I spent a couple days in our state capitol in Mo. during Senate Transportation Committee hearings talking to reps. Its a real eye opener. The amount of insurance company lobbyist pressure is pretty great and some of the statistics were so ridiculous that even the Senators were questioning how they could come up with the conclusions they were spouting as "fact" from the data they had submitted. When lobbyists have a hand in HOW a law is written, it should come as no great surprise that the outcome would favor the industry he represents!
 On a side note, I was told, off the record, by one committee aide that one of the Senators that used to oppose a change in helmet laws has decided the "Darwin Award" contingent wasn't going away but they would probably be the first to go helmetless in poor weather conditions and thus reduce the gene pool. It made for a good story but kind of reduced mt respect for the guy!