Although I will probable get Email from motorcycle riders telling me that they have the right not to wear helmets I will inform Coachella Valleymotorcycle accident victims that the US. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported that between 2008 and 2010 there were over 14,000 deaths of motorcycle riders in the US with over 6,000 of these deaths involving riders who were not wearing helmets. It has been proven that in the states that have universal helmet laws that the deaths to the motorcyclists and their passengers are lower than those states with only partial helmet laws.
There are people who erroneously believe that wearing helmets actually cause injuries because of restricted vision and hearing. The actual studies of this problem do not support such claims. In my experience as a Palm Springs motorcycle lawyer I have firsthand knowledge of the more serious injuries that have been suffered by my clients who have been involved in Palm Springs motorcycle accidents who were not wearing helmets than those riders that were smart enough to have worn helmets. I used to ride a motorcycle throughout the Coachella Valley. I wore the most expensive helmet available because I had read the studies proving the effectiveness of helmets in reducing the most severe head injuries. I also handled several Palm Desert defective product lawsuits involving poorly designed motorcycle helmets that failed to prevent the kind of head injuries that they should have prevented.
The difference between universal helmet laws and partial helmet laws is that the universal law requires that motorcycle riders and their passengers to wear helmets at all times during the operation of the motorcycle. The partial helmet laws only mandate that certain riders and passengers under the age of 21 use the helmets. Wearing helmets has proven to reduce the cost of medical care to the citizens in the states that have the universal type laws because the uninsured motorist rider and or passenger suffering serious head injuries end up requiring public funds to pay for their long term medical care. Some states have repealed their helmet laws bowing to the motorcycle lobby. This special interest group argues for a no helmet requirement as an expression of personal freedom. Of course one could make the same argument for being able to ride in a car without using seatbelts that have proven to save lives and reduce serious injuries. Wednesday night a man was killed in a Desert Hot Springs auto accident because he was ejected from his car. He was not wearing his seatbelt. Contact Barry Regar the Palm Desert motorcycle attorney at this firm for legal help with a motorcycle accident claim.