STATUTE:

Title 63. Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations. Chapter 7. Equipment and identification -- General Provisions. Section 63-7-64. Motorcycle Crash Helmets. :

"No person shall operate or ride upon any motorcycle or motor scooter upon the public roads or highways of this state unless such person is wearing on his or her head a crash helmet of the type and design inspected and approved by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. . . ."

FINE:

If you have information about the amount of the fine for violating Mississippi's helmet law, please e-mail it to us. Thanks.

STANDARDS:

We are currently researching the Mississippi regulations to determine exactly what standard they have adopted to define a "crash helmet". Apparently the "American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators" inspects and approves Mississippi's so-called safety equipment, so we will locate the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and ask what they consider an approved "crash helmet." When we get an answer, you will find it here.

COURT DECISIONS:

We have been unable to uncover any court decision from a court of record, either from the Mississippi Appellate or Supreme Courts, which indicates if the question of whether or not Mississippi's helmet law is constitutional has been addressed in the courts. It appears that it has not.

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 Mississippi Legislature may believe that they can authorize the "American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators" to establish which "crash helmets" are approved, and which are not; the State of Mississippi is confined, by law, to adopting only those standards established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

If the Mississippi Legislature has exceeded their authority and adopted anything other than Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 218 -- the Federal standard for, or definition of, a so-called "safety" helmet (aka: "crash helmet") -- the Mississippi helmet law can be successfully challenged on that basis alone, and removed. (see Juvenile Products v. Edmisten, 568 F.Supp. 714 (1983))

If the State of Mississippi has adopted FMVSS 218, which the law insists that they ultimately must, the Mississippi helmet law is thereby rendered unconstitutionally vague and can be challenged on that basis, and removed. (see Washington v. Maxwell , 74 WASH.APP. 688, 878 P.2D 1220 (1994))

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

Questions or Comments