Gov. Jay Nixon says helmets will still be required in Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Jay Nixon said today that he will veto a bill that would have repealed Missouri’s helmet law for motorcyclists, keeping in place a law safety advocates say saves lives.
Motorcycle enthusiasts have been trying to repeal the mandatory helmet law for a couple of decades, and this is the second time the Legislature agreed with them. In 1993, then-Gov. Mel Carnahan vetoed a similar repeal.
Lawmakers argued that it was a freedom issue, siding with cyclists who find the helmets stifling and unnecessary.
Pete Rahn, Missouri’s director of the department of transportation, had been lobbying Nixon hard to veto the bill. In a news conference last month, Rahn pointed to a survey that said Missourians overwhelmingly want motorcyclists to wear helmets. Rahn said repealing the law will lead to deaths, based on highway statistics that show riders without helmets are more likely to die.
Until today, Nixon had been mostly silent on the issue. He disagreed with advocates for the law who said that the governor had given them assurances he would sign it. And he chided Rahn for spending public money on a lobbying effort. Rahn’s actions caused Nixon to veto $33,000 in MoDOT’s budget, the same amount of federal money the transportation department had spent on the survey.
In the end, though, Nixon ended up on Rahn’s side.
“In terms of lives and of dollars, the cost of repealing Missouri’s helmet law simply would have been too high,” Gov. Nixon said. “By keeping Missouri’s helmet law intact, we will save numerous lives, while also saving Missouri taxpayers millions of dollars in increased health care costs. Keeping our helmet law in place was the safe and cost-effective choice for Missouri.”
When you have an accident without a helmet and become a vegetable, you will become a ward of the State. Then my tax dollars have to pay for your choice. That isn’t fair to me!
Also, what happens when you have an accident with someone else and are killed. That other person could be haunted by your death even if the accident was your fault. Even if it was their fault, it could be your fault that you are dead. Yete they may suffer for the rest of their life because of your choice. That isn’t fair to them!
Driving is not a God given right. Therefore, the government has the right to make reasonable rules to make it fair for society as a whole, not for each individual.
+1 vote for nixon.
I’m sorry that you want the wind in your hair. I’ve never hit a motorcyclist and hope that I never do. I’m not a perfect driver and neither are you. I try to be safe, but crap happens. I don’t want my life ruined(and yours) if I have accident with you and you wind up dead, brain dead, or paralyzed and I get sued to cover all the medical bills over and above my insurance coverage that you would not have sustained if you were wearing a helmet and the same goes for seatbelts.
If these motorcycle riders make the unfortunate choice not to wear a helmet and are involved in an accident I would hope NO tax dollars will go towards their healthcare. Whether they have no insurance or their insurance runs out because they have such severe head trauma and end up in a nursing home. I don’t want my taxes to pay for such a stubborn, not to mention, stupid decision.
To cophater69- I hope it is that cop who has to scrape your scalp off the road and then go tell your relatives that you were either killed or in a trauma unit and will most likely be a vegetable the rest of your life. I don’t think he should have to change any of your diapers though.
But talking on the phone and texting is legal???? I never saw a motorcyle rider swerve into other lanes like a drunk because he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
Yes because every motor cycle rider ends up brain dead or is killed while riding. Just like every gun owner eventually walks into a mall and shoots people.
I guess one can make figures tell you whatever you wish. There is no way that my wearing, or not wearing, a helmet (or seat belt) can make one whit of difference to state taxpayers. Except for the fines such a stupid law might generate if those who are stopped pay the darn fines. I’m not a bike rider (motor or self-propelled) but it is my life, not yours, therefore it should be my decision, not yours and, most definitely, not the politicians, who need to butt out of our lives. The same holds for seat belts, and for all other restrictive measures passed into law over the past several years. And to all you cities who have cameras at stop lights, and who harass people by making indiscriminate license and DUI checks, go to Hades (or somewhere equally as hot). I don’t smoke, but if I wanted to, it should be my right, the same as if I want to salt or pepper my food. You liberals need to move to some socialist country and leave us rednecks alone.
If I have an accident and become a vegetable, it won’t be the state (or the U.S. government) who pays for my hospitalization. And it won’t be you, or any of your family. It’s none oif your damn business what I do. Stay out of my life and I’ll stay out of yours.
Brian:
Your last name wouldn’t happen to be Nieves, would it?
(Only the politically astute will likely get that one)
Seatbelts, helmets, what’s next comrade? Oh yeah, smoking. Can’t wait until salt and fat are banned as well. - Steve
Sugar… toy forgot sugar Steve