Posted: Jun 10, 2009 4:37 PM CDT
Updated: Jun 22, 2009 6:20 AM CDT
By Caroline Moses

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Motorcycle helmets will not be optional anytime soon in Louisiana, after a Senate committee killed a bill that would have repealed the state's helmet law, despite the governor's support to do away with it.

The bill passed through the House side and the Senate Transportation Committee. A request on the Senate floor last week sent the bill back into another Senate committee Wednesday, which angered supporters and resulted in what will likely be the bill's last hearing this session.

"I just wanted to help you with what committee you are in right now," said Senator David Heitmeyer, D-New Orleans. "I understand, but we've been debating transportation issues, so i'm trying to make it all work," said Jimmy Faircloth, Governor Bobby Jindal's executive counsel. "I think it's a health and welfare committee, if I'm accurate," said Heitmeyer.

As soon as debate began, you could feel the tension between the Jindal administration and the Senate committee. Not a single senator on the committee would call for a vote, so the bill basically disappears for the session. Each and every one of the senators oppose getting rid of what they say is an important safety measure.

The same committee killed a similar bill last year, so Jindal's Chief Counsel Jimmy Faircloth was not happy about returning for another try. "How far is the state going to go in protecting people from their own judgement," said Faircloth. He says Jindal and his team support optional helmet use because they say it should be a personal choice.

Some senators say that logic doesn't match up with Jindal's support for a similar mandate this session. "You can't argue on one hand to require all occupants of a car to wear seat belts and at the same time, in good faith, argue it's a choice and we ought not to be made to wear helmets," said Senator Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia.

Faircloth says they see a seat belt mandate as more needed. "I don't think people understand that risk and so, that's the difference, I believe, in the helmet law," said Faircloth. Senators on the committee and doctors who testified strongly disagree.

They say without question, helmets save lives and save the state money. "I will tell you that brain injury is the most consumptive use of our resources," said James Aiken with the Academy of Emergency Medicine. "The most tragic turn of life, it is a life of agony."

"One more piece of equipment could prevent me from going into the emergency waiting room and telling a family member, 'I'm so sorry your loved one has died,'" said Dr. William Freeman, who is a practicing emergency room physician.

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