Our Professional Personal Injury Lawyers Explain
If you ride a motorcycle in the state of California, whether or not you wear a helmet can be a big deal. If you sustain an injury in a motorcycle accident, failure to wear a helmet can impact your personal injury case. In some instances, evens constitutes negligence and opens you up to legal repercussions. Learn more about your rights in this post and by speaking directly with a San Jose motorcycle accident attorney as soon as possible.
Helmet Laws
Many states have enacted mandatory helmet laws for motorcyclists that assert penalties and fines for failing to wear a helmet. This becomes a bit of a grey area when it comes to identifying who is liable if you are injured on your motorcycle. In California, the law commands that every driver and rider on a motorcycle wear a helmet, regardless of age. Thus, not wearing a helmet is a violation of the law and could be considered negligence.
Exemptions and Distinctions
When looking at a motorcyclist’s potential liability in an accident, there are a couple of different things to consider. California follows a system of comparative negligence to award damages to victims in auto accidents and other tort cases.Comparative negligence is a system used to determine the relative liability of defendants and damages available. In other words, each party is only liable for his or her percentage of fault. So a plaintiff is still able to recover damages, even if he or she was at fault in contributing to the accident.
The ultimate award of damages for a plaintiff will be reduced by his or her own percentage of fault. For this reason, your financial settlement might be reduced depending on if you contributed to the incident itself and the injuries that you sustained.
Get Legal Advice
This is where it can become complicated; wearing your helmet doesn’t guarantee you compensation if you are the injured party here. There are caveats, details, and laws that may or may not impact the outcome of your case. Talk to a Bay Area personal injury attorney to make sure you have someone looking out for your best interests during, what could be, a drawn-out legal dispute.
Know that an act or omission that exacerbates or increases the injuries suffered by a motorcyclist not wearing a helmet doesn’t necessarily mean that you are exempt from recovery and compensation. The best thing that you can do is to consult with San Jose motorcycle accident lawyers to learn more about your legal rights.
Our Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Will Help Your Case
If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident, know your legal rights. Talk to a personal injury attorney at Farling, Hecht & Davis, LLP, a San Jose, CA law firm with expertise in motorcycle accidents, personal injury and liability cases. Give yourself the best chance of compensation for your injury by contacting us online today.