Utah lawmakers may resurrect a bill mandating helmets for Utah motorcyclists thanks to a little-noticed provision in the new federal Highway Appropriations Act.
The 1990 Utah Legislature rejected a mandatory helmet law following a series of raucous hearings attended by hundreds of bikers, recreational riders and public safety officials.However, the Highway Appropriations Act passed by Congress last month contains a carrot-and-stick approach toward helmet laws.
If states mandate helmets and seat belts, they can share $95 million in grants over the next three years.
If they don't, they not only don't get the grant money, but they must either spend money otherwise designated for highway projects to implement mandatory laws or be penalized up to 3 percent of their federal highway funds.
In Utah, which should average $140 million in federal highway funds during each of the next six years, the penalty would range from about $2.1 million the first year to a maximum of roughly $4.2 million annually.
Utah Transportation Commission Chairman Sam Taylor said Friday the 480-page appropriations act is so new and so vast that state transportation officials are not yet aware of all its implications, including the helmet law provision.
"It's a very complex, detailed and lengthy act," he said. "We haven't even discussed it yet."
Taylor said he will ask Utah Department of Transportation staff to analyze the state's position and report back to the commission as soon as possible.
UDOT Planning Engineer Clint Topham said he was aware the Federal Highway Administration would encourage helmet use through the appropriation bill but was unsure what form the "encouragement" would take.
"We were in favor of incentives rather than penalties," he said. "We will need to take a look at this."
Topham said UDOT officials will not receive their first detailed explanation of the six-year appropriations act until a Dec. 17 meeting in Houston.
Rep. Walter Bain, R-Davis, who sponsored the controversial 1990 helmet law, predicted the federal strategy will prompt another legislative effort to require helmet usage.