STATUTE:

Title 32. Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation. Chapter 1. Louisiana Highway Regulatory Act. Part IV. Traffic Regulations. Subpart G. Operation of Motorcycles, Motor-driven Cycles and Bicycles. Section 190. Safety Helmets. :

"A.(1) No person shall operate or ride upon any motorcycle, motor driven cycle, or motorized bicycle unless the person is equipped with and is wearing on the head a safety helmet of the type and design manufactured for use by operators of such vehicles, which shall be secured properly with a chin strap while the vehicle is in motion. . . ."

FINE:

Title 32. Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation. Chapter 1. Louisiana Highway Regulatory Act. Part IV. Traffic Regulations. Subpart G. Operation of Motorcycles, Motor-driven Cycles and Bicycles. Section 190. Safety Helmets. :

"F. Any person who violates any provision of this Section shall upon conviction be fined fifty dollars which shall include all costs of court. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, no other cost or fee shall be assessed against any person for a violation of this Section."

STANDARDS:

Title 32. Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation. Chapter 1. Louisiana Highway Regulatory Act. Part IV. Traffic Regulations. Subpart G. Operation of Motorcycles, Motor-driven Cycles and Bicycles. Section 190. Safety Helmets. :

"A. . . . All . . . safety helmets shall consist of lining, padding, visor, and chin strap and shall meet such other specifications as shall be established by the commissioner.

"B. It shall be unlawful to manufacture, sell, or distribute any protective helmet for use by the operator of a motorcycle, motor driven cycle, or motorized bicycle, or for use by the passenger thereon, unless such protective helmet is of a type and specification approved by the commissioner who shall publish a notice of such approval. (This sounds like a list!). . .

COURT DECISIONS:

"Ordinance requiring all cyclists to wear helmets while operating motorcycles within city limits was neither unconstitutionally vague and indefinite nor violative of the equal protection clause. Everhardt v. City of New Orleans, Sup.1968, 253 La. 285, 217 So.2d 400, appeal dismissed 89 S.Ct. 1775, 395 U.S. 212, 23 L.Ed.2d 214.

NOTE: This decision would seem to put to rest the question of vagueness. However, look at when the decision came down! That was in 1968! There have been a world of changes in the manner in which a state may adopt standards for defining a "safety helmet" since that time, and none of them include anyone approving a helmet, much less making a list of "approved" helmets.

COMMENTARY:

From our beginning in 1993, it has been the position of the Helmet Law Defense League that all helmet laws are unconstitutional , in the absence of clear guidelines on how to comply with the statute -- like with a list of "approved helmets."

NO LIST? NO LAW! If a state, any state, cannot answer the question: "How can a motorcyclist comply, with certainty , with the provisions of the helmet law?" that state's statute(s) requiring the wearing of a "helmet," "safety helmet," or "protective headgear" is unconstitutionally vague.

Although the Louisiana Legislature may believe that they can authorize the "Commissioner" to establish and maintain such a list, the Commissioner is confined, by law, to adopting only those standards established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE COMPILING A LIST OF APPROVED HELMETS!

If the Commissioner has exceeded his authority and adopted anything other than Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 218 -- including compiling and maintaining a list -- the Louisiana helmet law can be successfully challenged on that basis alone, and removed. (see Juvenile Products v. Edmisten, 568 F.Supp. 714 (1983))

If the Commissioner had adopted FMVSS 218, which the law insists that he ultimately must, the Louisiana helmet law would thereby be rendered unconstitutionally vague, challenged on that basis, and removed. (see Washington v. Maxwell , 74 WASH.APP. 688, 878 P.2D 1220 (1994))

We believe that if someone will write to the "Commissioner" for Louisiana and ask for the list -- tell them you are attempting to determine how to comply with the helmet law, "with certainty" -- they can take whatever answer (or, more likely, a refusal to answer) to the courts, and Louisiana bikers will be 100% FREE of the helmet law!

CURRENT ACTIVITY:

---

If you know of any current activity regarding efforts to remove or otherwise amend Louisiana's helmet law, in the Legislature or the Courts, please e-mail that information to us so we can update this site. Thanks.

Questions or Comments