Few shocked by helmet act reversal in Myrtle Beach

Few people were surprised the S.C. Supreme Court overturned Myrtle Beach's local helmet law - even the people who passed it in the first place.

"Of all the [rally ordinances], that's the one that had the most question of being upheld," said former City Councilman Chuck Martino, who voted in favor of the law in 2008 when the city devised 14 regulations and ordinance amendments designed to gain control of the May motorcycle rallies and push them outside city limits.

The high court issued a ruling Tuesday on one of two lawsuits that were heard Feb. 3, claiming the city had no right to supersede state law and pass its own local helmet ordinance. The court unanimously agreed that the law was invalid for two reasons - first, because the state had already settled the question of who must wear helmets, andsecond, because the city had essentially invalidated the law itself when it repealed the administrative hearing process it set up to handle the infractions.

Councilman Randal Wallace said he wasn't shocked by Tuesday's unanimous opinion, either.

"We knew we would be challenged, and our legal advice at the time was that the court could overturn this," he said. "But it's just one tool in a whole basket of tools to bring the rallies under control. I think the people who wreaked havoc and thought Myrtle Beach was just going to be a big, three-week, nonstop party got the message, and the people who did come this year, they respected us and had a good time."

Wallace's was the lone vote against the helmet law on the council. He asked for that ordinance to be voted on separately from the others so he could cast a no vote on it and still support the rest of the city's measures, including a juvenile curfew, new rules about parking oversize vehicles on city streets, noise levels and more.

"I have a Libertarian streak in me," Wallace said. "I don't like government telling me what to do."

Neither do many of the Harley-Davidson riders, many of whom rejoiced at Tuesday's news from the court.

"I had people coming in all day with big grins on their faces, saying 'Did you hear, did you hear?'" said Juan Salcedo, manager of the North Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson store. "A lot of people were really excited. They are saying, 'Finally, it's over. They can come back and still have a choice whether to wear their helmets.'"

The state says people younger than 21 must wear protective headgear, but does not require it of those 21 and older.

Overturning the law is "a good thing as long as it brings money back to the community," said Lee Hafner, a 49-year motorcycle rider who said he always wears a helmet. "I think the court did the right thing. I think people should have the right to choose."

Many city business owners have said the rules and subsequent departure of the rally participants slashed their profits at a time when the recession was already threatening their survival.

Myrtle Beach hotelier Karon Mitchell, who was one of the most vocal opponents of the city's stance on the rallies, said she was "euphoric" when she heard the court's decision.

"I think the city made a mistake, and the Supreme Court thinks they made a mistake, too," she said.

The city has said the helmet law was designed to stop motorcycle fatalities, and indeed, in the past two years since the law took effect, there have been none inside city limits during the rallies. The fatality closest to the city this year was actually in a doughnut hole of county property near the Myrtle Beach International Airport on U.S. 17 Bypass.

But Mitchell said that's not what it was all about.

"If it was about safety, we would have had a helmet law years ago," she said. "It was only about running a group of people out of town."

Her Ocean Boulevard hotels, like the Chesterfield Inn, have long been places where groups of motorcycle riders stayed during the spring and fall rallies, and she told the city repeatedly that her business could not stand the loss of revenue if the rallies moved out of town.

Though the rallies had never been city-sponsored, and had always been based in Horry County, the Harley-Davidson Spring Cruisin the Coast gathering had been advertised as Myrtle Beach Bike Week - a misnomer many people repeat as they identify the whole Grand Strand as Myrtle Beach.

The Atlantic Beach Bikefest, which focuses on sportbikes, also draws a huge crowd of 16- to 20-year-olds who come each May and have, in years past, turned Ocean Boulevard into a giant street party over the Memorial Day weekend.

The city and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce pushed several new events this May, hoping to lay a foundation upon which to rebuild the spring economy.

Martino said he thinks now that the court's ruling is in, people should move forward.

"I don't think it's going to change anything. Sadly, all it's going to do is continue the pro-con discussion about the city's actions. But everyone should pull together now on the things they can support. The sooner the issue of biker-nonbiker is resolved, and people start working together, the better for everyone."