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AP) 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 Saturday afternoon in the town of Onondaga, in central New York near Syracuse.
State troopers tell The Post-Standard of Syracuse that Philip A. Contos of Parish, N.Y., was driving a 1983 Harley Davidson with a group of bikers who were protesting helmet laws by not wearing helmets.
He was "participating in a motorcycle helmet protest ride."
Contos was riding with American Bikers Aimed Towards Education, a motorcycle lobbying group that disagrees with mandatory helmet laws.
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.
Troopers say Contos would have likely survived if he had been wearing a helmet.
