Answer: A good list of state and city laws on bicycle helmets is at the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. This link is available from its main page. The institute explains, "There is no federal law in the U.S. requiring helmets. States and localities began adopting laws in 1987, but there is no formal central registry for them."
How do I find that?At the Yahoo directory, a search for "bicycle helmet" (with the quotes, to indicate a phrase), or for "bicycle and safety" (with no quotes, to indicate a search command, will lead to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, which prominently displays a list of mandatory helmet laws and related links.
Comment: Note that search lingo on Yahoo, the directory, is just as important as on search engines. The most powerful is to put phrases in quotes. But be willing to tinker: If "bicycle helmet" doesn't get what you want, try "bicycle helmets."
How do I know this is right? You don't. You will note that the date at the bottom of the page is quite current. But best to check it out before publishing. (Notice how the usual rules are not suspended on the Web.) As the institute warns, "Here are the ones we are aware of as of this date. The States are probably all included, but some localities could be missing. ... This is a difficult page to keep current!" (Funny how that admission enhances credibility.)
How do I attribute this? On deadline, you could attribute this information to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institue, an advocacy program of the Washington (D.C.) Area Bicyclist Association. (That nugget is at the very bottom of the home page.) With time, and daylight hours, you could check with your state or city.
Go on to Question 4
A primer on Web searching is available at https://powerreporting.com/altavista.html.
You can reach Bill Dedman by e-mail at Bill@PowerReporting.com.
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