AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE USE OF SAFETY HELMETS FOR PERSONS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND UNDER WHILE OPERATING OR RIDING AS A PASSENGER ON BICYCLES, IN-LINE SKATES, SCOOTERS AND SKATEBOARDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 11B of chapter 85 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 31, the word "twelve" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 16.
SECTION 2. Said chapter 85 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 11B the following section:-
Section 11B 1/2. Any person 16 years of age or younger operating in line skates, a skate board, a scooter or other manually-propelled wheeled vehicle or riding as a passenger on any such manually-propelled vehicle on a public way, bicycle path or on any other public right-of-way shall wear a helmet. Such helmet shall fit the person's head and be secured by straps at all times while operating in line skates, scooters, skate board or other manually-propelled wheeled vehicle and shall meet the standards for helmets established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z 90.4) or subsequent standards or the Snell Memorial Foundation's 1984 standard for use in bicycling or subsequent standards. A violation of this section shall not be used as evidence of contributory negligence in a civil action.
A city or town shall not adopt any by-laws or ordinances to change the standards required by this section.
SECTION 3. Section 11D of said chapter 85, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
Every person engaged in the retail business of selling or renting bicycles, in line skates, scooters, skate boards or other manually-propelled wheeled vehicles shall display in an area conspicuous to customers of the business a sign containing the following statement: Massachusetts law requires that a bicycle helmet be worn by a person 16 years of age or under who is riding as an operator or passenger on a bicycle, in line skates, a scooter, or a skate board.