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1996 SESSION
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. Motorcyclist 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 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 have nonremovable roofs, windshields and
enclosed bodies shall not be required to wear protective helmets. The
Superintendent of State Police shall establish standards for the
windshields, face shields, glasses or goggles, and protective helmets
required in 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.
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.