NY motorcyclist dies protesting helmet laws

[July 05, 2011]  ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) -- Police say a motorcyclist who was participating in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York has died after he went over the handlebars and hit his head on the pavement.

The accident happened Saturday afternoon in Onondaga (on-un-DAH'-guh), a town in central New York near Syracuse.

State troopers tell The Post-Standard newspaper of Syracuse that 55-year-old Parish resident Philip A. Contos was driving a 1983 Harley-Davidson with a group of bikers who were protesting helmet laws by not wearing helmets.

Troopers say Contos hit his brakes and the motorcycle fishtailed and went out of control. They say Contos flipped over the handlebars and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Troopers say Contos likely would have survived if he'd been wearing a helmet.

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Information from: The Post-Standard, http://www.syracuse.com/

[Associated Press]

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