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SC high court strikes down helmet rule for bikers
Published: 06/08/2010 by Jerry Frech
SC high court strikes down helmet rule for bikers
COLUMBIA — South Carolina's highest court has ruled that motorcycle riders at one of the East Coast's favorite coastal vacation spots can once again ride without helmets.
In a unanimous decision announced Tuesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the Myrtle Beach law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets is invalid. The ruling also negated several other ordinances the Myrtle Beach City Council had enacted to rid the city of biker events in May. Myrtle Beach can't require bikers to wear helmets because there's no state law requiring them.
Myrtle Beach passed the local law in 2008 to try to curb two popular biker rallies that had drawn complaints from residents. Both rallies reported double-digit drops in attendance following the ordinance.
The court says individual cities can not write different rules on motorcycle helmets.
