WSMV Channel 4 Motorcycle riders say helmets should be choice, not law

Motorcycle riders say helmets should be choice, not law

There may be a battle brewing between bikers and non-bikers, and the state is getting in the middle of it.

It's an issue of safety, and motorcycle riders we spoke to say quite frankly, it's their business and the state should butt out.

Trevor Smithson has been riding motorcycles since he was a small child, and he even races them competitively.

But even someone as experienced as him can sometimes crash and burn. Smithson has been in so many crashes that he says he can't even keep count.

"A bunch of crashes. I don't know, a bunch. A few broken bones," he said.

Most recently, he says a car ran him off the road. He flipped over a guard rail and burned his arm on the pavement.

The scars still sting and feel stiff, he said.

"It's got some skin graphs on it and everything. Seven surgeries on it," he said.

At the time of that crash, Smithson was wearing a helmet.

"It was close to death," he said. "And if I didn't have a helmet on, I would probably be dead for sure."

But, Smithson still contends it should be his right to not wear a helmet if he chooses. He says after all his accidents, he will likely still wear one, but he doesn't think he should be forced.

"If I didn't have a helmet, I would be dead. That's the long and short of it. But I do believe it should be somebody's choice. If they want to fall and bust their skull, it's on them," Smithson said.

Mike Bost, owner of Bost Harley Davidson, agrees with Smithson.

"I want to wear it because I want to, not because I have to," Bost said.

And he says about 95 percent of his customers do, too.

"Maybe the government is trying to baby-sit you too much," he said.

It's the non-riders, he says, who want to require them to wear helmets.

"Choices have consequences, and when it costs society, then we have a responsibility to have limits," Bost said.

Both men say the only limits should be the ones they set for themselves.

"People are going to die, because it's going to go up. But I think it should be their choice. If they want to ride without a helmet, it's up to them," Bost said.

The vote on this piece of legislature was postponed again Tuesday. It is now set for a committee vote sometime next week.

The same proposal has come before the Tennessee Legislature several times before and always failed.

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