Washington helmet law

Wow! That one needs to be printed out with the official letterhead and the responders name. I would love a copy.

That is new to me! Everything I've heard secondhand has indicated WSP would require a helmet while local county and city jurisdictions do not. I've been wearing mine on the Interstate as I don't want to find out the hard way. I did interact with Battle Ground city police when I was rear-ended. They asked me if I was required to wear a helmet (I was on a state highway and was wearing mine) and when I turned the question back on them they said they could care less!

Washington is kind of funny. If you have an antique bike you only need leather headgear. But don't try to wear a beanie. They'll write you up in a heartbeat

the problem as I see it is enforcement. Here in California there is a section in the motorcycle helmet law that exempts "fully enclosed" three wheeled motorcycles. What is considered "fully enclosed" seems to be left to the judges discretion. I have a friend who has a custom made roof on his slingshot who recently received a ticked for not having a helmet. He had to go to court twice, once to enter a not guilty plea and then he had to return at a later date with the officer for the judge to hear the case - in the end the judge agreed with my friend that he didnt need a helmet and the charges were dropped. I have heard of other people with roofs being told that the sling even with the roof is still not "fully enclosed"

My friend was happy and says he will continue to not wear a helmet. but where I have a problem is that he was not given anything in writing that he can carry to keep him from getting tickets in the future and even though he technically won the case he still lost in that he had to deal with the lost income and expenses associated with going to court

his risk of getting a ticket is exactly the same as it was before the case and police seem totally unaware of the "fully enclosed" exemption or what constitutes being "fully enclosed"

Anyway to me it is easier to throw on my 1/2 helmet than it is to fight tickets

So I guess what I am trying to say is that to me being able to win in court is not enough to out weigh the pain of getting a ticket - so if the law is not clear where you are and there is a good chance the cop will give you a ticket I say wear the helmet even if you know the cop is wrong -- JMO

Quote from adventure4me

I think I will still wear on I 5 and 405. Seems to be so much road debris.

I agree, on the freeway I feel much more comfortable in a full helmet - over the years in cars I have been hit on several occasions by things in the road being kicked up by other vehicles including a lug nut that left a huge dent in the driver side A pillar of the car I was driving. I much prefer my 1/2 helmet 99% of the time, but when there is a chance of being hit in the face by a lug nut the full helmet wins.