Sunday 25 October 2009

USA Helmet Laws

Being somewhat confusing for riders from outside of the USA, each State has its own helmet laws that say whether you must wear a helmet, you can choose to wear one if you are over a certain age, or there are some States that do not have a helmet law. The map below shows what the current situation is with each State.
Red means you don't have to wear a helmet.
Blue normally means you dont have to wear a helmet if you are over a certain age (check on the link below)
Green means you must wear a helmet
(Click on the map for greater detail)
















For further information see http://www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseCurrent.aspx

Now I am definitely not saying that you should or should not wear a helmet if you are riding in the States – that is up to you. But, you should know what the laws are, so as well as looking at whether you have a choice to wear a helmet or not, there are other laws that you should consider like;


· Do you have to wear eye protection?
· Must you have a headlight on?
· Can you wear headphones?
· Is lane sharing / splitting allowed?

For the answers to these questions in any of the States you might be considering visiting, see

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/PrintLaws.html

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yo Gary, I'm planning a 1,300 mile trip around the coast of Ireland next year on my 04 Sportster, no where near the mileage you will do, but it will be great i have done it in a car for most of it years ago, will be watching your blog with interest .....