The importance of wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle is graphically illustrated by statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to NHTSA, 1) head injuries are the leading cause of bikers’ deaths in motorcycle accidents, and 2) bikers who are wearing helmets are 60% less likely to die of head injuries than bikers who are not wearing helmets. CDC reports have also revealed that helmet use reduces the risk of fatal and non-fatal head injuries by 69%.

Despite these widely available and persuasive statistics, a sizeable percentage of bikers opt to ride without the protection of helmets when helmet use is not required by law. (As of January 2015, only 19 states have laws requiring all motorcycle operators and passengers to wear helmets, 28 require some riders to use helmets, and 3 have no helmet requirements at all.) Though a biker’s failure to wear a helmet will generally not be considered evidence of the biker’s contributory negligence in an action seeking damages for the biker’s motorcycle-accident injuries, the advisability of wearing a helmet—for the biker’s own safety and protection from serious injury and death—cannot be overstated. The Motorcycle Injury Firm’s goal is to not only provide the highest quality representation to motorcyclists who have been injured in traffic accidents but to help prevent or diminish those injuries in the first instance by h2ly advocating the universal use of motorcycle helmets.

The Motorcycle Injury Firm has extensive experience with motorcycle-accident cases, including those involving serious non-fatal or fatal head injuries to motorcyclists. If you or a family member has been injured in a motorcycle crash and you believe the accident or injuries were caused by someone’s negligence or a defective vehicle or safety equipment, contact The Motorcycle Injury Firm for more information about your legal rights and options.

Motorcycle Injuries Caused by Defective Helmets

In some cases, bikers who wear helmets have sustained “enhanced” injuries caused by helmet defects. These enhanced injuries are injuries beyond the injuries that are likely to have occurred if the helmets had not been defective. Stated another way, defective helmets may fail to prevent the injuries for which helmets generally provide protection. Helmets that contain design, manufacturing, or warnings defects that render them unreasonably dangerous for consumers’ use (whether or not the helmets were in compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and/or current industry standards) may result in the strict liability of helmet producers and distributors for injuries found to have been enhanced by such helmet defects.

Obtain Legal Representation from The Motorcycle Injury Firm

The Motorcycle Injury Firm is recognized nationwide for its skill and wide-ranging experience with motorcycle accidents of every variety. If you have been injured or one of your family members has died in a motorcycle accident anywhere in the country, The Motorcycle Injury Firm can help you achieve justice from the responsible parties.