STATUTE:
There is no helmet law statute in Colorado.
FINE:
There is no fine.
STANDARDS:
In that Colorado does not have a helmet law, the only standards for helmets are the standards imposed on manufacturers and distributors of helmets -- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 -- which is as it should be.
COURT DECISIONS:
"To be constitutional, it was not necessary that there be a more substantial relationship between statute requiring motorcyclists to wear protective headgear and the public health, safety and welfare than that provided by the test of mere reasonableness." Love v. Bell , 1970, 465 P.2d 118, 171 Colo. 27.
"In absence of proof that certain events could not cause motorcyclists, unprotected by helmets, to lose control of their vehicles and cause injury to others on or near the public highway, plaintiffs failed to meet burden of proving that statute requiring motorcyclists and their passengers to wear protective headgear bore no reasonable relationship to the public health, safety, and welfare." Love v. Bell , 1970, 465 P.2d 118, 171 Colo. 27.
"Fact that, as an alternative to statute requiring motorcyclists to wear protective headgear, legislature might have required motorcycle manufacturers to place windshields on motorcycles did not affect constitutionality of statute." Love v. Bell , 1970, 465 P.2d 118, 171 Colo. 27.
"Statute requiring motorcyclist to wear protective helmet and goggles, face shield, or safety glasses was reasonably related to the public health, safety, and welfare of the rest of the motoring public and was, therefore, a valid exercise of the state's police power." Love v. Bell , 1970, 465 P.2d 118, 171 Colo. 27.
"Statute requiring motorcyclists to wear protective headgear was not an unconstitutional burden on freedom of movement and the right to travel." Love v. Bell , 1970, 465 P.2d 118, 171 Colo. 27.
"Legislature, in imposing requirement that motorcyclists wear protective headgear, was justified in treating motorcycles as a distinctive class apart from other motor vehicles." Love v. Bell , 1970, 465 P.2d 118, 171 Colo. 27.
"In action to declare statute requiring motorcyclists to wear protective headgear, unconstitutional evidence did not support contention that helmets as such do not prevent accidents, but rather interfere with proper operation of a motorcycle." Love v. Bell , 1970, 465 P.2d 118, 171 Colo. 27.
COMMENTARY:
Apparently what happened was that in 1968, Colorado put in a helmet law like all the other states (except California), but when the statute was challenged in court, the Colorado District Court found the law to be an unwarranted intrusion through abuse of the police powers. The Colorado Legislature was faced with a mess and repealed the statute in 1969, before the Love decision was reached by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Based on the Love decision, the mandate of helmet use is a legitimate application of the police powers by the Colorado Legislature, and the state of the law in Colorado is such that a helmet law introduced today would not suffer the same fate as the one introduced in 1968.
However, Colorado is blessed with one of the most informed and active Motorcyclists Rights Organizations in the entire United States -- Riders for Justice of Loveland, Colorado. All the statistical garbage that was thrown at the Legislature (and apparently the Supreme Court) has been debunked by RFJ.
RFJ's President and Founder Mike Holt is the "stopper" in the legislature or in the courts when the issue comes down to the truth about helmet "safety" (which is why we're proud and honored that he chose to be the Colorado State Director for the Helmet Law Defense League). Holt is an engineer by trade, and a serious Patriot and Freedom Fighter by our good fortune. As long as Colorado has Mike Holt and Riders for Justice are watching things, nothing short of a dismantling of the Constitution, entirely, will take away bikers' rights to ride free in Colorado.
