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As Don Blancet, Executive Director of ABATE of California, observed in a press release disseminated by the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, he expects that the Quigley v. California Highway Patrol case will pound the final nail in the coffin of the California helmet law.
The constitutional defect in the California helmet law, and that which the NTSB has recommended to all states, is that these laws require motorcyclists to wear helmets compliant with the federal motorcycle helmet performance standard,MVSS 218. The defect is that neither the bikers nor the law enforcement officers could possibly have any clue what FMVSS 218 requires.
Section 218 states nothing about what a helmet should look like or what it should be made of. It merely describes some laboratory procedures and some arbitrary impact criteria. And to determine whether a particular helmet complies with FMVSS 218 requires the essential laboratory equipment and appropriately trained engineers to operate it; and in the process of testing the helmet you also destroy it.
The constitutional defect is the law’s “vagueness” and the legal challenge derives from the due process clause of the United States Constitution. As explained by the United States Supreme Court:
“It is a basic principle of due process that an enactment is void for vagueness if its prohibitions are not clearly defined. Vague laws offend several important values. First, because we assume that man is free to steer between lawful and unlawful conduct, we insist that laws give the person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited, so that he may act accordingly. Vague laws may trap the innocent by not providing fair warning. Second, if arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement is to be prevented, laws must provide explicit standards for those who apply them. A vague law impermissibly delegates basic policy matters to policemen, judges, and juries forresolution on an ad hoc and subjective basis with the attendant dangers of arbitrary and discriminatory application.” Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108 (1971). Read more as California lawyers discuss the Constitutional attack on the California helmet law
The road to demonstrate that the California helmet law is unconstitutional has been a tortuous one, beginning with a challenge that the law was unconstitutional as written. In Buhl v. Hannigan, the California Court of Appeals agreed that it was “absurd” to posit that the ordinary biker or law enforcement officer could examine a helmet’s fabrication and apply FMVSS 218 to determine if it complied with the California helmet law. The Buhl case was followed by Bianco v. CHP wherein the California Court of Appeals held that if a helmet ears a “DOT” label it creates a presumption that the helmet complies with FMVSS 218, and that the presumption can be rebutted only if (1) the helmet was recalled by the manufacturer or determined by NHTSA to be noncompliant with FMVSS 218, AND (2) the biker as “actual knowledge” of a recall or determination of noncompliance.
At this point California law enforcement should have recognized that the constitutional restraints on application of the law had rendered it unenforceable. The California Highway Patrol’s response to the Court of Appeals decisions, however, was to ignore them.
Richard Quigley and Steve Bianco then initiated litigation which would later be funded by Easyriders magazine. The federal district court issued a scathing opinion condemning the CHP for its illegal helmet law enforcement polices and the United States Court of Appeals affirmed an injunction ordering the CHP to cease issuing helmet tickets unless the officer has “probable cause” to believe that the rider has “actual knowledge” that his headgear has been recalled or determined by NHTSA to be noncompliant with FMVSS 218.
Again, the CHP should have just laid down their ticket books, but again, the CHP determined to continue on with its illegal enforcement policy. Riders with Bikers of Lesser Tolerance in California tested the resolve of the CHP, accumulating hundreds of helmet tickets, some for wearing the B.O.L.T. “Ill Eagle” baseball cap helmet, with the Chinese manufacturer’s “DOT” label embroidered on the back, others wore sunglasses with DOT labels, or itsy bitsy teenie weenie helmets, and many manufactured their own smaller-than-watermelon-sized hard-shell helmets appending their own DOT labels.
Suffering from terminal lymphoma, Quigley challenged his last dozen helmet tickets, and ten years to the day after the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had upheld the injunction against the CHP’s illegal helmet law enforcement policies, the Santa Cruz Superior Court found that the CHP had engaged in a pattern and practice of illegal helmet law enforcement, now not only in violation of the California Court of Appeals decision in Bianco, but also in violation of the Easyriders federal court injunction. The Court issued a highly reasoned constitutional opinion holding that the California helmet law was unconstitutionally vague as applied.
As the transcripts reflect, the Court’s purpose in setting forth its reasoning was to permit the case to be taken up to the Court of Appeals. However, the California AG, less concerned with upholding the United States Constitution than with preserving the ability of the CHP to continue to enforce the helmet law illegally, declined to appeal the case.
The instant litigation was initiated by Quigley as an injunction/declaratory relief case to assure that the record will reach the Court of Appeals.. Win or lose in the trial court, we will have the opportunity to present our constitutional arguments to the California Court of Appeals where we hope to create the case law that will both put an end to the California helmet law and provide the template and precedent for other freedom fighters to use to overturn helmet laws throughout the country.
Ray Henke is a California motorcycle accident lawyer, former Governor of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association and LATLA’s nominee for the “Trial Lawyer of the Year” Award. Mr. Henke served as legal consultant to Richard Quigley. He is a made member of B.O.L.T., and currently, B.O.L.T. of California, legal advisor. He also co-moderates Bruce Ray’s Biker Forum.

