The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should not be lobbying states to enact mandatory motorcycle helmet laws, according to a resolution introduced yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
House Resolution 239 was introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and has support ranging from Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Ron Paul (R-TX) to Barney Frank (D-MA).
The main gist of the resolution is to support "efforts to retain the ban on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) ability to lobby State legislators using Federal tax dollars and urging NHTSA to focus on motorcycle crash prevention and rider education and training."
The resolution contains six points, stating that the House of Representatives:
(A) supports efforts to retain the ban on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) ability to lobby State legislators using Federal tax dollars;
(B) encourages continued growth in the motorcyclist community, and encourages owners and riders to be responsible road users;
(C) recognizes the importance of motorcycle crash prevention as the primary source of motorcycle safety;
(D) encourages NHTSA to focus on motorcycle crash prevention and rider education as the most significant priorities in motorcycle safety;
(E) recognizes that if motorcycle riders are not involved in a crash, they will not be injured;
(F) encourages NHTSA to provide to the appropriate committees of Congress a detailed statement as to why NHTSA believes it is less important to focus on motorcycle crash prevention, rider education and training, proper licensing, and reducing impaired riding than on mandating universal helmet use.
The resolution also states that "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that any law that supersedes State laws regarding the use of helmets as it applies to denial of health care coverage and benefits resulting from an injury sustained while riding a motorcycle should not be implemented."
The reasons the congressmen feel the resolution is necessary are contained in the resolution as well. It states that "since 1995, Congress has protected the authority of the States to determine whether motorcycle riders should wear helmets" and also that "section 30105 of title 49, United States Code, states: 'No funds appropriated to the Secretary for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall be available for any activity specifically designed to urge a State or local legislator to favor or oppose the adoption of any specific legislative proposal pending before any State or local legislative body.'" And yet, the resolution continues, "NHTSA has lobbied State legislatures, using Federal tax dollars, to enact mandatory helmet laws."
According to the American Motorcyclist Association, a consistent opponent of the NHTSA lobbying, "If approved, the resolution sends a clear message to the federal agency that it shouldn't lobby state or local jurisdictions for mandatory helmet laws. The anti-lobbying language was originally written into the Transportation Equity Act approved by Congress in 1998."
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