Delaware Code
Subchapter XII. Operation of Bicycles and Other Human-Powered Vehicles; Operation of Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Devices
§ 4198K. Helmet requirements.

(a) A person under 18 years of age shall not operate or ride as a passenger upon any bicycle unless that person is wearing an approved, properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet. This requirement shall apply to a person who rides upon a bicycle while in a restraining seat which is attached to the bicycle or in a trailer towed by the bicycle. For purposes of this section, an “approved helmet” means a bicycle helmet which conforms to the following standards:

(1) A bicycle helmet that was manufactured prior to March 11, 1999, shall meet or exceed the minimum bicycle helmet safety standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), or the Snell Memorial Foundation;
(2) A bicycle helmet that was manufactured on or after March 11, 1999, shall meet or exceed the minimum bicycle helmet safety standards set by the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
(b) Any parent or guardian who fails to cause the parent's or guardian's child to wear a bicycle helmet, as provided herein, shall be fined for the first offense $25, and for each subsequent offense, $50.
(c) The Court may dismiss all charges pursuant to this section upon presentation of evidence that a violator hereof has purchased or obtained a bicycle helmet which meets or exceeds the standards set forth herein subsequent to the violation.
(d) The requirements of this section shall apply at all times while a bicycle is being operated on any property open to the public or used by the public for pedestrian and vehicular purposes.
(e) Failure to wear a bicycle helmet as herein described shall not be considered evidence of either comparative or contributory negligence in any civil suit arising out of any accident in which a person under 18 years of age is injured, nor shall failure to wear a bicycle helmet be admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil action.
(f) It is an affirmative defense to a violation of the helmet requirements of this section that the violator is a member of a recognized church or religious denomination and whose religious convictions, in accordance with the tenets and practices of the violator's church or religious denomination, are against the wearing of a helmet.

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