Bill Text: VA HB2235 | 2017 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Motorcyclists or autocyclists; removes requirement to wear protective helmets.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-07 - Left in Transportation [HB2235 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2017-HB2235-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §46.2-910 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§46.2-910. Motorcycle and autocycle equipment; certain sales prohibited; penalty.
A. Every person operating a motorcycle or autocycle shall wear
a face shield, safety glasses or goggles, or have his motorcycle or autocycle
equipped with safety glass or a windshield at all times while operating the
vehicle, and operators and any passengers thereon shall
wear protective helmets. Operators and passengers riding on motorcycles with
wheels of eight inches or less in diameter or in three-wheeled motorcycles or
autocycles that have nonremovable roofs, windshields, and enclosed bodies shall
not be required to wear protective helmets. The windshields, face shields, and
glasses or goggles, and protective
helmets required by this section shall meet or exceed the
standards and specifications of the Snell Memorial Foundation, the American
National Standards Institute, Inc., or the federal Department of
Transportation. Failure to wear a face shield,
safety glasses or goggles, or protective
helmets shall not constitute negligence per se in any civil
proceeding. The
provisions of this section requiring the wearing of protective helmets shall
not apply to operators of or passengers on motorcycles or autocycles being
operated (i) as part of an organized parade authorized by the Department of
Transportation or the locality in which the parade is being conducted and
escorted, accompanied, or participated in by law-enforcement officers of the
jurisdiction wherein the parade is held and (ii) at speeds of no more than 15
miles per hour.
No motorcycle or autocycle operator shall use any face shield, safety glasses, or goggles, or have his motorcycle or autocycle equipped with safety glass or a windshield, unless of a type either (i) approved by the Superintendent prior to July 1, 1996, or (ii) that meets or exceeds the standards and specifications of the Snell Memorial Foundation, the American National Standards Institute, Inc., or the federal Department of Transportation and is marked in accordance with such standards.
B. It shall be unlawful to sell or offer
for sale, for highway use in Virginia, any protective helmet that fails to meet
or exceed any standard as
provided in the foregoing provisions of this section the standards and specifications of the Snell
Memorial Foundation, the American National Standards Institute, Inc., or the
federal Department of Transportation.
Any violation of this subsection is a Class 4 misdemeanor.
