Establishes provisions relating to child safety on motorcycles and motortricycles
HB 3085 revises Missouri law governing motorcycles and motortricycles, with a focus on child passengers and helmet use. The bill repeals and reenacts section 302.020 and adds a new section 302.023, titled “Calvin’s Law,” to create specific safety rules for riders under age 10. It generally requires children under 10 to ride only when the motorcycle or motortricycle has a proper passenger seat and the child can place both feet on the passenger foot pegs, unless a licensed physician certifies a medical exemption. It also requires child passengers under 10 to wear protective headgear meeting state standards.
The bill also updates existing licensing and helmet provisions. It keeps the requirement that riders have the proper motorcycle or motortricycle endorsement or instruction permit, and it continues the helmet requirement for riders and passengers under 26, as well as for older permit holders. HB 3085 sets penalties for violations, including infractions and fines, and in some cases misdemeanor or felony treatment for repeated unlicensed operation offenses. It also allows law enforcement to stop, inspect, or detain a person solely to check compliance with the child passenger provisions, and it bars local governments from imposing their own helmet requirements. The new provisions are delayed until January 1, 2027.
The bill’s impact on state law is to create a new statewide child-safety standard for motorcycle and motortricycle passengers while preserving and clarifying existing licensing and helmet rules. It would affect motorcycle operators, child passengers, parents or guardians, and law enforcement, and it would preempt local helmet ordinances by reserving that authority to the state. It also changes the enforcement framework by establishing specific fines and allowing direct compliance checks for the child passenger section.
There is limited recorded discussion or voting history available for HB 3085, so the overall sentiment cannot be measured from committee debate. Based on the bill’s caption and structure, the measure appears to be framed as a child safety proposal rather than a broad regulatory change. The absence of recorded votes or transcripts suggests the bill was still in the early committee stage when the available record ended.
The main point of potential contention is the enforcement authority and age-based restrictions. Supporters would likely view the bill as a targeted child-protection measure, while critics could object to allowing stops or inspections solely to verify compliance and to the state-level mandate on helmet and passenger-seat requirements. Another possible issue is the delayed effective date, which may reflect the need for public education or implementation planning before the new rules take effect.
HB 3085 would repeal and replace section 302.020, RSMo, and add new section 302.023 to establish statewide rules for motorcycle and motortricycle operation involving child passengers. It would require proper seating and foot-peg placement for passengers under 10, mandate protective headgear for those children, preserve existing motorcycle endorsement and helmet rules, preempt local helmet ordinances, and create specific penalties and enforcement authority. The bill would take effect January 1, 2027.
No committee transcripts or votes are available, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to summarize. The bill’s caption and provisions suggest a generally pro-safety, child-protection orientation, but the record does not show formal support or opposition. Any controversy would likely center on enforcement powers and the scope of state regulation rather than the underlying safety goal.
The most notable contention points are likely the bill’s enforcement provisions and its age-based restrictions on motorcycle passengers. The bill allows a person to be stopped, inspected, or detained solely to determine compliance with the child passenger section, which could raise civil liberties or profiling concerns. It also imposes a statewide rule on helmet use and passenger seating, which may draw objections from those who prefer local control or less regulation of motorcycle use. Supporters, by contrast, would likely emphasize child safety and uniform statewide standards.