Image Credit: Fairfax County Police DepartmentThe Fairfax County Police Department recently shared body camera footage of a traffic stop to make a point about a law plenty of drivers get wrong. In Virginia, you have to wear a helmet to drive a Polaris Slingshot, even though it has a steering wheel and seatbelts and feels a lot more like a car than a motorcycle.The stop happened on April 15. An officer pulled over a man driving a Slingshot, and pretty quickly it turned into a back-and-forth over whether he actually needed a helmet. The driver didn't think so, but the officer didn't budge, because Virginia law was on his side.Virginia classifies the Slingshot as an "autocycle." That means you can drive one with a regular driver's license, no motorcycle endorsement required, the same as you would a car. However, you're still required to wear a helmet.AdvertisementAdvertisementVirginia's helmet law covers autocycles right along with motorcycles, so a Slingshot driver has to wear one no matter what the rest of the vehicle looks like. There's an exception on the books, but it was written for enclosed vehicles, and an open Slingshot doesn't come close.What the Helmet Law Actually SaysVirginia's helmet rule is short and pretty broad. It says anyone operating a motorcycle or an autocycle has to wear a helmet, and so does anyone riding along with them. There's an exception, but it's a narrow one, and it almost never works in a Slingshot owner's favor.To get out of the helmet, a three-wheeled vehicle needs a permanent roof, a windshield, and a fully enclosed body, all at the same time. A Slingshot has none of that, because the whole point of the vehicle is that it's open to the sky. So, even if you somehow bolted a top onto one, it doesn't count, since the body isn't fully enclosed.Where Drivers Go WrongVirginia really does treat the Slingshot two different ways. When it comes to your license, the state made it easy: a Slingshot counts as a car, so you don't need a motorcycle endorsement to drive one. When it comes to the helmet, though, it kept the Slingshot on the motorcycle side, and that rule applies just like it would to someone on a bike.AdvertisementAdvertisementSo you end up with a vehicle you can legally drive to work on a regular license, but can't legally drive without a helmet. A lot of owners think that combination makes no sense, and they might be right. But as the Fairfax County Police Department put it, you can disagree all you want, and the rule isn't going anywhere.If you want more stories like this, follow Guessing Headlights on Yahoo so you don't miss what's coming next.