STATUTE:

Chapter 17C. Traffic Regulations and Laws of the Road. Article 15. Equipment. Section 17C-15-44. Safety equipment and requirements for motorcyclists, motorcycles, motor-driven cycles and mopeds; motorcycle safety standards and specifications board. :

"(a) No person shall operate or be a passenger on any motorcycle or motor-driven cycle unless he is wearing securely fastened on his head by either a neck or chin strap a protective helmet designed to deflect blows, resist penetration and spread impact forces. . . ."

FINE:

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

STANDARDS:

Chapter 17C. Traffic Regulations and Laws of the Road. Article 15. Equipment. Section 17C-15-44. Safety equipment and requirements for motorcyclists, motorcycles, motor-driven cycles and mopeds; motorcycle safety standards and specifications board. :

"(a) . . . Any helmet worn by an operator or passenger shall meet the current performance specifications established by the American National Standards Institute Standard, Z 90.1, the United States Department of Transportation Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218 or Snell Safety Standards for Protective Headgear for Vehicle Users. . . ."

COURT DECISIONS:

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

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 West Virginia Legislature may believe that they can adopt current performance specifications established by the American National Standards Institute Standard, Z 90.1, the United States Department of Transportation Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218 or Snell Safety Standards for Protective Headgear for Vehicle Users, it just ain't so.

On the basis that the West Virginia Legislature has adopted more than just FMVSS 218, the West Virginia helmet law can be successfully challenged on that basis alone, and removed. (see Juvenile Products v. Edmisten, 568 F.Supp. 714 (1983))

If West Virginia had adopted just FMVSS 218, which the law insists that they ultimately must, the West Virginia helmet law would thereby be rendered unconstitutionally vague and successfully 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 Department of Transportation for West Virginia 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 West Virginia bikers will be 100% FREE of the helmet law!

Questions or Comments