Michigan’s motorcycle laws offer riders certain freedoms that many other states don’t allow, particularly when it comes to helmet requirements. For example, you can legally ride without a helmet if you meet certain criteria, such as age requirements, insurance coverage, and training certifications. However, this freedom comes with legal implications that can affect your injury claim if you’re involved in an accident.
The relationship between protective gear laws and personal injury claims isn’t always straightforward. Insurance companies and defense attorneys tend to scrutinize what safety equipment you were wearing at the time of your crash to reduce their liability or challenge your claim. In this guide, we’ll explain how Michigan’s motorcycle gear laws work and how they can impact your case.
Michigan’s Motorcycle Helmet Law: What You Need to Know
Michigan allows motorcyclists over 21 to ride without a helmet, but only if they meet strict requirements:
- You must have at least $20,000 in first-party medical benefits.
- You must either have completed a motorcycle safety course approved by the state or have held a motorcycle endorsement for at least two years.
If you don’t meet these criteria, Michigan law requires you to wear an approved helmet while operating or riding as a passenger on a motorcycle. The helmet must meet Department of Transportation (DOT) standards and display the appropriate certification label. Failure to comply can result in fines and may complicate your injury claim if you’re involved in an accident.
Types of Protective Gear and Their Legal Implications
While Michigan doesn’t require most protective equipment, wearing it can prevent serious injuries and support your legal claim after an accident. Common types include:
- Motorcycle Jackets: Leather or high-quality synthetic jackets with armor or padding protect against road rash and abrasion injuries. Medical evidence showing that a jacket prevented more severe injuries can demonstrate that you took reasonable precautions before heading out.
- Protective Pants: Kevlar-reinforced jeans or full motorcycle pants with armor shield your legs from road rash and impact injuries. These garments provide varying levels of protection, depending on materials and construction.
- Gloves: Quality motorcycle gloves with palm padding and knuckle protection protect your hands, which often contact pavement first in crashes. Materials built to resist tearing during slides can prevent serious hand injuries.
- Boots: Proper motorcycle boots protect feet and ankles from impact while providing better grip on foot controls. Over-the-ankle boots offer more protection than regular shoes or sneakers.
- Eye Protection: While not always legally required, eye protection shields you from debris, wind, and insects that could cause you to lose control of your motorcycle.
Each piece of gear addresses different injury types common in motorcycle accidents. For example, road rash from sliding across pavement affects exposed skin, making jackets and pants valuable. Impact injuries from hitting objects or the ground make armor and padding important. Learning how each type works helps you appreciate why insurance companies and courts will probably scrutinize your equipment choices.
How to Document Protective Gear After an Accident
Documenting your protective gear immediately after an accident can support your injury claim. Insurance companies will investigate what you were wearing, and having clear evidence helps establish facts rather than leaving room for speculation.
Follow these important documentation steps:
- Photograph Everything: Take photos of all protective gear as soon as possible after the accident. Capture close-up shots of any damage to helmets, jackets, pants, gloves, and boots.
- Document Details: Note the condition, brand, safety certifications, model numbers, and age of your equipment. Keep receipts when possible to prove you invested in quality safety gear.
- Preserve Cut Gear: If emergency responders cut off protective gear, ask them to preserve all items. Medical personnel often cut through jackets, pants, or boots to access injuries quickly.
- Create Written Records: Write down what protective gear you were wearing as soon as you’re able. Include details about fit, proper fastening, and any limitations you noticed.
- Save Damaged Equipment: Keep all protective gear after the accident, even if damaged beyond repair. Don’t clean or alter damaged gear before your personal injury attorney evaluates it, as this could eliminate important evidence.
These documentation steps help establish what protection you had during the accident. Damaged gear often tells the story of your crash and can demonstrate the severity of the impact forces involved.
How Helmet Use Affects Injury Claims
When you’re involved in a motorcycle accident, the presence or absence of a helmet becomes a focal point in legal proceedings. If you weren’t wearing a helmet and suffered a traumatic brain injury, the opposing party’s insurance company will argue that your injuries would have been less severe had you worn proper head protection. This argument can reduce the amount of compensation you receive, even if the other driver was entirely at fault for the accident.
Michigan follows a comparative negligence system, which means your compensation can be reduced by your percentage of fault in the accident. For example, if a jury determines that not wearing a helmet contributed to 20% of your injuries, your total award would be reduced by that percentage. However, this reduction only applies to injuries that would have been prevented or lessened by wearing a helmet.
Insurance Company Tactics: What You Need to Know
Insurance companies often use your choice not to wear protective gear as leverage in settlement negotiations. They may argue that you assumed the risk of injury by choosing not to wear available safety equipment, even when it wasn’t legally required. These arguments can be particularly challenging when you’ve suffered injuries that protective gear might have prevented or reduced.
Don’t let insurance adjusters intimidate you into accepting a lower settlement because you weren’t wearing certain protective gear. These companies have a financial incentive to minimize their payouts, and they’ll use any available argument to reduce your claim value. Having an experienced attorney on your side helps ensure that you receive fair compensation for your injuries.
Medical Evidence and Protective Gear
Medical experts play an important role in cases involving protective gear arguments. These professionals can testify about the relationship between your injuries and the gear you were or weren’t wearing at the time of the accident. They can also explain if wearing additional protective equipment would have prevented or reduced the severity of your injuries.
