Ferro v. Lewis

• Decision Date: 01 September 1997
• Docket Number: No. 79,79
• Parties: Anne S. FERRO v. William Michael LEWIS. ,
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 593

348 Md. 593

705 A.2d 311

Anne S. FERRO v. William Michael LEWIS.

No. 79, Sept. Term, 1997.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Feb. 10, 1998.

Steven M. Sullivan, Asst. Atty. Gen., J. Joseph Curran, Atty. Gen., Leight D. Collins and Mark H. Bowen, Asst. Attys. Gen., for Appellant

Terrence M. Nolan, Glen Burnie, Bruce C. Bereano, Annapolis, for Appellee.

Argued before BELL, C.J., ELDRIDGE, RODOWSKY, CHASANOW, RAKER and WILNER, JJ., and ROBERT L. KARWACKI, Judge (retired), Specially Assigned.

WILNER, Judge.

Maryland Code (1992 Repl.Vol.), § 21-1306(b) of the Transportation Article, prohibits a person from operating or riding on a motorcycle "unless the individual is wearing protective headgear that meets the standards established by the Administrator [of the Motor Vehicle Administration]." Section 21-1306(d) provides that the Administrator:

"(1) May approve or disapprove protective headgear ... required by this section;

(2) May adopt and enforce regulations establishing standards and specifications for the approval of protective headgear ... and (3) Shall publish lists of all protective headgear ... that he approves, by name and type."

(Emphasis added.)

A person who violates § 21-1306(b) is guilty of a misdemeanor and is subject to a fine of up to $500. See § 27-101(b) of the Transportation Article.

The Administrator adopted a regulation pursuant to § 21-1306(d), which we shall describe later in this opinion, but the Administrator has never published a list of approved protective headgear by name and type. In fact, at least in recent times, the Administrator has not formally approved or disapproved of any particular headgear. Appellee, a motorcyclist who had received a number of traffic citations for operating a motorcycle without approved protective headgear, filed an action in the Circuit Court for St. Mary's County against the Administrator, the Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, and the Sheriff of St. Mary's County, seeking (1) a declaratory judgment that § 21-1306, as applied by the Administrator, is invalid and unenforceable and that the regulation itself is invalid, and (2) interlocutory and permanent injunctions prohibiting appellants from enforcing § 21-1306.

On February 28, 1997, after an evidentiary hearing, the court filed an opinion, which we shall regard as a declaratory judgment, declaring that "the Administrator must publish lists of all protective headgear that he approves, by name and type" and that "[i]f the Administrator fails to so publish, the statute shall remain unenforceable." At appellants' urging, the court stayed the issuance of an actual injunction pending the appeal that they promptly filed. We granted certiorari prior to proceedings in the Court of Special Appeals and, for the reasons stated in this opinion, shall reverse the judgment of the circuit court.

LEGAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In September, 1966, Congress enacted the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (Pub.L. No. 89-563). That Act, as since amended, is codified at 49 U.S.C § § 30101--30169. Section 103(a) of the Act (§ 30111(a)) directed the Secretary of Commerce (since changed to the Secretary of Transportation), by appropriate order, to establish Federal motor vehicle safety standards. Each such standard, the section continued, shall be practicable, shall meet the need for motor vehicle safety, and shall be stated in objective terms.

The Act makes clear the force and effect of the standards adopted pursuant to its provisions. ¹ Section 30103(b) makes the Federal standards preclusive. With an exception allowing a State to impose a higher performance standard with respect to equipment obtained for its own use, § 30103(b)(1) provides: "When a motor vehicle safety standard is in effect under this chapter, a State or a political subdivision of a State may prescribe or continue in effect a standard applicable to the same aspect of performance of ... motor vehicle equipment only if the standard is identical to the standard prescribed under this chapter." (Emphasis added.) Section 30103(b)(2) allows a State to enforce a standard "that is identical to a standard prescribed under this chapter." With exceptions not relevant here, § 30112 prohibits anyone from manufacturing for sale, selling, offering for sale, introducing or delivering for introduction into interstate commerce, or importing any item of motor vehicle equipment manufactured on or after the date an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard takes effect unless the item complies with the standard. Section 30115(1) requires manufacturers and distributors of motor vehicle equipment to furnish to their dealers, at the time of delivery, a certification, in the form of a label or tag on the item or on its container, that the item conforms to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards; and (2) prohibits a person from issuing the certificate if, in exercising reasonable care, the person has reason to know that the certificate is false or misleading in a material respect.

