Dallas Bicycle Helmet Law

I’ve posted a found version of Dallas’ bicycle helmet law to my personal site. Find the original page here.

Considering the city of Dallas has stated that they will once again begin enforcing it’s silly/heavy-handed law I thought it was time to talk about what we as citizens can do to fight back.
So again, the stated city statute/law on helmets can be found here.

Pay special attention to Article II. Bicycle Helmets Section 9-10. Penalty. Where it is clearly stated that:
An offense under this article is punishable by a fine not to exceed:

(1) $10 for the first offense;
(2) $25 for the second offense; and
(3) $50 for the third and each subsequent offense. (Ord. 22764, eff. 9/1/96)

There is another section of the law which states (I’m paraphrasing) that for the first offense a defensible argument is to appear in court with a helmet. Which means that going to court and holding up your new helmet and saying “look I know better now” will result in a dismissal of your ticket. Specific wording of the law can be found here.

So, my thinking runs along these lines:
Know your rights, set a court date, defend your ticket.

By taking this course of action we can effectively spend-away the city’s resources devoted to enforcing this silly law. Make it too expensive and too much of a pain-in-the-ass for the city to continue with these strong-arm tactics.

For the record, I’m not against wearing a helmet on a bike. I am completely against being forced to do so in a state where motorcycle riders don’t have to wear helmets. This law is nothing more than a way for the city to profile and then “shake down” cyclists.

Tagged as: Bike, Dallas