Sen. John Cullerton has had it. With nothing to show for years of trying to push through a bill that would require motorcyclists to wear helmets, the Chicago Democrat says enough is enough.

"Basically I've given up," said Cullerton, who has been trying to enact a helmet safety law since 1989.

Though he hasn't changed his mind on such legislation, he figures there are other highway issues to fight for. "It's better to push for .08," he said, referring to the blood-alcohol level at which one is considered legally drunk.

So, Illinois remains one of three states with no helmet law. The others are Colorado and Iowa. Of the rest, 25 require helmets on all riders and passengers; 22 require riders under a specific age, usually 18, to wear helmets, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What Cullerton has butted up against is the same kind of organized effort that happens whenever a state considers forcing motorcyclists to strap on helmets. In the late 1960s, for example, motorcyclists circled the Capitol after Gov. Richard Ogilvie signed into a law a helmet safety bill ruled unconstitutional months later. In Cullerton's case, the opposition has been A Brotherhood Aiming Toward Education, a motorcycle owners' organization known as ABATE.

Proponents point to statistics that show helmets save lives and billions of dollars.

NHTSA, for example, found that $10.4 billion was saved nationwide between 1984 and 1996 by the use of helmets. An additional $9.2 billion would have been saved if others involved in accidents were wearing helmets in the period, said Jennifer Koehn of the National Safety Council.

NHTSA also found that 506 lives were saved nationwide in 1995 as a result of people wearing helmets and that an additional 285 lives would have been saved if others in accidents would have been wearing helmets, she said.

Opponents, however, say not only are those statistics faulty, but that helmet use is none of the government's business.

"Basically it's a fundamental issue of freedom of choice," said Todd Vandermyde, ABATE's legislative coordinator.  "Government should not be making these decisions for individuals."

"They're too organized," Cullerton said. "A hundred thousand are active." And he has found "no corresponding group to push for the law."

Others who might push for such legislation, such as doctors and nurses who treat victims of motorcycle accidents, all have other issues they are involved with, Cullerton said. "But all ABATE cares about is this one issue," he said.

"Some (ABATE) people will work precincts for  (politicians). It is hard to find people to work precincts," said Cullerton.

Cullerton said he doesn't see much "political will" to enact a motorcycle helmet law. He said for now he will be content to "nibble around the edges until people come to their senses."

One way he's done that is with a bill that would require anyone who registers a motorcycle in the state to become organ donors. "The least you can do is make sure if they are in a crash we can get their organs," he said.

Vandermyde said ABATE will fight that bill, which is stuck in the Rules Committee.

Back