Were you injured in a motorcycle accident in Wisconsin? If you weren’t wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, the insurance company handling your case might try to argue you were partially to blame for your injuries and deserve less compensation as a result. However, Wisconsin has laws in place to protect motorcycle accident victims in these circumstances, and experienced personal injury lawyers can help you assert your right to a fair recovery.
Overview of Wisconsin’s Helmet Laws
Wisconsin does not require all motorcyclists to wear helmets. Motorcycle riders who are 18 or older may ride without a helmet. Riders and passengers under 18 must wear a helmet that meets federal safety standards. Wisconsin law also requires eye protection for riders without a windshield. Goggles or a face shield are acceptable options.
How Helmet Use Affects Personal Injury Claims in Wisconsin
Wearing a helmet is always a good idea. Wearing motorcycle helmets has been shown to be 37 percent effective in preventing fatal injuries for motorcyclists and 41 percent effective for passengers. Consequently, insurance companies will assert that failing to wear a helmet makes a motorcyclist partially responsible for their own injuries – even when someone else is clearly at fault for the actual accident. After all, they’ll argue, the motorcycle accident injuries wouldn’t have been as severe (or as costly to treat) had they been wearing a helmet. Why should they have to pay for medical treatment that the motorcyclist brought on themselves?
However, Wisconsin acknowledges that failing to wear a helmet is not the underlying cause of an accident. In fact, state law specifically says that “failure by a person who operates or is a passenger on… a motorcycle… to use protective headgear shall not reduce recovery for injuries or damages.” In other words, a motorcyclist injured in an accident caused by someone else is entitled to the same compensation whether or not they were wearing a helmet at the time.
Negligence and Helmet Use in Personal Injury Cases
Negligence is a legal term that describes a failure to behave with appropriate care under a given set of circumstances. As an example, a driver who changes lanes without checking their blind spot would be negligent if they then hit a motorcyclist in the adjacent lane.
Wisconsin uses a comparative negligence system to determine how much compensation an injured party is owed. The court hearing a personal injury case reviews the facts and assigns a percentage of fault to both the injured person and any defendants accused of causing the injuries. Any percentage of fault on the part of the injured person would reduce their compensation proportionally. So, an injured person who was 20 percent at fault for an accident would lose 20 percent of the compensation they would otherwise have received.
In the past, insurers in Wisconsin could argue that failing to wear a helmet constituted negligence on the part of a motorcyclist, to avoid paying the full amount of compensation they would otherwise owe the motorcyclist. However, under the current law, failure to wear a helmet is not negligence, so this tactic will no longer stand up in court.
Contact Our Wisconsin Motorcycle Accident Attorneys to Learn More
Is an insurance company trying to get out of paying you fairly because you weren’t wearing a helmet? Then contact LawtonCates today for a free consultation with a Wisconsin personal injury attorney, and let us fight for every cent you’re owed.
