Personal Injury Law

Feds say all motorcycle riders should wear helmets, and Illinois is one of three states with no requirement

By Hurley, McKenna & Murtz

Federal safety officials ?want states to require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets, citing a surge in deaths since the late 1990s.? (J.Lowy, Washington AP, 11/16). The National Transportation Safety Board says that while overall traffic fatalities have decline, motorcycle deaths have increased over the last decade. According to the NTSB, there were ?4,400 motorcycle deaths in the U.S. last year, more than in all aviation, rail, marine and pipeline accidents combined.?

Considering that head injuries are the leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes, the NTSB wants all states to require helmet use. Currently, 20 states require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets, and the majority of states have limited helmet requirements. However, Iowa, Illinois and Vermont have no helmet requirement.

As a Chicago car and truck accident lawyer, I strongly urge all motorcycle users to wear helmets to safeguard against head injuries, and join the NTSB in wanting all states to require motorcycle riders to wear helmets.

Full post as published by Illinois Car and Truck Accident Lawyer Blog on November 20, 2010 (boomark / email).