No Helmet, No Hope? How Massachusetts Helmet Laws Affect Your Injury Claim
If you ride a motorcycle in Massachusetts, the wind in your hair is not legally on the table. Unlike states that leave helmet use to a rider’s discretion, Massachusetts requires it across the board. So what happens to your injury claim if you were not wearing one when a crash occurs? The answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no.
The Law Does Not Bend for Anyone
Massachusetts law requires every motorcycle operator and passenger, including those in a sidecar, to wear protective headgear meeting state safety standards. There are no carve-outs for age or riding experience. The only narrow exception involves participants over eighteen in a properly permitted parade. Whether you commute on Storrow Drive or ride through the Berkshires on weekends, the requirement follows you the entire way.
Does Skipping a Helmet Hurt Your Case?
Here is where things get interesting. Not wearing a helmet does not cause a crash. A distracted driver who runs a red light or a car that fails to check its blind spot is still the one who created the dangerous situation. But Massachusetts follows a modified comparative negligence rule, and that rule can come into play when a rider’s failure to wear a helmet seems to have made their injuries worse than they otherwise would have been.
In practice, this means an insurer may argue that some portion of your head or neck injuries resulted from your own choice not to wear a helmet, even if you played no role in causing the underlying collision. If a court or insurer finds you bear a percentage of the fault for the severity of your injuries, your compensation could be reduced accordingly. Riders can still pursue compensation without a helmet, but the path may include extra hurdles depending on the injuries involved.
Where Helmet Disputes Tend to Surface
These arguments tend to show up most often in injury claims involving:
- Traumatic brain injuries or skull fractures
- Facial injuries that a full-face helmet might have reduced
- Severe road rash to the head or neck region
- Claims where the at-fault driver’s insurer is searching for any way to shrink a payout
Notice a pattern? Nearly all of these disputes center on the body parts a helmet is designed to protect. If your injuries are unrelated to the head or neck entirely, a lack of helmet often becomes far less relevant to the conversation.
Why the Details of Your Crash Matter So Much
So does this mean riders without helmets are out of luck? Not at all. Every case depends heavily on its own facts, including how the crash happened, what kind of injuries resulted, and what the available evidence shows about causation. Insurance companies are skilled at stretching an argument further than the facts support, and pushing back on those tactics often requires a detailed understanding of both the medical evidence and Massachusetts injury law.
If you were hurt in a motorcycle accident anywhere in the Boston area, whether or not you were wearing a helmet at the time, we encourage you to reach out to us at the Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. We would be glad to listen to what happened and help you understand where things stand. Our Boston motorcycle accident lawyers are ready to talk through your situation and discuss the options available to you. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.
Source:
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/Section7
