Currently, it is against the law for a motorcycle passenger 15 1/2 years or younger to ride without a helmet. [Richard E. Floyd]'s bill would have required every motorcycle operator and passenger to wear a Highway Patrol-approved helmet.

Floyd, who promised to reintroduce the bill next year, said [George Deukmejian]'s proposal to require helmets of drivers 21 and younger could not be enforced. "A cop can't drive down the street and stop everyone to check their age," Floyd said.

[James E. Lombardo] suggested that the well-known antipathy between Deukmejian and Floyd "probably didn't hurt us." Floyd denounced the veto as "mean-spirited toward Dick Floyd" and indicated that if a Republican had carried the bill, Deukmejian would have signed it.