bikelaw

Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws in Arizona

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The state of Arizona has no mandatory helmet use law for bicyclists; there are a few municipalities that have their own rules.
Specifically,  I believe this is a correct list at  bhsi.org, current as of mid-2011 (and I see nothing in the pipeline):


 Municipality applies only to Year Enacted
Flagstaff Under 18 2010
Pima County Under 18 1995
Sierra Vista Under 18 1995
Tucson Under 18 1993
Yuma Under 18 1997

Noteworthy: as I scan the whole list of all states, I don’t see any state that mandates adult helmet use, only various ages of minors.

Motorized Bicycles

The city of Tucson (and possibly Pima county?) has helmet rules applying to motorized bicycles requiring helmet use; but if i recall correctly they completely

Although as of this writing (Nov 2016) this proposal hasn’t been adopted, the City of Tempe has floated rules which would make riders below 18 years to wear a helmet when operating various forms of motorized bicycles; and operators must be at least 16 years old.

In case you were wondering, Motorcyclists…

According to iihs.org there is a state law for under-18 year-old motorcyclists — including “motor driven cycles” (< 5hp). The statute is 28-964; and a quick read says that “motor driver cycles” do not include either mopeds or “motorized bicycles” but I’m not really sure. Here is some material from www.usff.com/hldl/hlstatutes/arizonahl.html (I removed the link, if you want to visit the site, copy and paste it… as of Feb 28, 2013 this link is listed as “may harm your compter” by google), and anti-motorcycle mandatory helmet law site.

3 thoughts on “Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws in Arizona”

  1. I was told by American Bike Shop owner that helmets would be required for bicycles effective 1 Oct 2012.
    I cannot find anything to support that; is there further information?
    We are in Maricopa County, Goodyear.
    Thanks!

    I can tell you, that there is no (new or old) STATE law that would require that. I don’t know about Goodyear for certain… I did a quick google and I don’t see anything; if you find out otherwise please let me know. p.s. I do recommend wearing a helmet while bicycling!

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