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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Gloria Oladipo

Florida attorney who fought helmet laws dies in motorcycle crash

Ron Smith Florida
Helmets are seen at a motorcycle show.
Both Smith and Volpe died of blunt trauma to the head, according to an autopsy for Smith and an initial report for Volpe from the Hillsborough medical examiner. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

For almost a decade, Ron Smith, an attorney and avid motorcycle rider from Pinellas county, Florida, advocated against laws which said motorcyclists had to wear helmets to ride. Eventually, the state law changed.

This August, Smith, 66, and his girlfriend, Brenda Jeanan Volpe, 62, died in a fatal motorcycle crash. Neither was wearing a helmet, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

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