NV: In Surprise Vote, Motorcycle Helmet Choice Bill Passes Committee

OFF THE WIRE
http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/2011/04/14/in-surprise-vote-motorcycle-helmet-choice-bill-passes-committee/


In Surprise Vote, Motorcycle Helmet Choice Bill Passes Committee By Andrew Doughman
7:37 pm April 14th, 2011 CARSON CITY – Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, had written off his bill as dead when he learned this afternoon that Sen. Shirley Breeden, D-Las Vegas, was giving it a vote.
The senator was even more tickled when he realized his bill had the votes to pass out of committee.
The bill would let people ride motorcycles without helmets if they are 21 years of age or older, have had a motorcycle license for more than one year and have completed a safety course.
Gustavson has introduced the bill for the past five legislative sessions.
The bill passed out of committee on a 4 to 3 vote with three Democrats voting against, three Republicans voting for and Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, casting the tie-breaking “yes” vote.
Despite being against the bill, Breeden said she wanted to give the bill a chance.
“I believe we vetted all the bills and I thought it should have an opportunity for folks to vote on it,” she said. “…I know how it’s going to come out, but I still thought it was the right thing to do.”
The chair of the committee decides whether to bring up a bill for a vote. In Nevada’s case where the majority of legislators in the Senate and Assembly are Democrats, all committees have a Democratic chairperson.
Often, the bills brought forward to a vote reflect the political hue – red or blue – of the chairperson.
Republicans voiced their support for Gustavson’s bill.
Sen Elizabeth Halseth, R-Las Vegas, called the bill a “great liberty bill.” She also said the bill could be a way to bring jobs to Nevada, echoing Gustavson’s earlier arguments that motorcycle events and interest in riding will grow if the law is repealed.
Sen. Michael Schneider, D-Las Vegas, disagreed.
“This is a great jobs bill for the medical community,” he quipped. “There’s a huge, huge expense in this. I would dispute what Sen. Halseth is saying.”
He said that helmets provide protection from more serious injuries when motorcycle riders are involved in accidents. Removing a requirement to wear one could lead to gruesome injuries and more fatal crashes, he said.
Lee said wearing a helmet or not wearing a helmet was a “personal right.”
Schneider said that society ends up paying for that personal right.
“It costs society so much money that, you know, the cheap way out is that people die,” he said. “They hit their head on the curb and die. That’s cheap.”
Otherwise society pays the medical bills for people in assisted living homes, he said.
In the end, Nevada Sens. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, and Dean Rhoads, R-Elko, joined Halseth and Lee to pass the bill out of committee.
The bill is now headed for the Senate floor.