Orange County Focus is dedicated on Monday to analysis of community news, a look atwhat’s ahead and the voices of local people. : IN PERSON : Lawyer-Biker Challenges Authorities on Helmet Law

Hurtling down a winding mountain road toward Lake Elsinore on a crisp Saturday morning, attorney L. Louis Raring can shed the tensions he collects all week at his Costa Mesa investment law offices.

The powerful roar of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, like a meditative hum, strips away thoughts of sour securities disputes, while the sudden dips in temperature and the heady thrill of acceleration make him feel free and unfettered.

“The rumble, the resonance, and you’re on the road by yourself--it’s an awesome feeling,” the 55-year-old attorney says. Then, wearily, he adds: “Until the red lights come on.”

The Mission Viejo resident says he has been stopped some two dozen times in three years by Southern California police officers who lecture or ticket him for wearing an improper motorcycle helmet--a violation of a law Raring says is worded vaguely and is often misunderstood or misused by law enforcement agencies.

Frustrated, the lawyer began fighting back in court in 1993. Two months ago, his pro bono crusade was validated by a federal injunction ordering the California Highway Patrol to change its policy regarding the small, turtle shell-shaped “beanie” helmets that Raring and many other bikers favor. The state’s largest law enforcement agency was told it was violating the constitutional rights of riders by citing them for helmets that, by the letter of the law, were perfectly legal.

The CHP has a different view of the court decision. A day after the injunction, CHP Commissioner Maury Hannigan said the ruling “does not significantly alter our present enforcement posture.” While Raring says the biker community has reported a huge drop in citations since the injunction, a CHP spokeswoman on Friday said that “to my knowledge, that’s simply not true.”

The most recent CHP records show that 13,226 citations were given statewide for improper headgear from the Jan. 1, 1992, effective date of the helmet law through the end of 1994.

The criteria for those citations is the crux of the dispute. The CHP had its officers make the call using guidelines about helmet shape and weight. Raring, on the other hand, argued that the law demands only that riders wear helmets they know have not been recalled and that bear a Department of Transportation sticker certifying safety.

Raring, a tall, athletic man with a deliberate manner, said holding the consumer responsible for anything beyond that is ludicrous.

“They don’t pull you over and look at your seat belt and say, ‘I don’t think that seat belt would pass the federal safety tests, therefore we’re going to arrest you, because we think the manufacturer improperly manufactured your seat belt,’ ” he said. “That’s what’s happening with motorcycle helmets.”

Many agencies, among them Long Beach and Carlsbad police, agreed without litigation to alter their policy. Others, especially the CHP, have been more recalcitrant. Sitting in his office last week, Raring sighed and shook his head, thinking back over his encounters with defiant officers, both in courtrooms and along freeway shoulders.

“We’ve had cases where, when we left the court, after the judge told the officer that there’s nothing wrong with this helmet, it’s not illegal, and the officer will walk up and tell my client, ‘Hey, if I see you with that helmet I’m going to cite you again.’ ”

Why do agencies continue to pull over bikers to write tickets that are unlikely to stand up in court? Raring, who began riding five years ago, flashed a sly solicitor’s smile.

“Motorcyclists, traditionally, have an image of freedom,” he said. “Police typically like to control people, and the motorcyclists are probably a group they can’t control very well. Maybe they’re trying to show their power, I don’t really know.”

The sparring has tainted the lifelong Southern Californian’s view of law enforcement. “When I was young and growing up I always felt safe when I saw a police officer. I don’t feel that way anymore because of the experiences I’ve run into. It shouldn’t be that way.”

*

For the record, Raring thinks helmets--especially larger ones--can dangerously restrict peripheral vision and hearing. He said he has also had near mishaps because of helmet wind drag jerking his head back.

He also discounts the findings of safety surveys, such as the UCLA study last year that attributed a 37.5% drop in motorcycle collision fatalities to the helmet law.

“I don’t believe a lot of it,” Raring said. “I think helmets are a death trap. . . . But that’s not our issue. The issue here is we have a law. And we have people trying to comply with the law the best they can, and they are still being abused by the system. It’s a constitutional rights issue.”

While a legal fund set up by the leather- and tattoo-loving “Easy Rider” magazine has been helping Raring’s court campaign, he bristles at being called a “biker attorney.” That description may look good in headlines, but it cheapens the civil rights issues at the heart of the matter.

“The most fundamental right you have is to be safe and not just have the police come up and arrest you when you’re doing nothing wrong,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you are.”