MICHIGAN HELMET LAWS FOR MOTORCYCLISTS

Some of the most frequently asked questions about motorcycle accidents in Michigan involve motorcycle helmets. 

If you were not wearing a motorcycle helmet and you are involved in a motorcycle accident, you can still bring a lawsuit for your injuries.  However, not wearing a helmet can make a difference in how much money you receive if it can be shown that not wearing your helmet was also a partial cause (or an aggravating factor) in the personal injuries you suffered. 

Brain and spinal injuries are the most common examples of typical motorcycle accident injuries where a defense lawyer or insurance company will argue that the motorcyclist choosing not to wear his or her helmet makes the motorcyclist also at fault.  On a jury verdict form, a jury in a motorcycle accident trial would be asked to allocate the amount of comparative negligence they felt the motorcyclist should be responsible for serious injuries by choosing not to wear a motorcycle helmet. 

However, please consult with a personal injury lawyer or a Michigan attorney experienced in handling motorcycle injury accident cases.  A defense lawyer or insurance company asking a jury to allocate comparative negligence against an injured motorcyclist for not wearing a motorcycle helmet when the motorcyclist has injured or fractured a leg, for example, should be precluded at an evidentiary hearing from making such arguments.

This has nothing to do with a motorcyclist’s rights or individual liberties to choose to wear or not wear a motorcycle helmet.  We have many friends who are bikers, who go to rallies and share all sorts of information about campaigns and rallies in this regard.  This is legal advice based upon experience and medicine that many brain injuries and spinal injuries will be worse for someone who is not wearing a motorcycle helmet than it will be for someone who is wearing a helmet, and that it will reinforce the already strong negative perception among too many people that the motorcyclist intentionally chose to engage in a very dangerous activity, i.e. riding a motorcycle, but then on top of it chose to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. 

Too many juries have been found less than forgiving in this regard.  Experienced personal injury lawyers will tell you of countless examples where a jury awarded compensation to a seriously injured motorcycle rider for a fractured arm, for example, but awarded nothing for traumatic brain injury or spinal injuries because they were “punishing” the motorcycle rider for choosing not to wear a motorcycle helmet.

Statistically, motorcycle helmets have been found to be roughly 29% effective in preventing wrongful death in motorcycle crashes.  In other words, 29% of the thousands of motorcycle fatality cases would still be alive if they had chosen to wear a motorcycle helmet.