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2016 SESSION
16103768DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 46.2-910 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 46.2-910. Certain motorcyclists to wear helmets, etc.; certain sales prohibited; penalty.
A. Every person operating a motorcycle shall wear a face
shield, safety glasses or goggles, or have his motorcycle equipped with safety
glass or a windshield at all times while operating the vehicle, and operators
and any passengers thereon who are under the
age of 21 shall
wear protective helmets. Operators and passengers riding on motorcycles with
wheels of eight inches or less in diameter or in three-wheeled motorcycles which 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 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 fifteen 15
miles per hour.
No motorcycle operator shall use any face shield, safety glasses or goggles, or have his motorcycle 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 shall constitute a Class 4 misdemeanor.