07.08.09
NEW WASHINGTON STATE HELMET LAW:
By now most of you know that our part time, part brained state legislature has seen fit to rewrite and expand the state’s confusing and ambiguous helmet law. What many of you do not know is that under the existing law novelty helmets and beanies were already illegal. Problem was that the law was poorly written and difficult to enforce. Getting a conviction if a rider pleaded not guilty was all but impossible. That will all change on July 26th, 2009. The new law is extremely well written and includes 10 pages of engineering and legalese that clearly define what a D.O.T. helmet is and what you as a rider must do to establish with law enforcement that what you are wearing is indeed an approved lid.
Please read Phil Wakefield’s article on the legalese but know this: Law enforcement has already begun a heightened degree of enforcement where all motorcycle laws are concerned. With fatalities on the rise you can expect some pretty close scrutiny when you are out riding. An illegal helmet will also invite closer inspection of your scoot by the officer who stops you for it. We have gotten over a dozen calls and emails to this effect and its 6 weeks before the new law even kicks in! Riders are being hit for vertical license plates, loud exhausts, handlebar infractions, lighting violations and more. In short your illegal lid is giving them a legal opportunity to write you a batch of very pricey tickets. Just “ask Arlin” who while riding to work on one of his customs garnered $750.00 worth of paper surprises.
It is no longer a question of if your beanie will get you stopped, but WHEN! On June 18th the WAP sent out a media release that clearly states that they are “stepping up enforcement efforts towards motorcycle riders with helmets that are not D.O.T. approved and who are not properly endorsed.” Like it or not, you must wear a legitimate D.O.T. helmet and unlike the old law using a little D.O.T. sticker won’t save you. The officer can and will ask you to prove the helmet is a legit lid and has the right to ask you to remove it and show them the inside label that is sewn into the lining among other ways of proving it’s the real deal. You can and should expect maximum enforcement of this new law taking effect July 26th. If you have received a ticket recently you may be able to beat it under the current law, so plead not guilty and call an attorney like Phil Wakefield or Frank Morris of BikersLawyers.com for some help!
If you are like me, you hate those big, mushroom head, heavily padded conventional D.O.T. hats. For us there is hope. Look into some of the New Kevlar-Carbon Fiber Jobs that are fully D.O.T. approved but are extremely light, and very, very, strong. So strong in fact that they achieve their approval while still using only about 5/8ths of an inch of padding. A bit pricey at $175.00, but they may be the answer you are looking for. Many stores in our area carry them. Eagle Leather’s Helmets To help you we have posted a list on page 13 (Quick Throttle Magazine).
Virtually every motorcycle shop in our state carries a full line of the standard type D.O.T. helmets so you will not have any problems converting over. To quote an old Bob Dylan tune “The times they are a’ changing”
Mike Dalgaard
Publisher, Quick Throttle Northwest
