Wearing a helmet has been statistically proven to reduce the risk of severe head injury and death in motorcycle riders, but a fair amount of motorcyclists choose not to wear them when they are riding throughout Minnesota. We understand the appeal of the feel of the wind in your hair and the freedom of the open road, but could not wearing a helmet impact your ability to earn compensation in the event of an accident? In today’s blog, we take a closer look at motorcycle helmet laws and how they can impact your ability to file a personal injury claim after an accident.
Minnesota Motorcycle Helmet Law
The law in Minnesota is pretty clear when it comes to helmet regulations. For starters, any individual with a motorcycle license who is over the age of 18 is not required to wear a Department of Transportation (DOT) approved helmet when they ride. It’s a good idea to wear one for safety purposes, but if you’re a licensed motorcyclist over the age of 18, you are not legally required to wear a helmet while you’re riding. The same goes for passengers in the sense that if you’re over the age of 18, you do not need to legally wear a helmet.
Things change a bit when we look at other groups of riders. Any motorcyclist under the age of 18, regardless of whether or not they have a motorcycle license or learner’s permit, must wear a helmet. Similarly, riders who have obtained their permit but have yet to receive their full license must wear a DOT-approved helmet when riding. All passengers under the age of 18 must wear a helmet.
Now, as we touched on in this blog, while wearing a helmet will certainly help to keep you safer in the event of an accident, choosing to wear one will not help your insurance rates. You’re going to pay the same amount for motorcycle insurance coverage regardless of your feelings on a helmet. Also, your choice to legally not wear one will have no effect on your potential claim in the event you are injured in a crash. Your choice to wear or not wear a helmet will have no bearing on your ability to collect compensation for your injuries.
However, it is possible that choosing not to wear a helmet on a motorcycle when you are legally obligated to do so (like if you’re under 18 or have your permit but not your full license) could end up impacting your ability to collect compensation for your injuries in the event of an accident. This could come down to how your policy is written, but if you are legally required to wear a helmet and you willfully ignore this safety precaution and end up in an accident, know that it is going to be much more difficult to collect the compensation you will need after a significant motorcycle accident.
Simply put, don’t leave it up to chance if you are legally required to wear a helmet on a motorcycle. Even if you are the safest driver or passenger in the world, all it takes is an inattentive driver or a wandering deer to forever change your life, and if you can’t collect financial compensation for your injuries, the accident could loom even larger over you and your family.
We’ll do everything in our power to help you get the compensation you deserve after a motorcycle accident, but we want you to do what you can to reduce your risk of being involved in a crash. Follow the rules of the road, drive defensively, wear a helmet and contact the team at Hey Workers if you have questions or concerns about a possible injury claim. For more information, give our team a call today at (844) 439-9675.
