Motorcycle Helmet Law Violators to Get Ticket or Warning

Los Angeles County motorcyclists who defy the mandatory helmet law that takes effect at 12:01 a.m. New Year’s Day may be issued a ticket or get off with a warning--depending on what law enforcement agency gets to them first.

The California Highway Patrol said Monday that--despite earlier reports to the contrary--it will not observe a 90-day grace period that it routinely does with new traffic laws. Because of advance publicity about the law, the CHP will begin issuing citations at one minute after midnight.

But the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have said they will observe a grace period during which motorcyclists and passengers without helmets will get a warning. The Sheriff’s Department grace period will last 15 days; the LAPD’s will last 30 days.

The issue of when enforcement begins adds last-minute confusion to a law that has generated years of controversy.

Some motorcyclists interviewed Monday said they had heard reports for months that all law enforcement agencies would observe a grace period.

Keith Ball, editor of Easy Rider, a widely circulated magazine aimed at “lifestyle” motorcyclists least likely to wear helmets, said his magazine recently published an article quoting CHP officials saying there would be a grace period.

“I think it depends on who you talk to and the time of day,” said Ball, a longtime motorcycle rider who plans to begin wearing a helmet when the law goes into effect Wednesday.

For others, the question of a grace period is a moot one. Marty Ruthman, 33, owner of an auto repair shop in Sherman Oaks, said he never plans to wear a helmet and, if need be, will go to jail to fight the law.

“I don’t feel they have the right to tell me to wear a helmet,” said Ruthman.

He and several friends--all avid Harley Davidson riders--said they perceive the helmet law as an invasion of their constitutional freedoms. Some have signed petitions, asking Gov. Pete Wilson to repeal the law. Others plan to join a helmetless caravan of motorcyclists on New Year’s Day for the “Day of Defiance Ride” from Los Angeles to Sacramento.

Pete Kokiousis, 40, who owns six motorcycles and routinely wears a helmet, said the law “is another form of Big Brother looking over your shoulder.” But he urges all motorcyclist to wear helmets, saying they protect riders from head injuries.

Beginning New Year’s Day, if they do choose to violate the law, motorcyclists will be fined $100 for the first offense $200 for the second and $250 for the third. If a motorcyclist is repeatedly fined, a patrol officer can forbid the driver to leave on the motorcycle until the rider obtains a helmet.

The citations will not, however, count as points that lead to suspension of a motorist’s drivers license, said Officer Al Michel, a spokesman for the CHP’s Los Angeles County headquarters in Glendale.

Michel said that the CHP has said all along that there would be no grace period. The law has generated widespread media attention and that a grace period is unwarranted, he said.

Law enforcement agencies typically observe a 30- or 90-day grace period to allow for public education on a new law. Michel acknowledged that there may be some some confusion among motorcyclists who expect a grace period for the helmet law.

Ball said he will wear a helmet but continue to complain about it.

“Most guys are just going to wear them, but that doesn’t mean they are going to give up fighting the law,” he said.

Times staff writer Leslie Berger Contributed to this story.