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Home My WebLink About0101.091January 3 1 1991 THE HONORABLE CIT~ COUNCIL Palo Alto, California :, . \ 3 J51SLl\TIoll REQUIRl:HG HELMET USAGE BY MOTORCYCLISTS -AS 7 (Floyd} Members of the council! Report in erief Council action is requested 'Which 'Will reeffirm the City-Is past support of legislation that would require all persons riding motor cycles and motorbikes to wear helmets. Bagkground Assembly ~il1 7 would require all persons ridinq motorcycles or motorbi~es either as passengers or drivers to wgar helmets. Under current la¥, motorcycle helmets are only required to be wcrn by persons under 15 1/2 years of agel be they drivers or passenqers. Assemblyman Floyd int.roduced the same motorcycle helmet measure twice in the past~ In both cases# the hills passed the Legisla ture, but were vetoed by the Governor. Governor Deuk.mejian vetoed AD 36 in 1988 and AS 8 in 1989. Assemblyman Floyd feels confident that Governor-elect wilson will sign AS 7 into law,. as he has co-authored federal legislation directed to the importance of helmet usage for motorcyclists. However, broad support vill be essential in moving this measure through the Leqislature Again. Assembl:r~an Floyd asks that council reaffirm its previous support of this .easure. Council endorsed the measure# as AS :36,. by unanimous ItOtien on March 16, 1987. Palo Alto's support continued, in January of 1989, When then-Mayor klein Signed letters advocatinq tha passage of AS 8~ Mayor :Klein's lett.ers spoke of the fi.,ancial impact that unhelmeted aotorcycle eccident victims br~ght to our cc~unities and of the terrible emotional impact on the victims' families. His letters closed by sayinq that the public and. private costs far outweighed the issue ot individual liberties. CMR:101:91 • Page TWo The League of California Citi~s has strongly supported this measure in the pa&t and suggested that its passaqe would reduce a li~bility exposure for cities. Senator Morgan and Assemblyman Shsr's voting records show that they have consistently voted in favor of Assemblyman Floyd's helmet zeasure. PNYI"'e.,Jdatlon Staft recommends that the City Council reaffirm it.s support of Assemblyman Floyd's motorcycle heillet law and authorize the Kayor to sign an appropriate letter in support of AS 7~ Respectfully submitted, ~A1{a.r4-{ JUDy GLAES Le9rlativ&])st E FLEMI sistant city er Attachments CMR:l01,91 '~ -;:..:' I' ..... ~ (!!ulifnrttia 'PIegisIature c.c""",,,n~ .. _ ~~~ '-''j[) ,"~.J""''JCF_ ~11"''':l ~"'2' ,'', ""~"[F . 5L-s.:.u.. .... n!:l "'" ~"-~_-:-~ ... "ll~",RS., .. "'-~..:.',:::c C! 'i' ,.. ~;~"'~,;,~~'~_~ T Deceaber 4. 1990 Kayar L.rry De!n City of Palo Alto P.O. Box l02SC Palo Alto, CA 94303 Dear Hayor klein: ..... Z'O'"OC;'u'S 't' .'="',~_ ~ ~HI":' :_-","'_~_ ~_" ..... ~'IO ;1Hi"[ "', 'S~cE~' 011\'RW.'. c.::;"J":><".I<:"-A.. ~:>S~', 2"'~:''' Si.:'lU~M,n.·~ :;.o.""-C'""'JL ~fQ~-""";r;:5 5-..;",: ~'WJ' no::! ~"'Ii ";:"~' • • '.: :"'''";:~5~'''''':' :"'1'..-":: I bave introduced Assembly Bill 7. the saae motorcycle helmet mea.ure as AI 8~ for whlch your City Council recorded a support position l&st year. Unfortunately. as you knew. Gov~rnor Deukmejian vetoe~ the rrevious measure pr~ril, because be believed only und~r age 21 riders sbould be req~ired to year 5.f~ty bel_ets. The California Bighv4y Patrol has r~ported that the average age of e .-otorcycle crash v!ctia 11 2$ and that 77% of the .oto.t'C1cle crash .. ictus are over age 11. I have confidence in the belief t~t Governor-elect Fete Vilson .ill .ign AS 7 into lay~ sinee he co-act-hored federal legislation directed to the !aportanee of helmet usage fo~ motorcyclists. The continued support of the City of Palo Alto .ill be e~sential for ~ to .ove this aealure through the Legi.latur~ again. I anticipate tha~ AS 1 .ill be heard in the Assembly 7ransportation Coamittee in JanuerJ~ I am requesting that your ~cuncil reaffirm its prevLou. support for macdatory bel~et u$age for all ages of motorcycle operators and passengers on California public streets and roadvays. Please lend your affirmation of support [O~ AB 7 to my office at your earliest convenience. If you have an, q~e&t!ons relative to thi$ satter. please contact .. or ., legislative assistant. Sob 7erry~ who m&y be rea~hed .~ (n6) 327-2<09. Ple •• e accept ., sincere ap~reciation for you~ previous support of this iapo£tant traffic 8afety issue. I look forvard to .o~king with your Council in gaining enact.ent of AD 7. .. IIO'l'ORCYCLE B1!LII£T FACT SHEET VALUE OF IIEL!IETS • Unhelmeted riders are three times more likely to incur fatal injury and two tim~s more likEly to incur a head injury of lesser severity than riders wearing helmets. • A oniver8ity of southern California in-depth study of gOO motorcycle accidents concluded th~t safety helmet use vas the .ingle BOst important factor governing survivAl in motorcycle accidents. • rhe coat recent nat10nal Itudy by the Center. for Di •• 4Ias Control, Atlanta Georgia, reported thAt head injuries are a leading cause of death from motorcycle crashes and there is substantial evidence that ~otorcycle helmets are effective in red~cLnq the incidence and severity of head injuries due to motorcycle crashes. SOCIAL COSTS * A conservative estimate of a~~ual California eociet~l costs associated with brain-damaged helmet less motorcycle crasb victims exceeds $100 million. It i! not unusual for a single victim to incur medical expenses in excess of $1 million. • A U.C. DaviS Xedical Center study reported the average hospital cost of severely injured cyclists to be $17,705. • A San Diego County Department of Health Services study of motorcycle crash victims compared hospital costs for helmeted verSus unhelmeted victims. Amonq other findinqs~ the hospital cost for non-helmeted patients vas ~ore than $7 million a year~ double the cost for helmeted patients. CAR VS. IIO'l'ORCYCLE COMPARISONS * Although motorcycles represent only 3.2 percent of all the vehicles in California, motorcycle deaths account for over 13 percent of all DOtor-vehicle deaths. • A motorcyclist is 10 times more likely to die in an accident than is an automobile passenqer. Kore than SO percent of ell motorcycle accidents result in injury or death to the cyclist. Physicians ch~rBcterize trauma in ~oto~cycle accidents as the worst trauma they treat outside of a var combat Eone. • ACCIDENT STATISTlCS CHP data for 19.9 .otorcycle crashes shovs 620 fatalities and 19,52' injlolries. The everaqe aqe of California motorcycle crash victims is 25, and " percent of eotorcycle fatalities are over the aqe of 21.