Special issues for bicycles & motorcycles

            If you had an accident while riding a bicycle or motorcycle, you must consider all the factors that release to drivers of four-wheeled vehicles. But because you were driving a two-wheeler, other things may also be important in pursuing your injury claim. These may include certain rules of the road or other legal issues that pertain only to bicycles or motorcycles. And there are certain road conditions that may present legally unacceptable hazards to drivers of two-wheelers, especially bicyclist, through they do not normally affect four-wheel vehicles. Just as important are the attitudes of insurance adjusters toward motorcycle & bicycle & riders.

Helmets & Helmet Laws

            Many states have enacted laws requiring helmets on motorcycle riders. Some require helmets for all riders; others require helmets only for riders under a certain age. Some states have also enacted mandatory bicycle helmet laws, through only for younger rider.

            Whether you were wearing a helmet at the time of your accident may or may not be a deciding factor in your clam. It depends on your type of injury. If you suffered injuries to your head or neck, then whether you were wearing a helmet is very important.

            Helmet, no head injury. - If you were wearing a helmet & did not suffer head or neck injuries, the helmet has no legal significance in other words, even if you had one on, your ability to collect on your claim is not helped, & even so, wearing a helmet may be worth mentioning during your claim, because it paints you as a responsible person.

            Helmet, head injury. - If you were wearing a helmet & still suffered head or neck injuries, the helmet is very important to your claim. It shows that you were not “comparatively negligent,” at least as to this aspect of your claim. That is, it shows that your injuries were not made worse by your own carelessness. And it shows how much worse the injury might have been & therefore how dangerous the other driver’s conduct was had you not been wearing a helmet.

            No helmet, no helmet law, head injury. - If you were not wearing a helmet & you suffered head or neck injuries, you may face difficult opposition in your claim even if the law in your state does not require you to wear a helmet. That is because helmets are known to significantly reduce or prevent head & neck injuries. So, your failure to wear a helmet can amount to a kind of “comparative negligence” on your part.

Bicyclist may still be able to make a successful claim in these circumstances. The protection afforded by bicycle helmets is not as obvious or well documented as it is for motorcyclist. As a results are not required for adult bicyclists in any state. If a no helmet bicyclist sustains head injuries, it is up to the insurance company to produce convincing evidence that a commonly available bicycle helmet would have prevented or diminished the specific injury that occurred. If an insurance adjuster makes this argument, it simply becomes another part of the negotiating process. It may weaken the bicyclist’s claim, but it does not end the claim altogether. And it does not affect the bicyclist’s claim for injuries to other parts of the body.

            For a motorcyclist without a helmet, a claim for head or neck injuries is much more difficult to pursuer. There is overwhelming documentation which an insurance adjuster has no trouble producing that a helmet usually significantly reduces head injuries. It then becomes the job of the claimant to persuade the insurance adjuster that the injury would have happened even with a helmet. The negotiations will revolve around the extent to which the injury would have been reduced by worn a helmet, & therefore how much compensation for the injury should be reduced.

            No helmet, helmet law, head injury. - If either a bicyclist or a motorcyclist is required by law to wear a helmet & sustains a head injury while riding without one, it is extremely difficult to obtain any compensation for the head injury. (A claim may still be successful, however, for other injuries). The existence of the law automatically establishes the rider’s comparative negligence. To obtain any compensation, the cyclist would have occurred even if he or she had been wearing a helmet. This is a very tough task, & if it is possible at all almost certainly requires the services of an experienced personal injury lawyer.