If you’re injured in a motorcycle crash or bicycle accident while not wearing a helmet, you might worry that Texas helmet laws affect your ability to recover compensation. The relationship between helmet use and liability is more nuanced than many people realize. While Texas has specific helmet requirements for certain riders, failing to wear a helmet doesn’t automatically prevent you from recovering damages when someone else causes your accident. However, helmet use can affect the value of your claim through comparative negligence principles, particularly regarding head injury damages.
At Byrd Davis Alden & Henrichson, LLP, we’ve successfully represented motorcycle and bicycle accident victims in complex cases involving helmet use questions. With over 65 years of experience and more than $100 million recovered for clients, we know how to address helmet-related arguments that insurance companies use to minimize compensation and how to protect your recovery even when helmet use becomes an issue.
Texas Helmet Laws for Motorcycles and Bicycles
Texas requires motorcycle operators and passengers to wear helmets, but with important exceptions. Riders aged 21 and older may ride without helmets if they either complete a motorcycle safety course approved by the Department of Public Safety or carry health insurance with at least $10,000 in medical coverage for injuries from motorcycle accidents. Riders under 21 must always wear helmets regardless of training or insurance.
Traditional bicyclists in Texas face no helmet requirements at any age, though many cities have local ordinances requiring helmets for younger riders. Violating helmet laws creates a Class C misdemeanor punishable by fine. However, the ticket itself doesn’t determine fault in an accident. The driver who caused the collision through negligent driving remains liable for your injuries regardless of whether you wore a helmet.
How Helmet Use Affects Liability
Not wearing a helmet doesn’t make you liable for the accident. Liability depends on who acted negligently in causing the collision. If a driver runs a red light and hits you, that driver’s negligence caused the accident, whether you wore a helmet or not.
Texas follows modified comparative negligence rules. If you’re found partially at fault for your own injuries, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. You can still recover as long as your fault doesn’t exceed 50%. This is where helmet use sometimes affects cases. Defense attorneys argue that failing to wear a helmet contributed to the severity of head injuries, even if you weren’t at fault for the accident itself.
The key distinction involves causation. The other driver caused the accident. Your decision not to wear a helmet didn’t cause the collision. However, insurance companies may argue that helmet use would have prevented or reduced certain injuries. Texas comparative negligence laws allow juries to consider whether your actions contributed to the extent of your damages.
The Helmet Defense in Head Injury Cases
Insurance companies frequently raise helmet-related arguments in cases involving traumatic brain injuries, skull fractures, or other head trauma. They hire specialists who testify that a helmet would have prevented or reduced the severity of these injuries. This defense strategy aims to reduce the compensation they must pay by attributing some responsibility for the injuries to you.
Courts evaluate helmet defense claims carefully. The insurance company must prove that a helmet would have actually made a difference for your specific injuries. This requires medical evidence showing the type of impact involved and how helmet protection would have changed the outcome. Some head injuries would occur regardless of helmet use. Helmets primarily protect against skull fractures and certain types of brain injuries from direct impacts. They offer less protection against rotational brain injuries from sudden deceleration or against injuries to the face, neck, or spine.
Damages That Helmet Use Doesn’t Affect
Even when helmet use affects head injury claims, it doesn’t impact many other types of damages. Broken bones in arms, legs, hands, and feet result from collision impacts, not helmet absence. Road rash, internal injuries, spinal damage, and orthopedic injuries have no connection to helmet use. The insurance company can’t reduce compensation for these injuries based on helmet arguments.
Lost wages, property damage, and future earning capacity similarly remain unaffected by helmet use. If the accident caused you to miss work or destroyed your motorcycle, you can recover these economic losses regardless of whether you wore a helmet. The helmet defense only potentially reduces compensation for head injuries that a helmet might have prevented or lessened.
Protecting Your Case When You Weren’t Wearing a Helmet
If you weren’t wearing a helmet when injured, several strategies can protect your recovery:
- Document all injuries thoroughly: Emphasize injuries unrelated to head trauma that helmet use wouldn’t have affected.
- Highlight the at-fault driver’s negligence: The more egregious their behavior, the less weight helmet-use arguments carry.
- Obtain specific medical evidence: Work with medical professionals who can testify about your specific injuries and whether a helmet would have changed outcomes.
- Challenge opposing evidence: Insurance company specialists may rely on generalizations rather than facts specific to your accident.
Strong attorneys distinguish between accident causation and injury severity, emphasizing the at-fault driver’s responsibility while minimizing helmet-related fault arguments.
Get Experienced Representation at Byrd Davis Alden & Henrichson, LLP
Helmet-use arguments shouldn’t prevent you from recovering fair compensation when someone else’s negligence caused your accident. Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the Best Law Firms in the U.S., Byrd Davis Alden & Henrichson, LLP brings 65 years of trial experience and a 98% success rate to every case we handle. We know how to counter insurance company helmet defenses while building strong cases focused on the at-fault party’s liability.
Whether you were wearing a helmet or not, you deserve full compensation for injuries caused by someone else’s negligent driving. Contact us today to discuss your motorcycle or bicycle accident case and learn how we can protect your recovery.
