Bill loosening state’s motorcycle helmet law advances
NASHVILLE (AP) — Some motorcyclists would be allowed to ride Tennessee roads without wearing helmets under legislation approved by a key Senate committee on Tuesday.
The Senate Finance Committee voted 8-1 in favor of the bill, sending it on for consideration by the full chamber. The measure has not yet been scheduled for debate this year in any House committee.
Currently, state law requires that all motorcyclists wear helmets on Tennessee roads. This bill would allow drivers age 25 or older who meet certain other requirements to travel without them.
“The question becomes, ‘Does the state have an obligation to act as guardians for its citizens?'” committee chairman Sen. Douglas Henry said before voting in favor of the change. “My answer is, ‘I don’t think so.'”
Sponsored by Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, the bill would require motorcyclists to register with the Department of Safety, where they would present both proof of age and proof of private health insurance. They also would be required to take a motorcycle safety course.
Once approved, riders would receive a “special designation” on their driver’s licenses they could present if pulled over by police.
Registration would cost $15, with $5 of that paying for costs associated with the process and the remaining $10 going to the state’s Brain Injury Fund. A rider’s failure to report the cancellation of his insurance would result in a misdemeanor charge.
Sen. Jim Kyle, who brought an amendment stiffening the requirements, said the registration process would keep the state from having to pay health care costs associated with accidents involving uninsured riders.
“The concern from the TennCare bureau is someone having an accident without a helmet and (the state) being out a lot of money,” Kyle, D-Memphis, said.
Nelson Biddle, a lobbyist in favor of the change, told the committee the age limit also would “eliminate younger riders riding crotch rockets … because a certain amount of maturity is required to make the decision to ride without a helmet.”
Currently, some 20 states — along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico — require all drivers to wear helmets, Roland Colson of the Department of Safety told the committee. There are 27 others with age limits similar to those Tennessee is considering, he said.
Sen. Roy Herron, the lone dissenter on the bill, told his colleagues that he had been in a motorcycle accident and the helmet he wore saved him from more serious injury.
“The fundamental problem is that if this legislation becomes law and fewer people wear helmets in Tennessee, more people will die and more people will suffer serious injuries,” he said.
Colson agreed, noting that studies have shown a 67 percent reduction in head injuries when motorcyclists involved in accidents were wearing helmets.
“A person wearing a helmet will be much more likely not to experience injuries — either brain injuries or head injuries — if they’re wearing a helmet,” he said.
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On the Net:
Read SB0861/HB0952 at Tennessee General Assembly: www.legislature.state.tn.us