Motorcycle Helmet Safety Facts and Laws

(View the full report from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Association).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) encourages States to enact legislation that requires all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Motorcycle helmets provide the best protection from head injury for motorcyclists involved in traffic crashes. The passage of helmet use laws governing all motorcycle riders is the most effective method of increasing helmet use. Additionally, NHTSA strongly supports comprehensive motorcycle safety programs that include motorcycle helmet use, rider education, motorcycle operator licensing, and responsible use of alcohol.

Key Motorcycle Helment Facts
- In In 2004, 4,008 motorcyclists died and approximately 76,000 were injured in highway crashes in the United States.

- Per mile traveled in 2003, a motorcyclist is approximately 32 times more likely to die in a crash than someone riding in a passenger car.

- Head injury is a leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes.

- An unhelmeted motorcyclist is 40 percent more likely to suffer a fatal head injury and 15 percent more likely to suffer a nonfatal injury than a helmeted motorcyclist when involved in a crash.

- NHTSA estimates that motorcycle helmets reduce the likelihood of a crash fatality by 37 percent.

- A Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) study found that motorcycle helmets are 67 percent effective in preventing brain injuries and that unhelmeted motorcyclists involved in crashes were three times more likely to suffer brain injuries than those wearing helmets.

- NHTSA estimates that from 1984 through 2004 helmets saved the lives of 16,019 motorcyclists. If all motorcycle operators and passengers had worn helmets during that period, NHTSA estimates that 10,838 additional lives would have been saved.

- A study conducted at the University of Southern California, which analyzed 3,600 traffic crash reports covering motorcycle crashes, concluded that wearing helmets was the single most important factor in surviving motorcycle crashes.

A 1994 study by the National Public Services Research Institute concluded that wearing a motorcycle helmet does not restrict a rider’s ability to hear auditory signals or see a vehicle in an adjacent lane.

- All motorcycle helmets sold in the United States are required to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218, which established the minimum level of protection a helmet must afford each user.

-Helmet use laws governing all motorcycle riders (universal helmet laws) significantly increase helmet use and are easily enforced because of the riders’ high visibility.

- Repeal of State universal helmet use laws has resulted in fewer riders wearing helmets. According to the National Occupant Protection Survey, from 2000 to 2002 helmet use dropped from 71 percent to 58 percent nationally and remained at 58 percent in 2004.

- Data on crashes in States where only minors are required to wear helmets show that fewer than 40 percent of the fatally-injured minors wear helmets even though the law requires them to do so. Helmet laws that govern only minors are extremely difficult to enforce.

- According to NHTSA’s 2000 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety A 1994 study by the National Public Services Research Institute concluded that wearing a motorcycle helmet does not restrict a rider’s ability to hear auditory signals or see a vehicle in an adjacent lane.

- All motorcycle helmets sold in the United States are required to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218, which established the minimum level of protection a helmet must afford each user.

- Helmet use laws governing all motorcycle riders (universal helmet laws) significantly increase helmet use and are easily enforced because of the riders’ high visibility.

- Repeal of State universal helmet use laws has resulted in fewer riders wearing helmets. According to the National Occupant Protection Survey, from 2000 to 2002 helmet use dropped from 71 percent to 58 percent nationally and remained at 58 percent in 2004.

- Data on crashes in States where only minors are required to wear helmets show that fewer than 40 percent of the fatally-injured minors wear helmets even though the law requires them to do so. Helmet laws that govern only minors are extremely difficult to enforce.

- According to NHTSA’s 2000 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety still applied to them. Costs to treat motorcycle injures with head injury as the primary diagnosis more than doubled to $44 million (adjusted for inflation). Only one in four of injured motorcylists who were hospitalized had costs less than $10,000, the required level of medical insurance to ride without a helmet. The hospital discharge data indicate that in the post law change period, approximately 63 percent of admitted motorcyclists were covered by commercial insurance ($31 million), 16 percent self-paid because they were underinsured or uninsured ($8 million), while the remaining 21 percent had costs ($10.5 million) billed to charitable and public sources (e.g., Medicaid).

Legislative Status
- As of January 2006, 20 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico require helmet use for all motorcycle operators and passengers. In another 27 States, only those under a certain age, usually 18, are required to wear helmets. Three States do not have laws requiring helmet use.

- After the first year of the enactment of universal helmet use laws, the following reduction in motorcycle fatalities occurred in these States: Oregon, 33 percent; Nebraska, 32 percent; Texas, 23 percent; Washington State, 15 percent; California, 37 percent; and Maryland, 20 percent.

- Since 1997, six States (Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida, and Pennsylvania) have weakened universal helmet laws to limit coverage to those under a specific age. These six States were the first States since 1983 to repeal or weaken a universal helmet law. In August 2004, Louisiana reenacted a universal helmet use law.

- Helmet use decreased following the changes in helmet laws in Arkansas and Texas. In the first full year following repeal of the law, fatalities in Arkansas increased by 21 percent, compared with the fatality rate in the last full year under the universal use law. In Texas, operator fatalities increased by 31 percent compared with the previous year when the universal helmet law was in place.

- The 1998 universal helmet law repeal in Kentucky and the 1999 repeal in Louisiana produced similar effects to Arkansas and Texas. Observed helmet use dropped from nearly full compliance under the universal law to about 50 percent without the law. Motorcyclist fatalities increased by over 50 percent in Kentucky and over 100 percent in Louisiana. Injuries also increased substantially in both States (48% in Louisiana and 34% in Kentucky). The rates of fatalities and injuries per registered motorcycle increased in both States following the helmet law repeals.

Click here to view the full report

The following states do not require the use of a helmet at all:
CO, IL, IA and NH.

The following states require the use of a helmet by all riders:
AL,CA,DC,GA,LA,MD,MA,MI,MS,MO,NE,NV,NJ,NY,NC,OR,TN,VT,VA,WA and WV.

The following states require the use of a helmet for those under the age of 18 (or the age of majority of the state):
AK,AZ,CT,DE,HI,ID,IN,KS,ME,MN,MT,NM,CD,OH,OK,SD,UT,WI and WY.

The following states require the use of a helmet for those 18-21 years old only:
AR, FL, KY, PA, RI, SC and TX.

The following states only require reflectors (stickers):
DE, HI, MD, NJ, NM, ND, NY, SC and VT.