Shortly after passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Maryland General Assembly enacted a statute regulating the operation of motorcycles. See 1967 Md. Laws, ch. 437, enacting new § 195 to Md.Code (1957; 1966 Supp.), Article 66 1/2. As introduced, the bill included a provision that "[n]o person shall ride on a motorcycle unless he is properly wearing a safety helmet approved by the Department [of Motor Vehicles]." That provision was deleted during the legislative process but, in modified form was enacted the next year. By 1968 Md. Laws, ch. 665, the General Assembly added new § 195(g) to provide that "[n]o person shall drive, or ride on as a passenger, a motorcycle ... unless he is wearing a firm and durable protective helmet or headgear, and either safety goggles or a face shield, approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles." New § 195(h), also enacted by the 1968 statute, made a violation of § 195(g) a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of between $10 and $100.

In 1970, the State motor vehicle laws were rewritten. 1970 Md. Laws, Ch. 534. Section 11-1306, which replaced § 195(g) and (h), provided, in relevant part:

"(a) No person shall operate or ride upon a motorcycle unless he is wearing protective headgear which complies with standards established by the commissioner.

...

(d) The commissioner is hereby authorized to approve or disapprove protective headgear and eye-protective devices required herein, and to issue and enforce regulations establishing standards and specifications for the approval thereof. The commissioner shall publish lists of all protective headgear and eye-protective devices by name and type which have been approved by him." ²

The 1970 Act was the product of a Commission, chaired by former Baltimore City Judge S. Ralph Warnken, to study and revise the State motor vehicle laws. The Commission made a report, which included draft legislation completely rewriting Article 66 1/2, to the Legislative Council following the 1969 Session of the General Assembly. ³ After review by a Special Legislative Committee, the Commission bill, without significant change, was introduced as a Legislative Council Bill. Section 11-1306 survived as drafted by the Warnken Commission. See Maryland Motor Vehicle Laws Revision, Md. Dept. of Motor Vehicles (1969) at 389; see also Reports and Proposed Bills To The General Assembly of 1970, Legislative Council of Maryland (1970), Vol. 1, at 905.

Although two seemingly significant changes were made by the new law, no mention of them appears in either the Commission or the Special Legislative Committee report. Indeed, with an exception not relevant here, the Commission's comment on § 11-1306 is that it is "[s]imilar to existing law." The first change went to the basic substance of the law. The 1968 statute required riders to wear "firm and durable protective" headgear approved by the Commissioner, thus (1) making clear that rags, bandannas, and other soft coverings would not suffice, and (2) implying some duty on the part of the Commissioner to approve types or categories of headgear. The 1970 law required riders to wear headgear complying with standards established by the Commissioner. Although subsection (d) authorized the Commissioner to approve or disapprove headgear, as well as to promulgate regulations establishing standards for approval, it did not, on its face, require that the headgear itself be approved. To the extent there was an implicit duty under the 1970 law, it was a duty to approve standards against which particular headgear could be compared, rather than a direct duty to approve the headgear itself. The second important change, of course, was the requirement that the Commissioner publish lists of approved headgear.

In late 1972 or early 1973, the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) adopted a regulation governing, among other things, motorcycle helmets and headgear. ⁴ See State Motor Vehicle Administration Regulation 11.02.08. Section .01 of the regulation stated that no person may use, loan, borrow, sell, offer, or distribute any protective helmet for use by operators or passengers of motorcycles unless "they are of a type" approved by the Administrator. Section .02 adopted as the minimum standard for such helmets the United States of America Standards Institute (ANSI) Specifications for Protective Headgear for Vehicular Users Z90.1-1966. Section .04 adopted as the test procedures for protective helmets or headgear the procedures described in those same ANSI specifications. Other sections directed that the helmets contain certain labeling and reflectorized surfaces. Section .07 required that an application for approval be accompanied by a copy of a laboratory test report from a nationally recognized, independent testing laboratory certifying that the complete helmet met the required specifications. The application was to be submitted to the American...