A motorcycle riding attorney from the USA who spent nearly ten years battling mandatory motorcycle helmet laws in the states has been killed in a crash. - The lead image is a stock picture
Ron Smith and his girlfriend, Brenda Jeanan Volpe, were both killed in a crash while out on his bike, neither Smith nor Volpe were wearing a motorcycle helmet at the time of the crash. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the couple were on their way to a funeral, when Smith lost control of his motorcycle, with autopsy results indicating that the pair died of ‘blunt trauma to the head’.
Smith was an active biker and member of a lobby group called America Bikers Aimed Toward Education, and he endlessly pushed for motorcycle riders in the state of Florida to have the choice of whether or not they had to wear a helmet. While it is impossible to say whether the pair would have survived had they been properly protected, safety advocates claim doing so would have greatly increased their odds.
Ironically, Smith was responsible for representing clients caught out by Florida’s mandatory motorcycle helmet laws, so much so that a local sheriff’s office ceased handing out tickets for the offence. Because of this, some experts are pointing to Smith as one of the driving forces that eventually saw mandatory helmets in the state of Florida scrapped altogether.
The helmet law in Florida now allows anyone over the age of 21 to ride without a motorcycle helmet, as long as they have at least $10,000 worth of accident and insurance cover behind them.
