Motorcycle wreck changes man's stance on helmet law

Monday morning, 24–year–old Tyler Godsey, thought the injuries he sustained from his motorcycle crash would be fatal.

But he says the helmet he was wearing at the time changed his fate and his stance on the state's helmet law.

“When I was bleeding out on the sidewalk about to die, I definitely had a change of heart about a lot of things,” Godsey recalled.

The 24-year-old fell off his motorcycle after he tried to swerve around a truck that was turning, Monday morning.

"I hit my head on the ground several times,” he said.

Godsey managed to survive the accident with only a leg injury and some scrapes on his arms—which he says is thanks to the state's motorcycle helmet law.

"Now that I've been through this and know that I'd be dead today if I didn't have this helmet on, I would not [let the state] take away the law,” he said.

But that's exactly what one lawmaker is proposing to do. Senator Dave Bloomfield is sponsoring a bill to repeal the current motorcycle helmet law—which, he says, is an infringement upon rider's freedom of choice.

"I would highly recommend you wear a helmet, even if the law is repealed. What I don't like is the state or the federal government telling us we must do something when we are 21+ years old and supposedly live in a free nation,” Senator Bloomfield explained.

It's a stance that's been met with heavy opposition in the medical community, with some arguing the law is an issue of safety—no matter what age you are.

"Just by looking at his helmet, you can tell what kind of forces his head would have had,” Bryan West Trauma Center Director Reginald Burton said.

“The heads don't tolerate that [force]. That's the importance of a helmet and why society thinks you should be safe and where a helmet,” he added.

Regardless of the law, Godsey and his family hope people will learn the importance of wearing a helmet without having to endure a traumatic experience.

"The motorcycle helmet, I believe, saved his life,” said Godsey's stepdad Adam Stephenson. “How he never broke a bone, I have no idea.”

He's extremely lucky, and not everyone gets to be as lucky as him."

Right now, Senator Bloomfield is proposing a bill that entirely repeals the current helmet law.

But, if it makes its way to the floor, he plans to amend it so people under the age of 21 would be required—by law—to wear a helmet on their motorcycle.