Your medical team’s documentation becomes vital evidence in your motorcycle accident claim. Detailed medical records that clearly describe your injuries and their causes help establish the connection between the accident and your damages. When medical evidence shows that your injuries resulted from the collision itself rather than the absence of protective gear, it strengthens your position in negotiations and, if necessary, litigation.
Building a Strong Case Despite Gear Issues
Even if you weren’t wearing all available protective gear, you can still build a strong injury claim by targeting the other driver’s negligence. Michigan’s no-fault insurance system provides benefits regardless of who caused the accident, which helps protect you from some of the financial impacts of your injuries. Additionally, you can pursue a claim against the at-fault driver for damages not covered by no-fault benefits.
An experienced motorcycle accident lawyer will work to gather evidence that demonstrates the other party’s responsibility for the crash. This evidence might include police reports, witness statements,video surveillance, accident reconstruction analysis, and expert testimony. By clearly establishing the other driver’s fault, your legal team can minimize the impact of any protective gear arguments on your insurance claim.
Understanding Michigan’s No-Fault System for Motorcyclists
Michigan’s no-fault insurance system works differently for motorcyclists compared to automobile drivers, and knowing these differences can help you maximize your benefits.
When a regular car crash occurs, your own auto insurance company pays for certain benefits regardless of who caused the accident. These benefits are called no-fault and include medical expenses, wage loss, and replacement services for household tasks you can’t perform due to your injuries.
If you are operating a motorcycle, and a car or truck is involved in causing a crash, then the auto insurance for the motor vehicle must pay these no-fault benefits. If the owner or driver of the motor vehicle failed to carry insurance, only then does your own auto insurance pay your own first-party benefits.
No-Fault coverage pays for reasonable and necessary medical expenses related to your accident injuries without regard to your protective gear choices. Your insurance company can’t deny these benefits because you weren’t wearing a jacket or gloves, making the no-fault system a valuable safety net for injured riders.
The no-fault system also provides wage loss benefits equal to 85% of your gross income, up to a maximum monthly amount set by law. These benefits help replace lost earnings while you recover from your injuries. Additionally, the system covers replacement services like housekeeping, childcare, and yard work that you can’t perform due to your injuries.
However, the no-fault system doesn’t handle everything, and this is where protective gear arguments become more relevant. Property damage to your motorcycle, pain and suffering compensation, and excess economic damages beyond your PIP limits require separate claims. These third-party liability claims against the at-fault driver are where insurance companies most often raise arguments about your protective gear choices.
When You Can Sue for Full Damages After a Motorcycle Accident
Michigan law allows you to sue for damages when you meet certain threshold requirements for serious injuries. These thresholds include death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement. If your injuries meet these criteria, you can pursue full compensation regardless of your protective gear choices.
Serious impairment of body function cases often involve injuries where protective gear wouldn’t have made a difference. For example, internal injuries, broken bones, or spinal cord damage typically result from the force of impact rather than contact with the road surface. In these instances, arguments about missing protective gear carry less weight in determining your compensation.
How a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Can Help
Motorcycle accident cases involving protective gear issues can be difficult, especially if the at-fault driver and/or the insurer is determined to fight your claim. An experienced motorcycle accident attorney knows how to address gear-related arguments while building a strong case for financial compensation.
Here’s how a motorcycle injury lawyer can help:
- Handle Insurance Communications: Your attorney handles all communications with insurance companies to prevent you from saying anything that might harm your case. Insurance adjusters often ask leading questions about your gear choices, hoping to get statements they can use against you later.
- Gather Critical Evidence: Your attorney collects police reports, witness statements, medical records, and expert testimony to build the strongest possible case for your claim.
- Counter Protective Gear Arguments: When insurance companies try to reduce your claim because you weren’t wearing certain protective gear, your lawyer knows how to challenge these arguments and minimize their impact on your case.
- Establish the True Cause of Your Injuries: Your legal team works with medical professionals and accident reconstruction specialists to demonstrate the actual cause of your injuries, showing that they resulted from the collision itself rather than the absence of protective gear.
- Handle No-Fault Benefits Claims: Your attorney helps ensure you receive all available no-fault benefits and works through the detailed priority rules to identify which insurance company should pay your medical bills and lost wages.
- Negotiate Fair Settlements: Insurance companies often make lowball offers, hoping you’ll accept less than you’re entitled to. Your attorney negotiates aggressively to secure maximum compensation for your injuries.
- Pursue Third-Party Claims: If your damages exceed no-fault coverage limits, your lawyer can file a third-party liability claim against the at-fault driver for additional compensation, including pain and suffering damages.
Having an experienced motorcycle accident attorney manage your case allows you to focus on your recovery while ensuring your legal rights are fully protected. Don’t let insurance companies take advantage of you during this difficult time.
Questions? Contact the Lee Steinberg Law Firm Today
Michigan’s motorcycle protective gear laws give riders certain freedoms while also creating potential complications in injury claims. Insurance companies may use your gear choices to argue that you contributed to your injuries, potentially reducing your compensation..
The experienced motorcycle accident attorneys at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm have been fighting for injured motorcyclists for over 50 years. We know how to build strong cases regardless of what gear you were wearing. Our team also works on a contingency fee basis, so you don’t pay attorney fees unless we win your case. To schedule a free initial conversation, call us today at 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-800-533-3733) or fill out our online contact form.