June
18, 1999
- Governor Mike Foster
signed SB 86 to amend
Louisiana's mandatory helmet
law to allow freedom of
choice for riders 18 and
older who carry $10,000 in
medical coverage. Foster is
a rider and member of ABATE
of Louisiana. The helmet mod
will be effective August 15,
1999.
May
17, 1999 - SB 86 Goes
to House Transportation
Committee.
Apr
29, 1999 - SB 86 - Passed
out of Senate 22 to 12 after
being amended to 21 with
$10,000 medical insurance.
Mar
29, 1999
- SB 86 - sponsored
by Senator Ron Landry,
chairman of the Senate Trans
Committee, is a Freedom of
Choice bill for 18 and over
for next session which opens
March 29.
by
Patty Davis, State
Vice President of ABATE of
Louisiana reporting:
September
19, 1996
- Joe Davis was stopped and
ticketed by the Lafayette
City Police for his
"beanie" helmet
last year. We took it to
court and won. Not guilty.
The judge could not find
reason why the helmet did
not comply with our (rather
vague) law. About 6 weeks
later, Joe was stopped and
cited again for the same
helmet. The cop from the
first citation was present
but did nothing to stop the
citation. We got that one
dismissed.
About
4 weeks later, the same cop
from the second stop stopped
and cited Joe again! The cop
got in Joe's face and told
him he didn't give a shit
about the judge's decision,
we were going to have to
take it to court again. Fine
with us!
We
took it to court, this time
with an attorney. However,
this time we had a different
judge. After all the
evidence was presented, it
was clear that we had proven
our case. Louisiana has
never adopted FMVSS-218. The
"list" of approved
helmets is 13 years old!
Even the City Prosecutor
agreed that we should be
found not guilty. The judge
reserved judgment for 2
weeks. When we returned in 2
weeks, we had a bunch of
ABATE members there for
support. It was great.
However,
the judge said
"guilty"! Can you
believe! The reason he gave
was that "The helmet in
question, in his opinion,
did not meet what the
legislators had in mind when
they wrote the law."
What
a cop-out! It was clear he
did not want to take the
hear from the city cops who
are very adamant about
enforcing the law. The judge
told the attorney that he
did not feel making the
decision on a city level
would solve the problem, and
asked if we would appeal if
found guilty. Of course we
said "Yes".
We
have filed an appeal with
the district court and are
waiting to hear something,
as we speak.
October
15, 1996
- We got a sponsor for our
bill, which seeks to amend
the helmet law for freedom
of choice for 18 and
over. It'll be introduced in
Nov.
Also
our Gov. Foster just bought
a Harley and took the rider
education course last
weekend.
October
23, 1996
- We just received word that
the Lafayette's City Court
ruling was upheld by the
district court. This was not
a big surprise. It was a
necessary step to get to the
3rd Circuit Court of
Appeals. Wish us luck!
Oh,
yeah, our governor, Mike
Foster, just bought a 1997
Road King and he and his
staff completed the Rider Ed
program. It was all over the
news! Great publicity!
November
8, 1996
by Patty Davis - ABATE of
Louisiana, Inc. is proud to
welcome its newest lifetime
member, Governor Mike
Foster! He was invited to
become a member of ABATE,
and promptly responded with
a completed application and
dues for a lifetime
membership. Welcome,
Governor Foster! You're the
best thing to happen to
Louisiana motorcycling since
paved roads!
February
1, 1997
- Helmet Case Update: case
has gone to the 3rd Circuit
Court of Appeals in Lk.
Charles. No news yet.
Freedom
Bill Update:
We mailed out letters to all
members of the House and are
receiving replies daily. We
have 7 co-sponsors so far,
and about 14 legislators
have requested further
information, which we will
provide. Only about 5
Representatives have replied
negatively, stating that
they will not support the
bill. One said he would not
support the bill unless
"anyone who suffers a
head injury while riding
without a helmet agrees to
waive all rights to lawsuits
or insurance claims".
(Yep, he's an insurance
man!). But overall, the
responses are positive, and
we feel very optimistic that
we will be a free state
soon. Louisiana riders
need to contact their
legislators and ask them to
support the Freedom Bill.
March
26, 1997
- Great news! Senator Ron
Landry, Chairman of the
Senate Transportation
Committee, has agreed to
sponsor our bill in the
Senate! It is being
pre-filed at this moment and
will be listed within a few
days.
Everyone
must call or write their
Representative and Senator
and tell them to vote for
the Helmet Modification Bill
HB 673 and SB ?? (As soon as
we have a bill # on the
Senate side, I will let you
know.)
July
15, 1997
- Our helmet law
modification legislation
passed unanimously out of
the Senate Transportation
Committee, complete with
Governor Foster there at our
side, testifying for
personal freedom. The bill,
SB 1150, hit the Senate
floor about two weeks later
(mid-May), and a very
hot-n-heavy debate ensued.
The final result was that
the bill got put back on the
calendar. We needed 20 votes
to pull it back to the
floor, and subsequently pass
it. We had 15. Given the
time constraints and not
enough calls to Senators,
the bill never made it back
on the floor.
The
good news is, this is the
farthest we've gotten with
helmet legislation in this
state in over a decade! And
we did not get our butts
kicked. We had almost half
the Senate! But we need more
involvement from the bikers
across the state.
No
news from the 3rd Circuit
Court of Appeals yet. We are
looking into going with the
"No List No Law"
avenue. I am currently in
the process of contacting
the Commissioner of Public
Safety. He has sent me a
"list" of
"approved"
helmets, not revised since
1983!
December
13, 1997 Update...
