Swinney pleads with state for helmet law on mopeds |
CLEMSON - Freshman defensive end Xavier Kelly was involved in a moped accident late Wednesday that left the Kansas native with stitches in one of his toes and a cut on the back of his head.
Kelly's accident happened after another driver ran through an intersection while texting. For head coach Dabo Swinney, it was a close call for one of the team's most talented freshmen, and he spent a few minutes after Friday's practice begging the state of South Carolina to pass a helmet law for mopeds and motorcycles. "I need some help from the state. It's the most dadgum thing I've ever seen in my life that we allow people to go 80 miles an hour down the interstate with no helmet," Swinney said. "We've got a seatbelt law but no helmet. I've never understood that. South Carolina and Florida - even in Alabama we wear helmets. It just blows my mind. These aren't little boys. They're going to ride their mopeds. He wasn't doing anything. It wasn't his fault, but had he had a helmet on, he wouldn't have gotten busted in the back of the head. He's got a cut back there. He's lucky. I ride mopeds. I ride mine all the time, but I wear a helmet. I've got a visor and a little sunglass thing that comes down. I just don't understand that." Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said he wishes all of his players would wear helmets when they ride. "I wish they'd put helmets on. There's no South Carolina helmet law. We might have to have a Swinney law," Venables said. "It might be coming. Have to give up your Constitutional right of choice." However, under South Carolina law, moped riders and operators under the age of 21 must wear a helmet and googles or a protective shield.
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