South Carolina Considers Mandating Motorcycle Helmets for All Riders

By | January 4, 2012

State lawmakers in South Carolina are considering modifying a 30-year old law so that all motorcycle riders in the state must wear helmets.

South Carolina State Senator Ralph Anderson (D-Greenville) is sponsoring a bill that would require all motorcyclists in the state wear protective headgear. Under current state law, only riders under the age of 21 are required to wear helmets.

All motorcycle riders in the state were required to wear helmets from 1967 to 1980, when the state limited the requirement to younger riders. The city of Myrtle Beach tried to enact a local ordinance expanding the helmet law only to see it struck down by the state Supreme Court.

According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, more than 100 motorcyclists in the state lose their lives annually due to motorcycle accidents.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 20 states, along with the District of Columbia, require all motorcyclists to wear helmets. Twenty-seven states require some riders to wear helmets while Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire have no motorcycle helmet laws.

Topics Auto South Carolina

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Latest Comments

  • January 9, 2012 at 10:30 am
    Hank says:
    That thinking is completely ridiculous. My uncle has been smoking for 50 years and hasn't had a single health complication. Does that mean all those studies linking cancer &... read more
  • January 9, 2012 at 10:27 am
    Zeke says:
    tobacco use, drug use, alcohol use, pregnancy tests, obesity, welfare... are not being debated here. Why bring it up? Many other completely unrelated topics could brought into... read more
  • January 6, 2012 at 5:21 pm
    MikeE says:
    Mandatory health insurance should not be a pre-requisite to riding a motorcycle without a helmet. The argument could be made that the same law should allow someone to drive a ... read more

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