MOTORCYCLIST DIES WHILE PROTESTING HELMET LAW

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ONONDAGA, N.Y. --  Police say a motorcyclist participating in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York died after he flipped over the bike's handlebars and hit his head on the pavement.

The accident happened on the afternoon of July 3 in the town of Onondaga, in central New York near Syracuse.

State troopers tell The Post-Standard of Syracuse that 55-year-old Philip A. Contos of Parish, N.Y., was driving a 1983 Harley Davidson with 550 other motorcyclists to protest the state's mandatory helmet law by not wearing helmets. Troopers say Contos hit his brakes, and the motorcycle fishtailed. The bike spun out of control, and Contos toppled over the handlebars. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

"The medical expert we discussed the case with who pronounced him deceased stated that he would've no doubt survived the accident had he been wearing a helmet," state Trooper Jack Keller told ABC News 9 in Syracuse.

The ride was organized by American Bikers Aimed Toward Education, known as ABATE, a group of motorcycling enthusiasts who lobby for motorcycle awareness and freedom.

The Onondaga chapter of ABATE has sponsored the helmet protest ride for the past 11 years every July 4 weekend.

"ABATE is very saddened and still shocked about the fact that we've lost another rider in Philip, and our hearts go out to him and our prayers as well," Syracuse chapter president Christinea Rathbun told ABC News 9.

Still, ABATE states on its Web site that the decision to wear a helmet should be up to each individual motorcyclist.

New York is one of 20 states that requires motorcyclists to wear helmets.

Jim Hedlund of the Governors Highway Safety Association told the Associated Press that a helmet meeting federal standards reduces the chance of fatality in an accident by more than 40 percent.