Motorcycle Helmet Laws Show Potential for Misuse 

Many freedom lovers and motorcycle enthusiasts alike harbor strong feelings regarding mandatory helmet laws. These laws exist in most states, including the State of Tennessee.　 However, although the restriction of freedoms or perceived government imposition may encompass the primary concerns that many such motorcyclists have, the actual danger which often goes undetected or unknown is that motorcycle helmet laws, like other seemingly "minor" traffic laws, are frequently devised or at a minimum misused to abridge even more important rights.

As a constitutional law and criminal attorney, Frank Lannom classifies these laws as "probable cause" laws. While the punishment and fines for the specific violations remain minor, police can use these seemingly insignificant laws to give them probable cause to justify illegal stops and searches of automobiles or motorcycles.  Regrettably, these vehicle stops and searches are often unfairly targeted at specific groups of people.　

While many people may quickly recognize the use of racial profiling as the basis for an illegal vehicular stop, the misuse of these laws goes far beyond race.  Now as prevalent as racially based stops are those which target specific groups of people such as bikers, young people, and repeatedly anyone who does not fit some preconceived notion of the "norm."　 One of the issues faced as criminal defense lawyers in Tennessee is how to stop the government from using these minor traffic laws including, but not nearly limited to, mandatory helmet laws or window tint restrictions, to attempt to justify otherwise illegal stops and searches of Americans.

Motorcycle riders as well as any advocates of individual rights and freedoms need to be aware that every time a law like the mandatory helmet law is passed in the State of Tennessee, it opens the door for the police to use their power to stop and abuse the freedom of all citizens.  These illegal stops many times turn into searches that undeniably invade our right to privacy, may result in drug and weapons charges, and infringe upon the greater constitutionally guaranteed rights of all Americans.  If you feel as though you have been a victim of one such targeted stop, it remains imperative that you retain a criminal defense lawyer well versed in defending your constitutional rights as soon as possible to guarantee that your rights are neither infringed upon nor trampled.

From the desk of Lane Cryar