(1) A person shall not operate a motorcycle or moped on any highway in this state unless such person is:

(a) Wearing a protective helmet of the type and design manufactured for use by operators of such vehicles and unless such helmet is secured properly on the user's head with a chin strap while the vehicle is in motion. All such protective helmets shall be designed to reduce injuries to the user resulting from head impacts and shall be designed to protect the user by remaining on the user's head, deflecting blows, resisting penetration, and spreading the force of impact. Each such helmet shall consist of lining, padding, and chin strap and shall meet or exceed the standards established in the United States Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218, 49 C.F.R. 571.218, for motorcycle helmets; or

(ii)(A) Has a Nebraska Class M license and received such Class M license prior to May 1, 2024, and has completed the Motorcycle Safety Foundation three-hour Basic eCourse and submitted proof of such completion to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Proof of such completion shall be in a manner approved by the department;

(B) Has a Nebraska Class M license and received such Class M license on or after May 1, 2024, and has completed the basic motorcycle safety course as provided in the Motorcycle Safety Education Act and submitted proof of such completion to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Proof of such completion shall be in a manner approved by the department; or

(2) A person shall not be a passenger on a motorcycle or moped on any highway in this state unless:

(a) Such person is wearing a protective helmet described in subdivision (1)(a) of this section; or

(ii) The person operating the motorcycle or moped is a person described in subdivision (1)(b) of this section.

(3) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall modify the existing system of the department by January 1, 2024, to allow the date of completion of such course to be recorded on the person's record provided for in section 60-483.

(4) A person shall not operate a motorcycle or moped on any highway in this state unless such person employs one of the following forms of eye protection: (a) Glasses that cover the orbital region of the person's face, (b) a protective face shield attached to a protective helmet, (c) goggles, or (d) a windshield on the motorcycle or moped that protects the operator's and passenger's horizontal line of vision in all operating positions.

Source:Laws 1988, LB 428, § 2; R.S.1943, (1988), § 39-6,211; Laws 1993, LB 370, § 375; Laws 2018, LB909, § 105; Laws 2023, LB138, § 46; Laws 2024, LB1004, § 1.
Effective Date: April 3, 2024

Annotations

The list required by section 39-6,212 (transferred to section 60-6,280) acts as a limiting construction of this section by enumerating some of those helmets which meet the criteria of this section; when taken together, the helmet law and list are not vague. Claims that this section violates constitutional rights to due process and equal protection are without merit, since the helmet law implicates neither a fundamental right nor a suspect classification and is rationally related to a legitimate legislative aim. Although the State may promulgate and enforce motorcycle helmet standards only if the state standards are identical to those promulgated by the federal Department of Transportation, the helmet law is constitutional, since the visor requirement is properly severable from the remainder of this section. Robotham v. State, 241 Neb. 379, 488 N.W.2d 533 (1992).