Can I File a Motorcycle Accident Injury Claim If I Wasn’t Wearing a Helmet?

Motorcycles are much smaller and less well protected than other motor vehicles and almost always come out the worst in a crash between the two. A helmet can mean the difference between life and death, but Ohio does not require all riders to wear helmets.

Those who choose to ride helmetless may wonder how this decision can affect a motorcycle accident injury claim—or whether they can file a claim at all if they were injured while riding without a helmet.

The insurance company might try to argue that a lack of helmet use contributed to your injuries. Don’t take their word for it until you talk to a motorcycle accident attorney at Graham Law.

Motorcyclist Deaths On the Rise in Ohio

May is generally considered the start of Ohio’s motorcycle season. May is also Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

Warming weather means not only more motorcycles on our roadways, but more traffic overall as people take to the roads for vacations, road trips, and other recreational activities. And with school out, there are often more teen drivers—statistically the most dangerous drivers—on the road during summer.

“I like to say a helmet is your best defense against a distracted driver or a drunk driver that’s out there.”

These factors raise the risk of motorcycle accidents, which are most likely to occur between May 1 and October 31, according to the Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO). But a warm spring in Ohio has meant that some riders are hitting the road early. In April, a 48-year-old man from Zanesville was killed in a motorcycle crash in Wayne Township on Ohio 60.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) urges drivers and motorcyclists to safely share the road amid a recent spike in motorcycle crashes statewide.

• Ohio has more than 500,000 registered motorcycles, including both on-road and off-highway motorcycles (dirt bikes).
• The number of on-highway motorcycles registered in Ohio has increased from around 224,000 in 2002 to 369,000 in 2011 to 408,000 in 2023, according to IIHS data.
• Ohio is in the top quarter of states for the number of registered motorcycles per 10,000 residents (346).
• More than 80 percent of motorcycle crashes occur between May and October.
• Ohio motorcycle crashes increased 4% from 2023 to 2024.
• From 2019 to 2023, 19,544 motorcycle-involved crashes occurred on Ohio roadways. These crashes included 1,015 fatal crashes that killed 1,045 motorcyclists and 12 others. Another 5,770 motorcyclists were seriously injured in these crashes.
• Cuyahoga (1,776), Franklin (1,597), Hamilton (1,166), Summit (939), and Lucas (863) Counties led the state in motorcycle-involved crashes from 2018 to 2022. These five counties accounted for nearly one-in-three such crashes in the state (6,341 or 32%).

“Motorcycles are among the most vulnerable vehicles on our roads,” OTSO wrote in a press release promoting the state’s motorcycle safety and education program, an optional program that has been offered since 1988 and last year taught more than 11,000 Ohioans how to improve their riding skills.

OTSO’s Public Information Officer called helmets the “best defense” against a distracted driver or drunk driver.

State-approved motorcycle safety training is available at Zane State College. You can enroll in a class here.

Helmets Save Lives But Ohio Doesn’t Require Them

“Every day, riders are exposed to road hazards, weather conditions, and the mistakes of other drivers,” said OTSO. “With less visibility and stability, even a minor crash can have devastating consequences.”

Motorcycle crashes can be especially devastating when riders are not wearing helmets.

• From 2020 to 2024, there were more than 20,000 Ohio motorcycle crashes. These crashes killed 1,099 people, and 68% of those fatalities involved riders who were not wearing helmets.
• From 2019 to 2023, 71% of motorcyclists killed and 65% of motorcyclists seriously injured in crashes were not wearing a helmet.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that, per mile traveled, motorcyclists are about 28 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle crash and 5 times more likely to be injured.

Helmets are the best protection against head injuries in motorcycle crashes. They reduce the odds of a motorcycle fatality by around 37% and are about 67% effective at preventing brain injuries. Helmets—full-face helmets in particular, which Ohio does not mandate—are also associated with a reduced risk of face and neck injuries.

Despite the effectiveness of helmets at preventing injuries and deaths, only 17 states and the District of Columbia require all riders to wear helmets. Ohio is not one of those states. In Ohio:

• Riders under 18: Must wear a DOT-approved helmet, regardless of license type.
• Novice license holders: Must wear a helmet, even if they are 18+. Ohio designates riders as “novice” for the first year after they obtain a motorcycle endorsement on their driver’s license.
• Passengers: Must wear a helmet if the rider is required to wear a helmet.
• Riders over 18 with a standard license: Not required to wear a helmet.

Ohio Motorcycle Accident Injury Claims, Helmets, and Comparative Negligence

While many Ohioans can legally ride motorcycles without a helmet, state officials still encourage riders and passengers to wear them for safety. Wearing a helmet can also help to obtain full compensation for motorcycle crash injuries after an accident.

Ohio follows a comparative negligence rule that allows an injured person to recover damages even if they are partially at fault for a crash—as long as their percentage of fault does not exceed 50 percent. If they share blame for the crash with another driver, and are not more than 50 percent liable, their award will be reduced by an amount equal to their percentage of fault.

Riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous, but legally riding without a helmet should not impact a motorcyclists’ legal rights.

To illustrate how the issue of helmet safety might play out with the insurance company, let’s say you were hurt in a motorcycle accident and not wearing a helmet.

• The insurance company could argue that riding helmetless contributed to your injuries, and that a helmet could have lessened your injury severity or even prevented you from getting hurt.
• They could offer you less compensation—or no compensation—based on the assertion that your actions (e.g., not wearing a helmet) contributed to your injuries (i.e., comparative negligence).

This line of reasoning might hold up if you suffered a head injury, such as a concussion, due to the well-documented ability of helmets to prevent head injuries. It could also reasonably apply to injuries to the neck or face.

However, if you sustained motorcycle crash injuries to other parts of the body, like your legs, arms, or torso while not wearing a helmet, it does not stand to reason that a helmet would have made any difference.

Comparative negligence law may also be irrelevant if you were faultless in an accident, whether or not you were wearing a helmet. For example, you might have been turning left at an intersection and had the right of way, but a car turned in front of you and hit you, causing you to suffer a head injury.

The insurance company could still try to argue that you are partly to blame for your injuries, but it’s a weak argument. In this scenario, you legally did nothing wrong. Ohio law doesn’t require you to wear a helmet, and the accident was entirely the fault of the other driver.

Remember: it is in the insurance company’s interest to shift blame from the insured to the injured party to reduce how much they pay. An accident case should be focused on an investigation of what caused the crash and medical records that show what injuries were sustained. Anything outside of this narrow, factual scope could just be the insurance company trying to justify paying you less.

Insurance Company Taking You For a Ride? Talk to Graham Law

Riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous, and riding without a helmet adds to the risks. But that doesn’t mean motorcyclists who choose to ride unhelmeted are “asking for it” when they hit the road or deserve to be paid less for their injuries when another vehicle hits them.

Unfortunately, negative stereotypes about bikers abound, and a motorcyclist hurt in an accident might have to go the extra mile to obtain fair and full compensation.

With Graham Law on your side, you’re never riding alone. Call or contact us for a free case review.