EDITORIAL : HELMETS SAVE TAX DOLLARS, TOO.

A state Senate committee took a sensible action this week by rejecting an attempt to repeal California's motorcycle-helmet law.

The committee's vote will, we hope, mark the end of misguided efforts to erase the 1992 mandatory-helmet law, which is saving public funds and motorcyclists' lives, too.

State figures show that motorcycle deaths have dropped 43 percent since the helmet law took effect. Motorcycle injuries are down by more than 40 percent.

Those numbers are in line with statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, which found that riders without helmets were 15 percent more likely to be injured, and 40 percent more likely to be killed, than riders who wore them.

Admittedly, the helmet law isn't the only factor at work here. Rates of fatalities and injuries also are influenced by road conditions and other things unrelated to a rider's own safety precautions.

And we recognize that some motorcycle riders strongly disagree with a government mandate to wear a crash helmet. Insisting that they have a right to make their own decisions about personal safety devices, some riders maintain that helmets infringe on their personal liberty, diminish their enjoyment of riding motorcycles, and can even interfere with their vision and hearing.

Such reasoning might hold water if the riders - alone - had to bear the consequences of accidents. But they don't. Taxpayers share the burden in the form of higher expenses for law enforcement, public safety and health services due to preventable deaths and serious injuries on public streets and highways.

And then there are the costs for treating serious head and spine injuries, rehabilitation, joblessness and higher insurance premiums.

With his eye on the bottom line, Gov. Pete Wilson continues to support the mandatory helmet law, saying it is saving lives as well as saving money for the people of California.

We agree. Those are good reasons for keeping the helmet law.