As a resident of the state of SC, I am glad to see that the Supreme Court still appears to have some sense. I have always wondered how a city could pass a law that trumps the state law? The state law has always been clear about the wearing of a motorcycle helmet.
The permanent residents of Myrtle Beach began complaining that Bike Week was turning into Bike Month. They did not like sharing the road with thousands of bikes, which made traffic much worse. They did not like the loud pipes keeping them awake at night. They did not like the rowdy bikers and the trouble they would cause at the restaurants and bars. The bigger issue was someone would always die while at the bike rally, usually due to not wearing a helmet.
In order to appease these vocal protesters, the city council of Myrtle Beach decided to take action. They began severely restricting permits for gathering places for events to take place, and charging vendors extremely high prices to set up their sales stations within the city limits. They passed noise ordinances against the loud pipes, and published curfews that would impact the younger bikers. They stepped up law enforcement patrols, and policing of the bikers within the city limits. Then they created a mandatory helmet law within the city limits. Their line of reasoning was that by doing all of these things it would lessen the amount of biker traffic and problems, and hopefully save some lives in the process.
While all of these approaches may make sense to many people, the helmet law was one which did not. After all, many cities have noise ordinances, curfews, targeted law enforcement activities, and so forth. However, these do not go directly against a state law.
What they have actually done is fragmented the entire area around Myrtle Beach into factions that are either motorcycle friendly or not. During bike week they had large electric signs posted at the city limit telling you a helmet was required past that point. Bikers who were not wearing one would have to pull over and put one on before crossing that line. For that reason many decided to boycott the city of Myrtle Beach and kept all activities out in the surrounding counties instead.
As far as saving lives, unfortunately bikers still die at the rally each year. When I was there a young girl rear ended a motorcycle at a stop sign and killed the rider.
I wear my helmet 99% of the time, and this is not a matter of if you like to wear your helmet or not. It is a legal issue of a city overstepping their bounds and passing a law that supercedes an already established state law.
Perhaps one day this state will change their helmet law and make them mandatory; however, until that time it is still a decision the rider is allowed to make for themselves. Unlike some other states or provinces, I suppose SC can claim this as a way to continue thinning out the gene pool. :dontknow:
ray: I have suffered from knee problems for 39 years...I sympathize. My wife has had five surgeries on her knee since 2004. We know the drill. We'll be pulling for you. Wishing you the best.
