Wearing a properly fitted safety helmet while operating or riding on a motorcycle is one of the simplest and best ways to reduce your risk of suffering a serious head or neck injury in an accident. Despite this, there are many places in the United States where helmets are only required for certain motorcycle riders but not others or with no requirement for anyone to wear a helmet while traveling on a motorcycle. Nevada, on the other hand, strictly enforces helmet requirements for all motorcycle riders.
If you fail to abide by Reno motorcycle helmet laws, you may not only find yourself facing financial penalties and other sanctions in traffic court, but also have a harder time filing suit over injuries you sustained in a crash that was not your fault. A motorcycle accident attorney can provide an overview of exactly what you have to do in this regard while riding and how failing to wear a motorcycle helmet could affect your options for civil recovery.
Under Nevada Revised Statutes § 486.231, all motorcycle operators and passengers traveling on public roads must wear safety helmets that meet all the following criteria set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and enforced by the Nevada Department of Transportation:
Riders on motorcycles without attached windscreens must also wear some form of transparent and shatterproof eye protection, such as goggles, a face shield, or a visor attached to their helmet. Failure to comply with this motorcycle helmet law while riding in Reno is a civil infraction punishable by monetary fines or two demerit points on the defendant’s driver’s license.
Besides the legal requirement listed above, it can also be important to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle because of comparative negligence. If someone suffers an injury because of someone else’s misconduct but also partially because of their own misconduct, a court may assign the injured person a percentage of comparative fault for their ensuing damages, and then reduce the total amount of civil compensation available to that person by that same percentage.
Because wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle is required by state law, anyone who suffers a head, face, or neck injury in a Reno accident that a helmet likely would have prevented may be considered comparatively negligent, which could lead to them missing out on much-needed compensation. In fact, if they are found to hold more total fault for their injuries than anyone else involved in their wreck, N.R.S. § 41-141 may bar them from filing suit in the first place.
Unfortunately, understanding and following Reno motorcycle helmet laws can only reduce your risk of suffering serious injury in a wreck, not eliminate it entirely. There is always a chance that someone else’s negligence could lead to you suffering life-altering harm, even if you were responsible while riding. Having help from skilled legal counsel can be crucial to getting fairly reimbursed for your damages.
A seasoned lawyer can help explain how state law may interact with your case and what options you may have for seeking financial restitution during a confidential consultation. Schedule yours by calling today.
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