The NC Helmet Statute has been updated to include FVSS 218 since this was written, enacted on January 1, 2008. For updates and information on fighting the law, see BOLT of NC or the B.O.L.T. Forum.

STATUTE:

Article 3. Motor Vehicle Act of 1937. Part 10. Operation of Vehicles and Rules of the Road. Section 20-140.4. :

"(a) No person shall operate a motorcycle or moped upon a highway or public vehicular area:

". . .(2) Unless the operator and all passengers thereon wear safety helmets of a type approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. . . ."

CHANGE WHICH BECAME EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2008

". . .(2) Unless the operator and all passengers thereon wear on their heads, with a retention strap properly secured, safety helmets of a type that complies with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218.. . . ."

FINE:

According to B.O.L.T. of NC, the fine is $25, with court costs of $75. Some law enforcement officers have been known to give people the wrong info, and they have a conniption if you correct them or quote statutes to them.

STANDARDS:

Article 3. Motor Vehicle Act of 1937. Part 10. Operation of Vehicles and Rules of the Road. Section 20-140.4. :

"(a)(2) . . . of a type approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. . . ."

We are currently researching the North Carolina regulations to determine exactly what standard they have adopted to define "safety helmets". Apparently the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles approves "safety helmets," so we will locate the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles for North Carolina and ask. When we get an answer, you will find it here.

COURT DECISIONS:

We found one decision that was rendered back on March 12, 1969, in the case of State of North Carolina v. Kenneth Calvin Anderson , 275 N.C. 168, 166 S.E.2D 49, handed down by the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Not a bad job, all things considered; but , the vagueness arguments were not well (or at all) presented, and at the time the trend was a mad dash toward putting helmet laws in ALL the states.

In other words, the North Carolina helmet law can be shown to be unconstitutionally vague, State v. Anderson notwithstanding.1969.

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.

The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles is confined, by law, to adopting only those standards established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If the Commissioner has exceeded his authority and adopted anything other than Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 218, the North Carolina 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 has adopted FMVSS 218, which the law insists that he ultimately must, the North Carolina helmet law is thereby rendered unconstitutionally vague and can be challenged on that basis, and removed. (see Washington v. Sanaski , 74 WASH.APP. 688, 878 P.2D 1220 (1994))

We believe that if you will write to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles for North Carolina and ask 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 North Carolina bikers will be 100% FREE of the helmet law!

Questions or Comments