Press Releases, News & Notes
February, 1997
ARKANSAS REPEALS HELMET LAW!
Other States Advance Repeal Legislation
NCOM, March 12,1997-- while oddsmakers were giving the nod to Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida or Oregon to be the first state in more than fourteen years to repeal a helmet law, lil' ol' Arkansas snuck up from behind to cross the finish line first! Today, Governor Mike Huckabee signed Senate 8111227, legislation amending state's 30-year old helmet law to give Freedom of Choice to riders 21 and over.
Congratulations to the hard working bikers rights activists in ABATE of Arkansas and to their lobbyist Rodney Roberts for succeeding in making Arkansas the 26th state to allow adult riders the right to decide on helmet use, and the first state since Wyoming in 1983 to repeal a mandatory helmet law.
Arkansas set a great example for the rest of the country," said Bill Bish, NCOM Executive Coordinator. 50 states can join ABATE of Arkansas in celebrating this victory because it took the entire Biker Nation to repeal the federal mandates which in turn gave Arkansas the opportunity to repeal their state requirement."
Not far behind in the helmet law sweepstakes is Texas, where their companion bills have each passed r respective transportation committees. According to Sputnik of the Texas Motorcycle Rights Association, also credits legislative warriors in ABATE, the Confederation of Clubs, the Gulf Coast Motorcycle Rights Association and others for their successes in the Lone Star State, they expect both bills to be heard on the floor in the next few weeks.
Also in hot pursuit is Florida, where 5984 has passed the Senate Transportation Committee thanks to efforts of Doc Reichenbach and ABATE of Florida. In Oregon, BikePac and ABATE succeeded in lobbying their repeal bill through the House Transportation Committee, but failed by one vote on the House floor In a procedural move, the sponsor then voted against his own bill in order to be granted reconsideration. Now the bill must go back to the transportation committee for some fine tuning while lobbyist Bunch Harbaugh, also chairman of the NCOM Legislative Task Force, shores up support on the floor (three legislators who would have voted in favor of the repeal bill were absent the day of the vote).
Washington's helmet repealer passed out of the House Transportation Committee, but a staunch opponent immediately attached a fiscal note to the bill in order to have it heard in the Ways and Means Committee, which he chairs. As chairman, he waited until two supporters were absent to call for a vote, and the measure 'd by one vote. ABATE of Washington is now attempting to revive this piece of legislation.
Helmet modification bills have also been introduced in most of the remaining 24 states with mandatory helmet laws, including Nevada, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia, among others. Louisiana has prefiled companion bills in the House and Senate, and their governor, a new Life Member of ABATE, is a strong supporter of Freedom of Choice.
ABATE of Pennsylvania, which ran out of time last session, has another bill in the hopper, and United ABATE of New Jersey is still trying to move their bill out of Assembly Policy and Oversight Committee where it languished since passing the Senate 23-13 early last year.
For further information, contact your local motorcycle rights organization, or call the National Coalition of Motorcyclists at 1-(800) 525-5355.
