Are You Legally Required To Wear a Helmet on a Bicycle?

Bike helmet laws vary in every state and county. Twenty-one states and Washington, D.C. require bike riders to wear helmets. Although helmet violations often result in modest fines, the impact of failure to wear a helmet can affect personal injury cases after accidents.

Most bicycle riders understand the importance of wearing a helmet, but knowing whether helmet use is a legal requirement or not in your state is also pertinent. Consulting a personal injury attorney after an accident can help you understand whether your state mandates helmet use and how it affects your right to compensation.

This article examines bicycle helmet requirements in various jurisdictions and the penalties and consequences of violating helmet laws.

States That Require Bicycle Helmets

According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, 21 states and the District of Columbia have statewide mandatory helmet laws for young riders. These jurisdictions are:

• Alabama
• California
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• West Virginia

Most states that have statewide bicycle helmet laws only mandate helmet use for minors. These states often require bike riders under the age of 18 to use a helmet while riding a bike. These laws are not uniform, as the following examples illustrate:

• California requires helmet use for all bicyclists under 18 years old. The helmet requirement applies to riding scooters, skateboards, roller skates, and nonmotorized scooters.
• Florida requires helmet use for all bicycle riders and passengers under 16 years old. This includes kids in anything attached to or trailing a bicycle.
• Louisiana has the lowest age requirement for helmet requirements. The state only requires helmet use for bike riders under 12 years old.

The states that aren’t listed do not have statewide helmet requirements. However, most states have localities with their own helmet ordinances. For example, Texas has no statewide laws that mandate bike riders to use helmets, but there are cities that mandate the use of bicycle helmets. Illinois doesn’t have a statewide helmet law, but Chicago requires helmet use for all commercial cyclists, such as delivery workers and messengers.

Local ordinances can be more strict than state laws. In New York, the state law mandates helmet use only for bike riders under 14 years old. However, certain counties, such as Greenburgh and Rockland, have local ordinances that require all bicyclists, regardless of age, to wear helmets.

Can You Be Fined for Not Wearing a Helmet?

States and localities with helmet laws can impose fines on those who violate their local laws. In most cases, the penalties are considerably modest and aim to serve as educational rather than punitive measures. The following are the states with helmet laws and their corresponding fines for violating the law:

• Florida imposes a $15 fine for violations of its youth helmet law. Courts may dismiss the charge if the violator subsequently purchases a compliant helmet.
• Delaware mandates the use of helmets for bike riders under 18 years old. It also fines the parent or guardian of the minor who fails to wear a helmet: $25 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses.
• Hawaii requires bicycle riders under 16 to wear helmets. The law imposes a fine of up to $25 on the parent or legal guardian of the minor who violates the helmet laws.
• Oregon imposes a $25 fine on bicycle riders under 16 who use a bike without a helmet. This is a specific fine traffic violation.
• California imposes a fine of up to $25 on those who fail to follow the state’s bicycle helmet laws. Local jurisdictions can add to that amount with their own statutes.

It’s possible that the parents or legal guardian of the minor who violated the bicycle helmet laws may be held liable. In Georgia, the state may charge the parents with a misdemeanor if they fail to provide their child with appropriate safety equipment. There are cases when law enforcement officers may issue verbal warnings or formal citations for violating the helmet laws.

Local laws are in place to keep bicycle riders safe, as helmet wear has proven to reduce traumatic brain injuries and fatalities. Regardless of the law, wearing a bike helmet ensures safety and avoids getting a penalty.

Use an Approved Helmet

Riders must use an approved helmet by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). As of March 1999, all bike helmets sold in the U.S. are required to pass the CPSC helmet standards or other recognized certifications such as ASTM, ANSI, or Snell. When buying a helmet, you can look for certain label indicators, such as the CPSC sticker.

How Does Not Wearing a Helmet Affect Your Personal Injury Claim?

The ramifications of not wearing a bike helmet can go far beyond mere traffic citations. It could also affect a potential personal injury claim following an accident. When a bicycle rider suffers from an injury in an accident, whether or not they were wearing a helmet could affect their ability to recover damages, depending on their state’s negligence laws.

