Legislation should be passed and supported based on FACTS and STATISTICS, not based on whim and emotions.
MICHIGAN LAWMAKER BEHIND REPEAL OF STATE’S MOTORCYCLE HELMET LAW DIES IN MOTORCYCLE CRASH
State Rep. Peter Pettalia, R-Presque Isle, was killed in a motorcycle crash Monday evening, according to legislative leaders.
Pettalia, a third-term member of the House, was a well-known motorcycle advocate. He served as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Pettalia was the sponsor of the 2012 law that repealed the helmet requirement for motorcyclists. A recent study found motorcycle fatalities in Michigan jumped by 23 % between 2014 and 2015 and researchers say the repeal of the helmet law almost certainly played a role.
Authorities are not sharing many details other than the 61-year-old lawmaker was riding a motorcycle on M-33 in northern Michigan’s Montmorency County, Michigan Radio reported. It is not known if he was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
According to the Michigan Information and Research Service, the Montmorency County Sheriff’s Office and the Michigan State Police were working the accident scene.
A Presque Isle resident since 1977, Pettalia is survived by his wife, Karen, and two grown children.
Pettalia was a driving force behind the repeal of Michigan's mandatory helmet law.
LANSING — A Republican state lawmaker from northern Michigan was killed late Monday afternoon when a truck pulled out in front of his motorcycle, the Michigan State Police said in a news release Tuesday.
Rep. Peter Pettalia, R-Presque Isle, was wearing a helmet at the time of the 5:30 p.m. crash, the MSP said.
The lawmaker, who pushed for the 2012 repeal of Michigan's mandatory motorcycle helmet law, was southbound on M-33 in Montmorency County when "a pickup truck driven by a 59-year-old woman from Fairview turned left, directly into his lane of traffic," the MSP said in a news release. "His motorcycle struck the pickup truck broadside."
The driver of the pickup, who was alone in her vehicle, was not injured, police said. An investigation by the MSP and Montmorency County sheriff deputies continues.
The accident happened on M-33 in northern Michigan when Pettalia was on his way to Lansing for Tuesday's session of the House of Representatives. The House convened Tuesday, but officials said it would not be voting on pending bills out of respect for Pettalia's sudden passing.
The House of Representatives observed a moment of silence Tuesday for Pettalia, whose desk was draped in black and covered with a large spray of red, orange and white flowers.
It matched the same draping on the desk of state Rep. Julie Plawecki, D-Dearborn Heights, who died of a heart attack June 25 while hiking in Oregon.
"We’re so broken by the death of my friend, Representative Pettalia,” said Rep. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, in an invocation prayer before session started. “We were shocked by this, but ... moments of death and loss remind us that eternal questions of our relationship with (God) and each other matter more than any petty material or earthly thing.”
Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, added, “We’re a tight-knit group of colleagues who often feel like a legislative family and no one made us feel more like family than Rep. Pettalia.”
The House of Representatives is now down three members. The Nov. 8 election will fill vacancies created by the death of Plawecki and the resignation of former Rep. Derek Miller, a Warren Democrat who resigned after he was appointed Macomb County treasurer. Pettalia was term-limited, so his replacement will also be chosen in the Nov. 8 election but will not be seated until January.
Earlier, state Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids, stepped down to become chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. The House also lost state Reps. Todd Courser, R-Lapeer, who resigned, and Cindy Gamrat, R-Plainwell, who was expelled from the House after the pair got caught up in a sex and cover-up scandal. Those three seats were filled in special elections.
►U-M study: Fatalities double for motorcyclists without helmets
►Related: The cost of repealing Michigan's motorcycle helmet law
►Related: The cost of repealing Michigan's motorcycle helmet law
Tributes poured in for the 61-year-old lawmaker who chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was completing his third and final two-year term in the state House. Lawmakers and others sent condolences to his family.
Rep. Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, said on Facebook that Pettalia was "a great legislator and even better person."
"It didn't matter how heated things got or how long we were there, Pete had a way of always keeping the mood light and remaining positive," Leonard said.
Rep. Andy Schor, D-Lansing, said on Facebook that "Pete was a truly great public servant." Though "we didn't always agree ... he was honest and sincere in all he did" and "he had a great sense of humor that could lighten many tough situations."
Pettalia is survived by his wife, Karen, and two adult children, Anna and Peter.
Pettalia's daughter Anna expressed gratitude on her father's Facebook page for the outpourings of sympathy.
"This is a very difficult time and we are still in shock and a little lost," she said. "He was a wonderful husband, father, papa (grandfather) and we always knew he loved us, no matter how difficult the time."
Plans for a celebration of Pettalia's life are being made for midday Friday at the New Presque Isle Lighthouse, his daughter said.
Though Pettalia wore a helmet, the lawmaker sponsored a bill in 2011 to abolish Michigan's requirement that all motorcycle riders wear helmets. His bill, House Bill 4608 of 2011, was not the version that ultimately became state law in 2012.
Vince Consiglio, president of ABATE of Michigan, which pushes for motorcycle safety and lobbied for the law giving motorcyclists a choice about wearing a helmet, said Pettalia was an experienced rider who "rode with a defensive riding mind-set," and "was a champion of motorcycle rights, licensing and awareness."
Consiglio said Pettalia "served his district and the people of northern Michigan with integrity and leadership that will be hard to replace."
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/09/13/msp-state-rep-pettalia-wearing-helmet-fatal-motorcycle-crash/90298076/
No comments:
Post a Comment