed push for a so-called helmet choice law.
“Four years ago we weren’t going to pass gambling in Massachusetts. Now we have. I think adults should have that choice,’’ said Paul Cote, an advocate for the rights of motorcyclists, testifying before the Committee on Transportation in favor of policies allowing riders 18 and over to choose whether to wear a helmet.
Noting that lawmakers in favor of gambling often pointed to the revenue Massachusetts has been losing to states like Connecticut, where casino gambling is legal, Cote asserted that tens of thousands of Massachusetts motorcyclists leave the state every weekend to ride in any of the 30 states where they can opt against wearing helmets.
Of the 185,000 registered bikes in Massachusetts, he said, 30,000 cross the border each weekend, with bikers taking their rides - and millions of dollars in commerce - to neighboring states. In addition, riders from other states won’t come to here because of the restrictions.
“It’s not a death wish,’’ Cote said. “It’s a life choice.’’
Optional helmet proposals have been filed for more than a decade and have intermittently gained traction, even passing the Senate in 2006. But the bill has failed, in part because of arguments from brain injury experts who warn that motorcycle accidents are partly responsible for soaring health care costs and debilitating injuries.
B.J. Williams, of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts, estimated that $12 billion was spent on head injuries around the country last year.