                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

MOTORCYCLE AND AUTOCYCLE OPERATORS TO WEAR HELMETS, ETC.; CERTAIN SALES
PROHIBITED; PENALTY (§ 46.2-910)

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, 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. Any violation of this subsection is a
Class 4 misdemeanor.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 46-183.1, 46-183.2; 1954, c. 204; 1958, c. 541, §
46.1-172; 1968, c. 498; 1970, cc. 29, 99; 1982, cc. 390, 681; 1989, cc. 6, 727;
1996, c. 690; 1998, c. 789; 2014, cc. 53, 256.