A pair of Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill aimed at repealing a Washington, D.C., law requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets. Their proposed legislation, the “Ride in Freedom Act,” is raising concerns from safety officials nationwide.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., and Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., introduced the bill in their respective chambers Thursday. Although they are initially targeting Washington, where the law requires anyone riding a motorcycle to wear a helmet, no matter their age, the lawmakers have more ambitious plans.
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Known for riding his Harley to Capitol Hill, Van Orden hopes to use this as a litmus test for rolling back helmet requirements nationwide.
“The federal government has had a hand in helmet requirements going back to the Highway Safety Act, which used highway funding as leverage to get states to adopt helmet laws,” Grace Kim, Van Orden’s communications director, told Straight Arrow in a statement. “That’s part of why D.C. is an important place to start. If Congress can change the policy here, it opens the door to having a larger conversation about the federal government’s role in helmet mandates across the country.”
But Kim says the bill isn’t about Van Orden, though he does ride. She says he works closely with groups representing riders and in the motorcycle community, like the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, which supports the bill.
“These pieces of legislation would ensure that freedom so many motorcyclists experience when riding at home would also be possible in our nation’s capital,” the foundation’s president, Kirk “Hardtail” Willard, told CycleFish. “Americans should have the freedom to make their own decisions about motorcycle safety, and that freedom should not disappear when they cross into the District of Columbia.”
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, 47 states have motorcycle helmet laws of some kind, although some laws apply only to younger riders. Seventeen states have universal helmet laws akin to D.C.’s.
Are they just being hard-headed?
Safety experts say repealing the D.C. law would be dangerous and deadly. So far, six people have died in motorcycle crashes in D.C. this year.
“If you’re ever in a serious motorcycle crash, the best hope you have for protecting your brain is a motorcycle helmet,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website.
In a post on social media Monday, D.C. Council member Charles Allen, a Democrat who chairs the council’s transportation committee, called the legislation “an unserious and unsafe proposal,” and said Van Orden should focus on other issues.
“A member of Congress from Wisconsin has nothing they can do to make life a little more affordable or a little bit better for their own constituents, so they spend their time writing helmet laws for people riding motorcycles in DC?” Allen wrote on X.
“I really think they can be better than this,” Allen said.
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