May 8, 2010

Locally Speaking

Motorcycle Rally Uncertain

Motorcycle riders waiting to book rooms for the Spring Harley-Davidson Cruisin' the Coast motorcycle rally remain in limbo as they wait to hear the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision on Myrtle Beach's helmet law.

"I know a lot of people who are waiting to decide whether to come back this year based on what the court decides," said motorcyclist Scott Welborn of Greenville. He lived on the Grand Strand and worked for a Harley-Davidson shop for 12 years, and said he will come back for the May 7-16 rally because he's still got friends here he'd like to see.

But he said most of the people he has talked to say they don't want to be here if they can't ride through Myrtle Beach without helmets on.

The Supreme Court heard two lawsuits against Myrtle Beach at the beginning of February, both of them asking the court to force the city to rescind its local helmet law because, they say, it supersedes state law.

The court's pattern is to issue its rulings on Mondays, which means it still could drop an opinion this week that would be in time to allow people to book rooms before the rally starts.

The state law says only people younger than 21 must wear helmets, but as part of its 14 ordinances targeting the May motorcycle rallies, Myrtle Beach decided everyone riding within city limits must wear one. That decision more than any of the city's other ordinances angered many riders. Many boycotted the city last May, the first rally with the new helmet law, and said they would not return at other times of the year, either. –Sun News

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