A. Every person under the age of sixteen (16) years shall wear a protective helmet that meets the standards promulgated by the American National Standards Institute or the American Society For Testing And Materials or the Snell Memorial Foundation, Inc., whenever that person is upon a public highway, sidewalk, bicycle path or other public right of way within the corporate limits of the village and is riding or being carried on any bicycle or any carrier attached to or pulled by a bicycle.
B. Every person found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction of a violation of any provision of subsection A of this section shall be punished by a fine which shall not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) and/or by the imposition of a requirement that such person perform some reasonable community service work such as, but not limited to, the picking up of litter in public parks or along public highways or the maintenance of public facilities.
C. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, compliance with this section may be demonstrated by proof of possession of a helmet that meets the standards specified in subsection A of this section, and solely with respect to the first such violation, there shall be no fine if such compliance is so demonstrated.
D. A violation of this section shall not constitute negligence, contributory negligence, assumption of risk, be considered in mitigation of damages of whatever nature, be admissible in evidence, or be the subject of comment by counsel in any action for the recovery of damages arising out of the operation of any bicycle, nor shall anything in this section change any existing law, rule, or procedure pertaining to any civil action. (Ord. 00-679, 9-12-2000)