For years, HLDL has been recommending to states with a helmet law that requires a "list of approved" helmets, headgear, head protection, or whatever -- to write to the bureaucrat in charge of such things an order a copy of the "list." When they fail to provide a list, that state will lose it's ability to continue to enforce their helmet laws.
The concept is a little complicated, but basically it comes down to a toothless-tiger bureaucracy demanding that the citizens involve themselves in something they don't want to do, without taking responsibility for the outcome. If the government were to make a list of helmets, they would be liable if something about one of the helmets they "approved," and put on a "list," injured someone.
Put that against the fact that a "list" of helmets, or headgear or whatever, is the only enforcement standard that doesn't leave room for arbitrary and ad hoc declarations as to what constitutes a legal helmet or legal headgear, and what you have is an angle of attack on the helmet law as unconstitutional.
ABATE of Georgia somehow figured it all out and one of their members wrote their local bureaucrat asking for the "list" the Georgia helmet law requires. The story of what happened is below, written by Kim McCallister of ABATE of Georgia. The short version is that there are some ABATE members in Georgia that are a damned site more free these days than the bikers in Arkansas and Texas!!
We (ABATE of Georgia) wrote a letter to the Department of Public Safety and asked for a copy of the "list" of approved helmets. We received a reply that said there is no list, and never has been. Their excuse is that since there is federal testing program, no list is maintained by the State of Georgia.
We published this in our newsletter, and our members have been carrying this letter with them, and riding with a bandana, baseball cap, etc.. When they are stopped (some are having a hard time even getting stopped), they show the officer the letter and explain to the officer that without a list of approved "protective headgear", whatever they are wearing is protecting them from the sun, wind, bugs, etc. It's all in your perception of "protective". But they would be happy to have the officer write them a ticket, since they plan to fight the constitutionality of the law. Most of the time, the officer agrees with them and doesn't write a ticket. Of course, you have some that are not going to listen to you, are having a bad day, etc. In that case, just be polite and take the ticket. When they go to court, they plead not guilty. Since we started doing this, we have had several tickets dismissed.
At this time, we know of at least 17 tickets that are pending. So far, we haven't had anyone get a guilty verdict, which is what we need to be able to appeal the decision and challenge the constitutionality of the law.
Our members have been informed that if they plan to ride without their helmet, they had better be sober, have proper license, insurance etc. since we want the only offense to be not wearing a helmet. It wouldn't look good to have a DUI and a no helmet ticket.
We are trying to keep track of who gets tickets, when their court dates are, etc., as well as the outcome of their case. We have also informed our members that they must be responsible for their own expenses incurred, since we are a non-profit organization and as such can't pay their tickets, legal fees, etc.
Some of our members are serious about the constitutional challenge, some are just going for a ride while exercising the freedom to use their choice of "protective headgear", while some are viewing it as an opportunity to educate police officers , as a few have some serious misconceptions about what this law actually says.
It's actually been quite entertaining to see some officers look the other way, just so they don't have to be bothered, and to see the confused look on some of their faces when we explain the lack of a list. Which makes our point perfectly, since the law isn't supposed to be vague enough to confuse you on how to comply with it, or how the officer should enforce it.
Anyway, there you have it. Some of us have just decided to "just say no" and take it from there. Anyway, if you have any more questions or need more information, you can call me at our ABATE of Georgia State Office at 404-294-8900.
Ride Free Forever,
Kim
Of course we hope that HLDL's persistence in bringing the "No List? No Law!" attack on helmet laws to light, has in some small way contributed to this outbreak of freedom in the Heart of the South.
In any case, congratulations to ABATE of Georgia, Kim McCallister and the rest of the participating membership. From here, all we can do is offer our support, wish you God's speed and hope that this particular virus is contagious. Stop by the ABATE of Georgia web site and see what else they're up to.--quig