Well, it will save your life too, but wearing a helmet can also significantly effect your ability to claim damages in a motorcycle accident. Pennsylvania motorcycle law requires the use of a helmet. Abiding by the law can be a key factor in deciding a Pennsylvania motorcycle injury lawsuit. Using protective headgear increases your chances of recovering from motorcycle neck and head injuries.
Almost half of motorcycle riders killed in accidents may have been saved if they just used a helmet. Helmets also significantly reduce nonfatal motorcycle injuries.
Pennsylvania motorcycle law cares whether or not you were wearing a helmet when determining a claim. If you did not sustain head or neck injuries, the helmet is irrelevant. Your Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer may use this information to help establish that you are a safe rider. If you weren’t using a helmet and were lucky enough to get away without a head or neck injury, the helmet factor is once again irrelevant in Pennsylvania motorcycle injury law.
If you were wearing a helmet and sustained head or neck injuries, your motorcycle accident attorney will want to use the helmet as proof you did not get injured through your own negligence. Your motorcycle attorney will use this to show your injuries could have been much worse and you did everything to protect yourself.
If you were not using head protection, and still sustained an injury from a motorcycle in Pennsylvania, it may be hard to recover damages. Even though Pennsylvania does not require motorcycle riders over 17 to use a certified helmet, if your lack of helmet contributed to your injuries you may be comparatively negligent. This will reduce your claim based on how much the Pennsylvania court deems you were at fault. In Denver traffic injuries occur at a much higher rate than normal because of driver errors. If the insurance adjuster believes that a helmet would have reduced your injuries, then your payment will be reduced accordingly. A Denver personal injury lawyer will have to fight to stop this reduction.
In states with a requirement to put on a helmet, it will be very difficult to recover damages because your negligence in not using Pennsylvania certified protective headgear is already established. A car accident attorney might not be able to do much beyond a modest settlement.
