Mike Sise: My name is Doctor Mike Sise from San Diego. I'm here to speak for the nurses and doctors that staff the six trauma centers in San Diego and for the trauma surgeons and nurses throughout the state.

You've heard a lot of things today. I'm not going to go over the statistics again. You know if the estimates that it saves somewhere around $210 million a year to have this law, that's in terms of the lives saved, the tax dollars, the expense to all of us that take care of these people long term. If it saves half of that, let's say a hundred million, that's the budget for twenty-one thousand elementary school children this year.

Senator Monteith: Where did you get that figure?

Mike Sise: NHTSA and the Public Services Research Institute analysis used the per death rate in the State of California, the 90-122 deaths per year decrease from the helmet law . . .

Senator Monteith: And NHTSA stands for?

Mike Sise: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration . . . if it's half of that, let's say it's overblown by a 100%, that's a thousand police officers of firefighters.

But you know, I've heard that this is all about politics. Well I grew up in a family where politics wasn't a dirty word. I believe that politics can't be beneath us, beyond us, or about someone else's ambition. It has to be about leading our communities to compasionate solutions for the problems that threaten our lives, our safety, our health, or families and our children. And you know, we send you gentlemen here to consider all the facts to look at the tough decisions that you have to make to make good government, and I think this law is good policy. It prevents death. I cuts injuries and it saves dollars. We need some common sense for the common good. This is a good law.

I hope you'll take a hard look at it and look beyond the vocal minorities. I sympathize with the folks that want to ride without helmets, I really do. But I don't see any of the people I've had to take care of at three o'clock in the morning with bad injuries. I don't see any of the families that I've had to walk down that long hall and tell in the past before the helmet law, if only they'd been wearing a helmet they wouldn't be permanently brain damaged. I don't see them here today.

I hope you'll give this your full thought, act with compassion courage and committment and not let this happen.

Senator Kelley: Thank you. We have a gentlemen in the back.

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