Several states do not allow the non-use of a helmet as evidence of negligence. States like Florida, California, Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia provide statutory protections for cyclists regardless of the wearing of headgear when involved in an accident with motorists. These states prohibit helmet non-use in establishing fault.

There are also states without these protective statutes. Their negligence system could consider the effect of helmet non-use in determining damages.

How Negligence Laws Affect Your Bike Accident Claim

Most states follow some form of comparative negligence system. This system affects how one recovers damages when they share some responsibility for their injuries. Understanding your state’s negligence system is important, as it affects how you can claim compensation in a bicycle accident. Let’s examine the different types of negligence.

Pure Comparative Negligence

Under a comparative negligence jurisdiction, injured parties can recover damages even when they share a certain percentage of fault for their injuries. The court assigns a percentage of fault, which reduces the party’s compensation by that amount.

For example, let’s say a bicyclist suffers $100,000 in damages, but they are determined to be 30% at fault for the accident. The injured bicycle rider‘s recovery could be reduced by 30%, meaning they could only receive up to a maximum of $70,000.

Twelve states follow some version of the pure comparative negligence rule. These include California, Florida, and New York,

Modified Comparative Negligence

Under this rule, the injured cyclist can only recover damages if their percentage of fault is only up to a certain degree or below a certain threshold. States use one of two main rules:

• The 50% Rule (e.g., Colorado, Georgia, Utah): You can recover damages only if your fault is less than 50%. If you are found 49% at fault, you can recover 51% of your damages. However, if you are found 50% or more at fault, you are barred from recovering anything.
• The 51% Rule (e.g., Texas, Vermont, West Virginia): You can recover damages as long as your fault is not more than 50%. If you are found 50% at fault, you can still recover 50% of your damages. You are only barred from recovery if your fault is 51% or more.

This distinction is critical. In a 50% rule state, being equally at fault means you get nothing. In a 51% rule state, being equally at fault still allows you to recover half of your damages.

Contributory Negligence

Only four states and the District of Columbia follow the doctrine of contributory negligence. Under this system, if you are an injured cyclist and the court finds you even 1% responsible for your injury, you are completely prevented from recovering any compensation. However, several states that follow the contributory negligence rule have enacted statutory protections for cyclists. For instance:

• In Virginia, state law specifies that violating the local helmet ordinance does not constitute negligence. It is also not admissible in evidence in any action for recovery of damages.
• North Carolina also offers the same statutory protection to cyclists. The state law prevents helmet law violations from being used as evidence of negligence in civil cases.

Due to the confusing and varied negligence systems, getting legal advice from a personal injury attorney before pursuing a legal claim after an accident is a good move. They can look into the laws that apply to your case and find a strong defense for you to seek the compensation that you deserve.

When Helmet Non-Use Can Affect Damage Recovery

In jurisdictions that allow non-use of a helmet as evidence of negligence, defendants in a personal injury case can argue that the cyclist‘s failure to wear a helmet constitutes contributory or comparative negligence. This strategy asserts that while the defendant may have caused the accident, the cyclist‘s failure to wear a helmet contributed to the severity of their injuries. The argument is that the specific harm suffered, particularly a head injury, would have been less severe or altogether avoided if the cyclist had been wearing a helmet.

Insurance Implications

Even in states that prevent non-helmet use as evidence of negligence, insurance companies often raise the issue during settlement negotiations. Insurance adjusters search for any details that potentially reduce an insurance claim. Failure to wear a helmet provides a convenient argument to reduce the settlement offer.

Unrepresented claimants may encounter insurers arguing that their claim should be reduced because the bike rider was not wearing a helmet. That is why understanding your state’s evidentiary rules is crucial. Contact a personal injury attorney to help you negotiate with your insurance adjuster and look out for your rights.

If You’ve Been Injured in a Bike Accident, Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer

Whether you were wearing a helmet or not, seek legal advice from a personal injury attorney if you were involved in a bicycle accident. They can help you understand how your state’s negligence policies apply to your case, explain the local helmet laws, and craft the best defense strategy to counter arguments related to your helmet use. A personal injury lawyer can also help you negotiate with insurance companies or pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages resulting from the bike accident.