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The State of Florida has excellent Florida personal injury lawyers who specialize in all types of accidents, including motorcycle crashes. A Florida motorcycle accident lawyer you can by all the legal steps that must follow you, regardless of who is to blame Guide. A Florida motorcycle accident lawyer should understand unique requirements associated with operating a motorcycle on Florida roads. You will be presented with all your legal options, and a Florida motorcycle accident lawyer can advise you properly. The initial consultation is usually free, and you and your lawyer will decide in which direction they go with your case, what compensation to pay whether or going to court.

A person is not so safe on a motorcycle when he is in a car in a motorcycle accident in Florida. Lawyer understanding of the unique facts of the motorcycle crashes are necessary when dealing with a motorcycle case. Statistics show that in 2003 alone, almost 6,000 were injured and over 300 have been killed on highways in a Florida motorcycle accident. Lawyer skills and experience needed to advise you on injuries suffered motorcycle crashes. These injuries can also brain injuries, head injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations, fractures, wrongful death and other catastrophic injuries. Lack of transparency on the part of the car, van or truck driver is the cause of most motorcycle accidents, but unfortunately often lead sheer lack of respect and attention to Florida motorcyclists this tragic crash.

If you have a motorcycle accident in Florida, you should first consult a doctor immediately. Next, you should contact an experienced attorney in Florida motorcycle accident takes place after the accident, if your condition allows you to do that. Even though most injuries are visible, many are not immediately obvious. The police should immediately be notified. You should try every bit of relevant information possible from the other driver in the accident, such as license number, insurance details, to get involved and so on. After the police arrived at the accident scene, you should provide all the details so that they can file a police report.

Your Florida motorcycle accident lawyer will correctly assess all the facts relating to your accident to ensure that you get the maximum amount of compensation. An experienced Florida motorcycle accident lawyer is to collect all the evidence to support your claim for a physical or mental injuries, loss of wages, loss of earning capacity, loss of zest for life, past and future medical expenses and all other elements of damages under Florida law.

If someone has been killed in a motorcycle accident, should his or her relatives to seek legal assistance immediately so that evidence will not be lost or destroyed. In the case of wrongful death of a motorcycle or any other cause, it is the relatives or “survivors” of the deceased, the immediate need to take legal action in Florida. Wrongful death lawyer experts will be maintained immediately on behalf of the “survivors” in order to investigate the causes of the tragic event.

“Survivors” are the spouse and minor children of a deceased adult. A Florida lawyer will see death, that a personal representative is appointed for the property to bring claims and to ensure that the interests of each “Survivor” are protected in the context of a Florida death. Lawyer compassion and communication is important, because the pain is suffering a client.

The mourning for the passing of a loved one is caused overwhelming. A Florida death attorney can help you get through this difficult time and ensure that you and your family are fully compensated for their tragic loss.

As soon as the lawyer takes your case, your Florida death lawyer will take the necessary means to protect your family interests, including the recruitment of experienced experts and researchers who employ use the latest technology.

At trial, a Florida death-qualified lawyer will communicate to the jury of the devastating financial and emotional impact that the loss caused to your family. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a motorcycle accident, contact a motorcycle accident in Florida and wrongful death attorney as soon as possible to the rights of you and your family.

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