Missouri residents lead active, productive lives, including those who use motorcycles for transportation and enjoy weekend rides in the open air. Unfortunately, an exposed motorcyclist is vulnerable to severe or catastrophic injuries in an accident, due to the open-air, unprotected design of a motorcycle. However, when these rides turn into accidents, the need for a skilled St. Louis motorcycle accident attorney often becomes clear. Although helmets have been shown to prevent fatal motorcycle accident injuries to operators by 37% and motorcycle passenger injuries by 41%, they cannot prevent other serious injuries caused by blunt-force trauma and direct contact with the roadway, obstacles, and other vehicles in a crash. A helmet cannot prevent all traumatic brain injuries, since an injury can occur from the brain bumping the inside of the skull. Under Missouri’s fault-based insurance laws, many motorcyclists want to know: “How does the Missouri helmet law impact my motorcycle accident injury claim if I wasn’t wearing a helmet?”
What Are Missouri’s Motorcycle Helmet Laws?
In 2020, Missouri modified the state’s former universal mandatory helmet laws, now allowing motorcyclists over the age of 26 to ride legally without a helmet. Missouri’s Revised § RSMo. 302.026 states the following: “Any qualified motorcycle operator who is twenty-six years of age or older may operate a motorcycle or motortricycle upon any highway of this state without wearing protective headgear if he or she in addition to maintaining proof of financial responsibility in accordance with chapter 303, is covered by a health insurance policy or other form of insurance which will provide the person with medical benefits for injuries incurred as a result of an accident while operating or riding on a motorcycle or motortricycle.” In other words, as long as a rider over the age of 26 has health insurance and carries an insurance card, they may legally choose not to wear a helmet without risk of a citation for a traffic infraction. But, how does this impact their ability to recover compensation for their damages after an accident if they weren’t wearing a helmet?
How Does Missouri’s Fault-Based Insurance System Affect a Motorcycle Accident Claim?
Missouri’s pure comparative negligence insurance system requires insurance companies to assign a percentage of fault to all involved in a traffic accident and then deduct that percentage from the amount they recover in their claim. For example, a driver may be seem to be 100% at fault for a motorcycle accident if they caused the accident by making an unsafe lane change while a motorcycle was already in the lane, but the driver’s insurance company may attempt to assign a portion of fault to the motorcyclist to reduce the amount they have to pay on the claim. They could potentially reduce a $100,000 claim for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering to $75,000 by assigning a motorcyclist 25% of the fault for their injury. All too often, not wearing a helmet provides the insurance company with a means of assigning an injury victim a percentage of fault for their injury, even if a driver’s error or recklessness caused the crash.
How Can a Missouri Motorcycle Accident Victim Recover Full and Fair Compensation After an Accident?
Even if you or your injured loved one were not wearing a helmet during a motorcycle accident in Missouri, you may still be able to recover the full value of your damages with assertive legal action to protect your rights. A motorcycle accident lawyer consults with traffic accident reconstruction specialists and medical experts, interviews eyewitnesses, and examines all evidence of the accident before making a compelling claim. Often, they can prove that a motorcycle accident victim would have been equally injured had they been wearing a helmet, or that not wearing a helmet did not cause their injuries. When seeking compensation for the serious losses you’ve experienced after a motorcycle accident, you deserve serious legal representation to safeguard your best interests throughout the process. Contact our personal injury lawyer in St. Louis today.