Can you bypass SC helmet law for Fall Bike Rally? Depends on what you’re riding
This year’s Fall Myrtle Beach Bike Rally is on the way, taking place from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5.
The rally brings thousands of people to the Myrtle Beach area each year.
Bikers riding in from near and far may have preferences when it comes to wearing a helmet, but in South Carolina, the choice is up to the law.
Whether or not bikers have to wear a helmet primarily has to do with age. However, certain kinds of vehicles present exceptions to that rule, and riders planning to cross the nearby North Carolina border will have to adhere to another law entirely.
In South Carolina, all motorcycle riders under 21 years of age are required to wear a DOT-certified helmet. These helmets have a hard outer shell, protective, impact-absorbing inner lining and certification sticker. Eye protection like windscreens or face shields are also required.
This law also applies to any vehicle classified as a trike.
However, Slingshots, which are three-wheeled, open-air vehicles made by Polaris, are not classified as motorcycles under state law, and riders under 21 are not required to wear helmets when riding one, according to attorney Chad Fuller of Fuller Law for Riders in Columbia.
Fully enclosed, three-wheeled vehicles are another exception to the age rule, and do not require riders to wear helmets. Fuller explained that there is some room for clarity when it comes to this rule, and argues that sidecars may qualify as fully enclosed vehicles not requiring helmets – but he still has his kids wear helmets when they ride in one.
For a time after a new ordinance was passed in Myrtle Beach in 2008, all motorcycle riders were required to wear helmets while riding within city limits. However, this ordinance was ruled unconstitutional by the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2010 – a cause Fuller worked on.
Fuller said that although the Myrtle Beach ordinance was overturned, it had a lasting impact on the Myrtle Beach Bike Rally, causing many of its events to migrate south, toward Murrells Inlet.
Fuller received a ticket himself under the more stringent law, and said he keeps it framed in his office as a memento.
Crossing into North Carolina
Many of the thousands of bikers that come to Myrtle Beach for the Fall Bike Rally may pass through North Carolina at some point on their visit. When riders approach the nearby state border, they should keep in mind North Carolina’s different helmet law, advised Lee “Spider” Webb, chairperson of the Myrtle Beach Bike Rally Promotions Committee.
“If you’re planning on riding up to Wilmington or up to the Harley dealership in Shallotte, you better have a helmet on board and put it on when you cross the state line,” said Webb.
North Carolina’s helmet law does not have the same exceptions as South Carolina’s. Anyone riding a motorcycle in North Carolina must wear a helmet, regardless of their age.
Slingshots are classified as autocycles, not motorcycles in North Carolina, and do not fall under this law, and helmets are not required.
