California BOLT Director Has Last Farewell...Defeats the California Mandatory Helmet Law (sort of)

Hupy investigator, Tony "Pan" Sanfelipo, and
Richard Quigley ride down Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville, California,
without helmets in protest of the California mandatory helmet law.


Richard Quigley speaks to guests at his "living wake" in
Watsonville, California, November 12, 2005.

Long time freedom fighter for biker's rights and fierce Constitutional advocate Richard Quigley is dying. He has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Always one for unique approaches to life's challenges, Quigley planned his own wake, and attended along with his guests.

Quigley's final farewell was an emotional ride, to say the least. It's quite unusual to have a wake with the principal party alert and greeting guests. Quig wouldn't have had it any other way. He really did want to know who would show up, and the result even surprised him.

Attracted to the philosophy of BOLT, an organization founded in 1990 by Tony "Pan" Sanfelipo, Hupy Law Firm investigator, Quigley contacted Pan fourteen years ago and discussed the mandatory helmet law in California. Tony Pan was a chief organizer of the Wisconsin Freedom Rallies, and his boss, Attorney Michael Hupy, invited Quigley to attend an upcoming rally in 1992. Hupy also invited Steve "Red" Barron of ABATE of California, Local 6, and several other California activists. The crowd at the rally, in excess of 30,000 riders, energized the group and they were eager to return to California and get to work on a repeal measure. Since then, Quigley has been on the ride of his life, testing the mandatory helmet law in courts throughout California and in Nevada. Nothing slowed his enthusiasm until his health started to fail. Faced with the inevitable, Quigley started making arrangements for his wake and calling on friends to wish him luck on his next adventure, wherever and whatever that might be.

Tony Pan traveled to Aptos, California on November 11, 2005, to join over 200 people from all walks of life who were there to honor and tell Quig how much they admired him. But then, who is this ZZ Top - bearded guy with the freedom fighter T-shirt that proclaims, “I was not born to be forced"? Born on Christmas Day, 1943, Quig has had many accomplishments and a few disappointments in his life. Among the wins, he successfully defeated the mandatory helmet law in California, sort of. You see, they will not issue him a ticket anymore around Aptos or Watsonville. Tony Pan wasn't completely in belief of this statement until he rode with Quig on November 12, 2005, with nothing more than his BOLT hat on. They cruised down Freedom Boulevard (how appropriate) past squad car after squad car, and even a couple of CHP patrol units. The deputies just smiled and nodded, as if to say, “there's no way we're going to fall into the quagmire surrounding a Quigley helmet ticket."

Quigley is currently involved in a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, in and for Santa Cruz County. Although seemingly complicated, it is simplistic in its goal, that being to have the CHP sign-off on helmet tickets as fix-it tickets. They refused, even though it's in the vehicle code, and then came Quig.

Among his disappointments, the greatest is that the motorcycle right's community hasn't embraced his philosophy of civil disobedience. That’s too bad. If everyone in California refused to obey the mandatory helmet law, it would probably be unenforceable state-wide, not just in Aptos.

Quigley is the California Director of BOLT (Bikers of Lesser Tolerance). He was appointed to that position by Tony Pan in 1992, and has never looked back or faltered on the group's motto, "Compromise is not in our vocabulary." He was unsuccessful in a bid for Congress in 1993, and also missed as a write-in candidate for Santa Cruz County Sheriff in 1994, although he ultimately won a law suit against then sheriff, Mark Tracy, for violating his freedom of speech.

Although government officials, prosecuting attorneys and certain law enforcement officers have not been able to silence Quig over the years, the gathering at his living wake did bring pause to this staunch defender of the Constitution. But not for long. His body may be tired due to the ravages of lymphoma, but his mind, sense of humor and sarcastic wit are as sharp as ever. Literally, Quigley is a dying breed. He has taught bikers how to be free and lawyers how to argue cases. He has taught prosecutors and police to give him a wide berth. But most of all, as Quig puts it, “I hope if anybody has gained anything from me, it's the value of life," he told a San Jose Sentinel reporter. And even though Quigley rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, he doesn't admit it. "People put too much value or social status on your bike." As he explained, "The wind doesn't care what you're riding." Such is the simple logic of Quigley. He gets much more complicated when it comes to things that matter, like basic human rights and freedoms.

Los Angeles based Reason magazine, November 2005, published an enlightening article by Jacob Sullum, entitled, Freedom Riders…how motorcyclists won the right to feel the wind in their hair-and why drivers still have to buckle up.

Central to the article was Richard Quigley and his fanatical approach to fighting unjust laws. So impressed was Sullum of Quigley, that he penned the phenomenon of the success of the grass roots motorcycle lobby "the Quigley Factor."

Tony Pan read the article, and brought complimentary T-shirts to Quigley's wake emblazoned with "the Quigley Factor" and the BOLT logo over the breast. Below the logo, WWQD (what would Quigley Do). Tony Pan hopes that future freedom fighters ask that question as they go into battle with the forces of suppression.

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