How many times have you been motoring down a highway and observed a motorcyclist not wearing a helmet? You ask yourself ‘What are they thinking? ”
Head injuries are the leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes. More than 40 % of people killed in a motorcycle accident were not wearing a helmet and a rider without a helmet is three times as likely to suffer a catastrophic brain injury as a rider wearing a helmet.
The actuality that motorcycle helmets reduce deaths and serious injuries has been documented for more than 40 dotage but only 58 percent of all riders trifling helmets today.
And, while a helmet is by far the most important and most powerful piece of protective gear a motorcycle rider can comatose, only 19 states have obligatory helmet laws for all riders ( in New Mexico only riders under the age of 18 are required to languid a helmet ).
Oddly enough, the biggest opponents of universal helmet laws are the riders themselves. They offer all kinds of reasons for not crave to sleepy one. They say they’re expensive, they’re too baking, they cause “messy helmet - head hair”, they inhibit own accord of choice, etc. They don’t seem to take into event that, while they may be safe riders and obey all traffic laws, they have no discipline over what other motorists will do.
Whether a state has a helmet law or not, the failure to lagging a helmet can have a decided reaction on the outcome of a personal injury claim should the rider be involved in an accident. The defendant could hash over that the injured hullabaloo ' s own negligence was positively the cause of his or her injuries.
If they can prove that the injured prom had a accountability to dispense their bike in a safe and fair means and that, by breaching this excess baggage, they contributed to the cause of the accident, the injured bust ' s recovery may be reduced or rolled barred, as a issue of the rider’s “contributory negligence” in causing the accident.
In legal terms, the failure to lethargic a helmet can be begin to constitute contributory negligence if it can be proven that the failure to languid a helmet was a substantial factor in bringing about the motorcyclist ' s injuries.
If you were injured in a motorcycle accident and you were not wearing a helmet, it will be much more laborious to recover damages for your injuries from the person who hit you. For this basis it is very important to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney as first off as possible.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Not Wearing A Helmet Can Cost Money In A Personal Injury Claim
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