(a)        No person shall operate a motorcycle or moped upon a highway or public vehicular area:

(1)        When the number of persons upon or within such motorcycle or moped, including the operator, shall exceed the number of persons which it was designed to carry.

(2)        Unless the operator and all passengers thereon wear on their heads, with a retention strap properly secured, safety helmets of a type that complies with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218. This subdivision shall not apply to an operator of, or any passengers within, an autocycle that has completely enclosed seating or is equipped with a roll bar or roll cage.

(b)        Violation of any provision of this section shall not be considered negligence per se or contributory negligence per se in any civil action.

(c)        Any person convicted of violating this section shall have committed an infraction and shall pay a penalty of twenty-five dollars and fifty cents ($25.50) plus the following court costs:

(1)        The General Court of Justice fee provided for in G.S. 7a-304(a)(4).

(2)        The fee provided for in G.S. 7a-304(a)(2a).

(3)        One dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) to be remitted to the county wherein the infraction was issued, except in those cases in which the infraction was issued by a law enforcement officer employed by a municipality, the fee shall be paid to the municipality employing the officer.

(4)        One dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) for the supplemental pension benefits of sheriffs to be remitted to the Department of Justice and administered under the provisions of Article 12H of Chapter 143 of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

Conviction of an infraction under this section has no other consequence.

(d)       No drivers license points or insurance surcharge shall be assessed on account of violation of this section. ?(1973, c. 1330, s. 6; 1989, c. 711, s. 1; 2007-360, s. 7; 2009-451, s. 15.20(k); 2015-163, s. 11; 2016-90, s. 12.5(b); 2019-227, s. 6(a); 2022-6, s. 8.3(b).)