Can Texas police pull over a motorcyclist who isn't wearing a helmet and has no exemption sticker?

Plain-English summary

A state senator asked whether a peace officer could stop a motorcyclist who is plainly over 21, not wearing a helmet, and not displaying the sticker that Transportation Code section 661.003(d) provides, for the purpose of checking compliance with the law. The Attorney General concluded the officer could stop such a rider.

The helmet law makes it an offense to ride, or to carry a passenger, on a motorcycle without protective headgear. But a rider at least 21 years old is exempt if he or she has either completed an approved motorcycle safety course or carries a health insurance plan with at least $10,000 in medical benefits for motorcycle accident injuries. A rider who qualifies can get a Department of Public Safety sticker for the license plate or mounting bracket, and displaying it creates a presumption that the rider met one of those conditions. The practical point is that the sticker is how an officer can tell from the outside that a helmetless rider is within the exemption.

So when an officer sees a helmetless rider and no sticker, the rider appears to be violating the helmet law, a misdemeanor punishable by a $10 to $50 fine, and article 2.13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets an officer stop a person he perceives to be committing a misdemeanor. The opinion rejected a motorcyclists'-rights argument that, like a driver presumed to carry required auto insurance, a helmetless rider should be presumed compliant and left alone. The closer analogy, the opinion said, is a car without a valid inspection sticker: the inspection sticker and the helmet-exemption sticker serve the same function, signaling to police that the operator is acting within the law, and the absence of either reasonably suggests otherwise. In both cases it is reasonable for police to stop the vehicle to check compliance.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

The senator who asked (what the opinion held for her): The opinion answered the question directly: an officer may stop a helmetless motorcyclist who is not displaying the section 661.003(d) sticker, because the rider appears to be committing the helmet-law misdemeanor.

Peace officers (what the opinion held for them): At the time of this opinion, a helmetless rider without the visible exemption sticker gave an officer grounds to make a stop under article 2.13, since the rider appeared to be committing a misdemeanor.

Motorcyclists (what the opinion held for them): The opinion explained that a rider relying on the over-21 exemption could avoid such stops by displaying the DPS sticker, which signals compliance the way an inspection sticker does for a car.

Common questions

Can police stop a motorcyclist just for not wearing a helmet?
The opinion concluded yes when the rider does not display the DPS exemption sticker, because the rider then appears to be committing the helmet-law misdemeanor.

Doesn't the over-21 exemption protect the rider from being stopped?
Not by itself. The opinion explained the sticker is how an officer can see the exemption applies; without it, the officer cannot tell the rider is exempt.

Isn't this like assuming a driver has insurance?
The opinion said the better comparison is a missing vehicle inspection sticker. The absence of the required sticker reasonably suggests noncompliance and justifies a stop.

What is the penalty for the helmet violation?
The opinion noted the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $10 or more than $50.

Background and statutory framework

Transportation Code section 661.003(a) and (b) make it an offense to ride, or carry a passenger, on a motorcycle without protective headgear meeting DPS standards. Section 661.003(c) exempts a rider who is at least 21 and has either completed a motorcycle safety course or carries health insurance with at least $10,000 in motorcycle-accident medical benefits. Section 661.003(d) provides for a DPS sticker, and section 661.003(g) gives a rider displaying it a presumption of having met those conditions; section 661.003(h) sets the $10 to $50 fine. Because article 2.13(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure authorizes an officer to stop a person he perceives to be committing a misdemeanor, and the missing sticker makes a helmetless rider appear noncompliant, the opinion concluded a stop is proper, drawing an analogy to the inspection-sticker requirement in Transportation Code section 548.602.

Citations

Statutory provisions:

• Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 661.003(a), (b), (c), (d), (g), (h) (Vernon Supp. 2000)
• Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 548.602
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 2.13(a) (Vernon Supp. 2000)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0258
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2000/jc0258.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official scanned PDF. Minor character-level errors from the source OCR have been corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL - STATE OF TEXAS

JOHN CORNYN

July 18, 2000

The Honorable Florence Shapiro
Chair, Committee on State Affairs
Texas State Senate
P.O. Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711

Opinion No. JC-0258

Re: Authority of a peace officer to detain a motorcyclist riding without a helmet to determine whether the motorcyclist has liability insurance (RQ-0216-JC)

Dear Senator Shapiro:

