BUSEY UPDATE

Actor Gary Busey, in his first public appearance since his near-fatal motorcycle accident on Dec. 4, said Wednesday he will continue to oppose laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets. He argued that helmets impair motorcyclists’ peripheral vision, hearing and neck movement and said he “could be a vegetable” if he had worn a helmet. Busey, 44, who has a visible scar from his right ear to the top of his head, does concede that helmets should be mandatory for riders ages 16 to 21. But, he said, his brain surgeons told him a helmet would not have lessened his injuries. “I could have been more seriously injured” with a helmet, he said, “. . . I could have broken my neck.” Busey is scheduled to talk about the accident in an interview with Lynn Sherr set to air Friday night on ABC’s “20/20.”