RALEIGH Motorcyclists who love the wind in their hair are pushing again for the freedom to ride without safety helmets in North Carolina, and they found support Tuesday from members of a state House committee.

North Carolina is one of 19 states where safety helmets are mandatory for all motorcyclists. Studies credit helmets with reducing deaths and serious brain injury in crashes, and a recent survey by the Governors Highway Safety Program found that 78 percent of motorcycle riders support the state law.

But opponents have tried to weaken or repeal the helmet rule in nearly every legislative session since the mid-1990s. This year their cause is led by a motorcycle-riding Republican from Gaston County.

Rep. John Torbett of Stanley enjoys the chance to ride across the state line into South Carolina, where helmets are required only for bikers 20 and younger. He parks his motorcycle and pulls off his full-face helmet.

Thats my choice, Torbett said Tuesday at a House Transportation Committee meeting. Thats what I choose to do. South Carolina provides that opportunity.

Torbetts bill would require helmets only for the youngest riders. He proposed to let motorcyclists ride bareheaded when they turned 18, but he accepted a committee amendment that would match the South Carolina standard: helmets mandatory until age 21.

Personal freedom is the chief argument for opponents of the helmet law.

Torbett warned legislators that they would hear arguments about lives saved and insurance costs reduced by helmets, but the only safety statistics considered by the committee Tuesday came from Torbett himself.

Using data he attributed to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Torbett distributed a chart that depicted slightly higher death rates for motorcyclists in states with mandatory helmet laws, when compared with those in other states. That was welcome news for a couple of committee members who wanted to support his proposal for relaxed regulation.

I agree with the bill sponsor on the freedom aspects, said Rep. Frank Iler, a Republican from Oak Island, the committee co-chairman. I had some safety concerns, but, apparently statistically, that may not be a problem.

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Freedom -loving motorcyclists renew fight against NC helmet law