Anonymous
today me and my friend pulled over by a cop because we weren't wearing our bike helmets, and he gave us both citations. he said that we would get a letter in the mail from the court telling us what we would do, and for us to show the ticket to our parents. what happens? what is the penalty? what is the court going to make me do?
Answer
To answer your question:
Youth Bicycle Helmets: Minors
California Vehicle Code 21212. (a) A person under 18 years of age shall not operate a bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, or a skateboard, nor shall they wear in-line or roller skates, nor ride upon a bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, or a skateboard as a passenger, upon a street, bikeway, as defined in Section 890.4 of the Streets and Highways Code, or any other public bicycle path or trail unless that person is wearing a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet that meets the standards of either the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), or standards subsequently established by those entities. This requirement also applies to a person who rides upon a bicycle while in a restraining seat that is attached to the bicycle or in a trailer towed by the bicycle.
(b) Any helmet sold or offered for sale for use by operators and passengers of bicycles, nonmotorized scooters, skateboards, or in-line or roller skates shall be conspicuously labeled in accordance with the standard described in subdivision (a) which shall constitute the manufacturer's certification that the helmet conforms to the applicable safety standards.
(c) No person shall sell, or offer for sale, for use by an operator or passenger of a bicycle, nonmotorized scooter, skateboard, or in-line or roller skates any safety helmet which is not of a type meeting requirements established by this section.
(d) Any charge under this subdivision shall be dismissed when the person charged alleges in court, under oath, that the charge against the person is the first charge against that person under this subdivision, unless it is otherwise established in court that the charge is not the first charge against the person.
(e) Except as provided in subdivision (d), a violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars ($25).
The parent or legal guardian having control or custody of an unemancipated minor whose conduct violates this section shall be jointly and severally liable with the minor for the amount of the fine imposed pursuant to this subdivision.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 1463 of the Penal Code or any other provision of law, the fines collected for a violation of this section shall be allocated as follows:
(1) Seventy-two and one-half percent of the amount collected shall be deposited in a special account of the county health department, to be used for bicycle, nonmotorized scooter, skateboard, and in-line and roller skate safety education and for assisting low-income families in obtaining approved bicycle helmets for children under the age of 18 years, either on a loan or purchase basis. The county may contract for the implementation of this program, which, to the extent practicable, shall be operated in conjunction with the child passenger restraint program pursuant to Section 27360.
(2) Two and one-half percent of the amount collected shall be deposited in the county treasury to be used by the county to administer the program described in paragraph (1).
(3) If the violation occurred within a city, 25 percent of the amount collected shall be transferred to and deposited in the treasury of that city. If the violation occurred in an unincorporated area, this 25 percent shall be deposited and used pursuant to paragraph (1).
Added Ch. 1000, Stats. 1993. Effective January 1, 1994.
Amended Sec. 6, Ch. 674, Stats. 1996. Effective January 1, 1997.
Amended Sec. 1, Ch. 475, Stats. 2002. Effective January 1, 2003.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21212.htm
some further info...for future reference:
Bicycle deaths by helmet use, 1994-2005
No helmet Helmet Total*
Year Num % Num % Num
1994 776 97 19 2 796
1995 783 95 34 4 828
1996 731 96 27 4 761
1997 785 97 23 3 811
1998 741 98 16 2 757
1999 698 93 42 6 750
2000 622 90 50 7 689
2001 616 84 60 8 729
2002 589 89 54 8 663
2003 527 85 57 9 619
2004 602 83 87 12 722
2005 673 86 76 10 782
1. Bicycle helmets can reduce the chance of serious head injury by __________%. ?
zezo _
Answer
That's a seriously loaded question, and the answer depends on who you ask. Depending on who you ask, you'll get answers from 0% to 88% or so.
The problem is that bicycle helmets protect against minor things -- somebody throwing a beer can at you, slipping and falling, stuff like that. And they only help if the helmet actually hits something -- which is a relatively small percentage of accidents. And they make your head somewhat larger, which actually increases the chance of your head hitting something.
And of course if a car hits you at 60 mph, it doesn't matter how much your helmet helps -- you're still probably dead.
There have been many studies done on helmet effectiveness, and they tend to have an agenda behind them -- they either want to show that helmets are effective (usually to support a proposed requirement for wearing one) or that they're ineffective (usually to oppose a proposed requirement for wearing one.) And depending on how the study is done, you can find data that supports either point of view -- but usually the agenda of the study dictates how the study is done, and the other side of the coin is generally not discussed (or if it is, it's discussed only enough to dismiss it.)
In general, I'd say the `helmets aren't effective' studies are done with more scientific and statistic `rigor' than the `helmets are effective' ones, but in both cases the initial agenda colors the entire study.
All that said, I usually wear a helmet. But I also oppose any attempts at helmet laws, and I'm quite aware that *I* am generally the one responsible for keeping me safe -- not my helmet or gloves or anything else. It might help in a minor accident, but in a serious one, I'm likely to be seriously hurt, helmet or not.
Whenever anybody tells you about the effectiveness of bicycle helmets, consider their biases. I'm somewhat biased towards them not being terribly effective, but I'll acknowledge that voluntary helmet use probably helps more than it hurts in an accident.
But even with my bias, I've tried to be somewhat fair to both sides here. The wikipedia page below gives a relatively good breakdown of both sides. Also make sure you read the 1019.html link -- it explains why `a helmet saved my life!' anecdotes aren't as accurate as one might think.
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