Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog

Perhaps because May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, it has been announced that in the National Transportation Safety Board's September 2007 meeting, they came up with several recommendations with regard to motorcycle helmets.

• Three states (Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire) still have no helmet laws. To these states the NTSB recommends that motorcyclists wear a Department of Transportation Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218-compliant helmet while driving or riding as a passenger.
  
• 27 states and one territory with partial helmet laws. To these states and territory, the NTSB recommends again that all riders and passengers wear a helmet while on a motorcycle.
  
• To the eight states, the District of Columbia, and the four territories with universal helmet laws, the NTSB recommends that the laws be amended to specify that all riders and passengers of motorcycles wear an FMVSS 218-compliant helmet.
  

Their point, which hardly needs stressing, is that helmets save lives. The NTSB also brings up that since 1997, motorcycle fatalities have increased 217 percent. The number of motorcyclists killed annually is more than double the number killed in all pipeline, marine, rail and aviation accidents combined. In 2006, nearly 5,000 people were killed in motorcycle accidents. Just over 40 percent of those killed were not wearing helmets.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a motorcycle accident, please contact the Motorcycle Accident Lawyer site to find an experienced motorcycle accident injury lawyer in your area.