You have asked this office whether a peace officer has "the authority to stop a motor cycle driver who is obviously over 21 years of age, not wearing a helmet, and not displaying a sticker as required by [section 661.003(d)] of the Transportation Code, for the sole purpose of determining whether they are in compliance with the law concerning carrying liability insurance?" Letter from Honorable Florence Shapiro, Chair, Committee on State Affairs, Texas State Senate, to Elizabeth Robinson, Chair, Opinion Committee, Office of the Attorney General (May 5, 2000) (on file with Opinion Committee). We conclude that a peace officer has the authority to stop a motorcyclist not wearing a helmet or a motorcyclist whose passenger is not wearing a helmet, as required by section 661.003(a) and (b), if the sticker issued pursuant to section 661.003(d) is not visible to the officer, because such a person appears to be committing a misdemeanor "punishable by a fine of not less than $10 or more than $50." TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 661.003(h) (Vernon Supp. 2000).

Section 661.003(a) of the Transportation Code makes it an offense to operate or ride as a passenger on a motorcycle on a public street or highway without protective headgear that meets safety standards adopted by the Texas Department of Public Safety. See id. § 661.003(a). Section 661.003(b) makes it an offense to carry a passenger not wearing such headgear on a motorcycle. However, a person required to wear such headgear is excepted from subsections (a) and (b) provided he or she is at least 21 years old, and has either successfully completed a motorcycle training and safety course or is covered by a health insurance plan providing for at least $10,000 of medical benefits for motorcycle accident-related injuries. See id. § 661.003(c). Evidence that one has fulfilled these conditions may be afforded by a sticker issued by the Department of Public Safety pursuant to section 661.003(d). "A person operating or riding as a passenger on a motorcycle that displays on the license plate of the motorcycle or the license plate mounting bracket a sticker issued by the department under Subsection (d) is presumed to have successfully completed the training and safety course described by Subsection (c) or to have the insurance coverage described by that subsection." Id. § 661.003(g).

As we understand your question, it is whether a peace officer may stop a motorcycle rider not wearing a helmet who fails to display the sticker in question, and thereupon to inquire as to whether the rider has the requisite insurance. We conclude that in such a case the officer is acting properly. In this circumstance, so far as the officer can tell the motorcyclist is violating the helmet law. The officer has the power, pursuant to article 2.13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to stop a motorcyclist he perceives to be committing a misdemeanor. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 2.13(a) (Vernon Supp. 2000).

A representative of the Texas Motorcycle Rights Association argues that motorcyclists' rights are violated when they are stopped in the situation you describe: "If we are driving our automobile, despite a law that requires that we have insurance to do so, we are assumed to be in compliance and not subject to stop. I[f] we are on our motorcycle aren't we accorded the same privilege of assumed compliance . . . ?" Letter from Sputnik, State Chairman, Texas Motorcycle Rights Association, to Elizabeth Robinson, Chair, Opinion Committee, Office of the Attorney General (Apr. 25, 2000) (on file with Opinion Committee). This argument is unavailing.

The situation which is most directly analogous to driving a motorcycle without a helmet and without the requisite sticker is driving an automobile without the valid inspection sticker required by section 548.602 of the Transportation Code. The operator of such a car may expect to be pulled over just as certainly as the helmetless motorcycle rider. The sticker mandated by the helmet law and the inspection sticker serve precisely the same function in these situations. They are meant to inform the police that the operators of these vehicles are acting within the law. The absence of either of these stickers, on the other hand, suggests that such is not the case. In either instance, then, it is reasonable for the police to stop the vehicle to insure compliance.

Accordingly, we conclude that a peace officer has the authority to stop a person operating a motorcycle without a helmet, or carrying a passenger without a helmet, if the motorcycle operator does not display on his license plate or license plate mounting bracket a sticker issued pursuant to section 661.003(d) of the Transportation Code.

SUMMARY

A peace officer has the authority to stop a person operating a motorcycle without a helmet, or carrying a passenger without a helmet, if the motorcycle operator does not display on his license plate or license plate mounting bracket a sticker issued pursuant to section 661.003(d) of the Transportation Code.

JOHN CORNYN
Attorney General of Texas

ANDY TAYLOR
First Assistant Attorney General

CLARK KENT ERVIN
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

ELIZABETH ROBINSON
Chair, Opinion Committee

James E. Tourtelott
Assistant Attorney General - Opinion Committee