Helmets Laws in Indiana and Kentucky
Motorcycle Safety and Traffic Laws
Wearing a helmet and eye protection just makes good sense. As a personal injury attorney with a special focus on motorcycle crashes, I have seen too many preventable deaths and severe head injuries in motorcycle accidents.
The scaling back of helmet laws in several states has corresponded with a nationwide rise in motorcycle deaths and brain injury. Kentucky repealed its universal helmet law in 1998 in favor of an under-21 law. Helmet use among all riders in Kentucky dropped from 96 percent before the law changed to just over 50 percent in 2001.
- Of the 68 motorcycle fatalities in Kentucky in 2004, and the 108 killed in Indiana that year, two-thirds were not wearing helmets.
- From investigations of fatal motorcycle accidents in Kentucky and Indiana, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 46 of those victims would have lived if they had worn helmets, and that 31 lives were saved in 2004 by helmet use in what would have been fatal accidents.
Kentucky Motorcycle Helmet and Operator Laws
Sampled from Kentucky Statute (Title XVI, Chapter 189, §189.285):
- A person must have a valid motorcycle operator's license.
- All operators must wear an approved eye-protective device (e.g., safety glasses, goggles, helmet face shield).
- The cycle must be equipped with a rear-view mirror.
- A driver or passenger who is over 21 is not required to wear a helmet, except:
- A person operating on a motorcycle instruction permit
- A person who has held a motorcycle license or auto/motorcycle license for less than one year
- A motorcycle operator with an instructional permit cannot carry passengers
- All operators and passengers under 21 must wear a helmet, even if they possess a motorcycle license
Indiana Helmet and Operator Laws
Indiana's motorcycle statutes require:
- Helmet use and eye protection by riders and passenger under 18
- The motorcycle to have a rear-view mirror, passenger seat and passenger footrests if carrying a passenger, and daytime headlights
- Minimum liability insurance ($25,000 per person)
- A valid motorcycle license
Helmet Use and Recovery of Damages
Choosing not to wear a helmet, in addition increasing the risk of injury or death, may decrease your ability to recover compensation in a motorcycle accident. Kentucky and Indiana both have comparative negligence laws, meaning you can recover partial damages if you were partly at fault. The defense may argue that the injury would have been prevented or minimized by wearing a helmet. In Indiana, if the plaintiff's negligence (including riding with no helmet) exceeds 49 percent of fault, the motorcycle victim cannot recover damages. In Kentucky, your compensation is reduced by the amount of your negligence: if you were 90 percent at fault, you could recover only 10 percent of the available damages.
For more information about motorcycle laws in Kentucky or Indiana, or to find out if you have a claim for damages in an accident, contact Desmond Law Offices of Louisville, Kentucky, for a free case evaluation. The Kentucky State Bar requires us to say that COURT COSTS AND CASE EXPENSES WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CLIENT.
