Motorcyclists turn onto familiar route in helmet law debate.Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard SALEM - They may have grayed a bit since they first started fighting Oregon's helmet law. An 18-year losing streak can have that effect. But hundreds of Oregon motorcycle riders plan to demonstrate this week that they're as passionate as ever in their quest to repeal The Annulment or abrogation of a previously existing statute by the enactment of a later law that revokes the former law. The revocation of the law can either be done through an express repeal the mandatory helmet law that has been on the books since 1987. Like the fight over Oregon's ban on self-serve gas, the push to legalize le·gal·ize tr.v. le·gal·ized, le·gal·iz·ing, le·gal·iz·es To make legal or lawful; authorize or sanction by law. le industrial hemp hemp, common name for a tall annual herb (Cannabis sativa) of the family Cannabinaceae, native to Asia but now widespread because of its formerly large-scale cultivation for the bast fiber (also called hemp) and for the drugs it yields. and the campaign to cut Oregon's minimum wage, the helmet law debate is the centerpiece of an every-session ritual. Do the hundreds of bikers who make the journey to Salem every session ever get discouraged by defeat, at the hands either of the Legislature or the governor? "I'll be honest. Sometimes you do," conceded con·cede v. con·ced·ed, con·ced·ing, con·cedes v.tr. 1. To acknowledge, often reluctantly, as being true, just, or proper; admit. See Synonyms at acknowledge. 2. Rick Maish, a long-time Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider and a veteran of Oregon's Motorcycle Helmet A motorcycle helmet is a type of protective headgear used by motorcycle riders. The primary goal of a motorcycle helmet is motorcycle safety - to protect the rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury or saving the rider's life. Wars. "But you just never give up the fight for this. It's a fundamental freedom." Maish, 60 and retired, said he "most definitely" will be at the Capitol this week to renew the campaign for a partial repeal of the motorcycle law. House Bill 2488, which would apply the mandate only to motorcyclists younger than 21, is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday morning and again Thursday evening in the House General Government Committee. If the hearings go anything like they did in each of the past sessions since the law passed, here's how things will play out: Bikers will converge con·verge v. con·verged, con·verg·ing, con·verg·es v.intr. 1. a. To tend toward or approach an intersecting point: lines that converge. b. on the Capitol to make their case for freedom. In this case, it's the freedom to choose for yourself whether to encase en·case tr.v. en·cased, en·cas·ing, en·cas·es To enclose in or as if in a case. en·case  ment n. your head in a helmet that, while protective, can make riding
more dangerous by making it harder to hear traffic and limiting
peripheral vision peripheral visionn. Vision produced by light rays falling on areas of the retina beyond the macula. Also called indirect vision. Peripheral vision . Paramedics and other health care professionals will show up with statistics-enriched warnings that the common good is best served when safety laws prevent one motorcycle rider's crash from becoming everybody's burden - the burden of higher medical insurance and social service costs that come with caring for a brain-injured motorcyclist who insisted on riding without a helmet. The House committee's chairwoman, Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem, said she would wait until the hearings have concluded to decide, or at least state publicly, where she comes down on the issue, but she said she was definitely in favor of having the debate. Again. HELMET WARS The Legislature's perennial debate over Oregon's 1987 motorcycle helmet law resumes this week. House Bill 2488, which would repeal the mandate for riders 21 and older, is set for hearings before the House General Government Committee: Tuesday, 8:30 a.m., Oregon Capitol, Hearing Room B. Thursday, 7 p.m., Oregon Capitol, Hearing Room B. |
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