Earplugs and earbuds illegal in some states

BCKRider said:

Came across some posts in another forum that suggest the above are illegal in Ohio, Alaska, and Maryland. Took the part especially about earplugs as nonsense. Then a later post had an URL you could click on revised laws in California, effective Jan. 1, 2016. (Sorry, couldn't figure a way to paste the long URL, but here is the pertinent paragraph

Earbuds or Headsets (SB 491, Transportation Committee): This law, among other things, makes it unlawful to wear a headset covering, earplugs in, or earphones covering, resting on, or inserted in, both ears, while operating a motor vehicle or a bicycle. This prohibition does not apply to persons operating authorized emergency vehicles, construction equipment and refuse or waste equipment while wearing a headset or safety earplugs.

That first sentence is pretty clear though badly written. Since I am pretty sure the majority of BMW riders at least violate that law every time they ride, just wonder if anyone has been fined when wearing either earplugs or earbuds when pulled over in California? If so, has anyone taken this to court? As another poster pointed out in that other MC forum, "so it is legal for a deaf person to ride a motorcycle or drive a car, but it is illegal for me to protect my hearing?"

Perhaps others would care to investigate whether other states have similar dumb laws and, if so, whether they are ever enforced. Since the California law has been in effect for over a year, there should be some feedback.

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rangerreece said:

Probably. Cynical, more likely; it’s my way of dealing with “da man”.

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AKsuited said:

The police in New York state can't seem to recognize obvious fake helmets (DOT approved helmets required) so how would they spot ear plugs or even care?

Harry

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discoboy said:

The truth is, Law Enforcement Officers in upstate New York have no intention of enforcing much of the horse**** that comes out of Albany. They know a DOT approved helmet from a brain bucket, but they choose to not see it.

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taran1900 said:

Don't tell anyone you are wearing them. Has worked for me for 38 years and roughly 750 thousand miles of riding

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ncpbmw1953 said:

There is just policing this as there aren't any police for the most part. California had much more traffic policing, which I favor if it's valid.

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36654 said:

Technology is the simple answer. Red light and speed cameras can easily resolve this problem. Otherwise, your paying a 70~90K per year patrol officer to issue tickets (perhaps dealing with an angry armed driver) which they may need to defend in traffic court at the cost of several hours of overtime pay.

IMHO, most people want safe streets. Placing a patrol officer at risk is stupid and very expensive way to do that.

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PGlaves said:

I was in favor of red light cameras until it was discovered and disclosed that the private companies installing and managing the systems for many cities were shortening the yellow light times to ensure more tickets and fines. Shortened yellow times below the engineering standards of course endangers the public but when chasing the dollars some people don't care. Once this chicanery was made evident I became an ardent opponent of red light cameras.

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BC1100S said:

We used to have speed enforcement cameras until one citizen went to court to argue that he had no opportunity to question a LEO in his own defence. The province was told they needed to have a LEO present in the operation of any speed camera. Ding! - that was the end of the speed cameras.

Red light cameras (which I support as "red light runners" are majorly responsible for intersection accidents) are installed and monitored by the provincial government. Yellow light times are set depending on the speed limit of the affected road. There is no third party, for-profit, entity involved.

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BC1100S said:

We used to have speed enforcement cameras until one citizen went to court to argue that he had no opportunity to question a LEO in his own defence. The province was told they needed to have a LEO present in the operation of any speed camera. Ding! - that was the end of the speed cameras.

Red light cameras (which I support as "red light runners" are majorly responsible for intersection accidents) are installed and monitored by the provincial government. Yellow light times are set depending on the speed limit of the affected road. There is no third party, for-profit, entity involved.

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