A Democratic lawmaker who is also a trauma surgeon is proposing that motorcyclists be required to wear a helmet or pay a fee.
Violators of the law proposed by Rep. Randall Friese of Tucson could be fined $500, with $300 going into a fund to pay expenses for motorcycle head injury patients. The fee to be exempted would go to the highway fund.
Friese says he doesn't expect House Bill 2046 to advance in the Republican-controlled Legislature. A similar bill he sponsored last year never got a hearing.
But Friese says he's trying again because he's treated an untold number of motorcyclists riding without a helmet who he couldn't save or were left in prolonged comas. The cost of their care often ends up being picked up by the state.
