Bicycle Accident

Bikes and scooters share Central Avenue, Canyon Crest Drive, and nearby streets with turning cars and driveway cuts. Vehicle Code section 21212, as amended effective January 1, 2026, requires a person under 18 to wear a properly fitted and fastened ASTM or CPSC helmet on a bicycle, a scooter, a skateboard, or skates. The section includes a first-charge dismissal path, a fine of not more than $25, and a 120-day helmet-and-course provision. It is written for a person under 18, not as a general adult helmet mandate.

A helmet question for a young rider can matter in a later civil case, but it does not, on its own, close the claim and it does not stop section 335.1. If the person who was hurt is a minor, section 352 can pause some clocks, except that it does not pause a public-entity claim required under the Government Claims Act.

The longer walkthrough lives in the pedestrian and bicycle guide. Get the crash report, keep the bike or scooter and any helmet with the file, and confirm the courthouse for the county where the wreck occurred.