Does Not Wearing a Helmet Hurt Your Michigan Motorcycle Claim?
Riding without a helmet does not automatically end your right to recover after a Michigan motorcycle crash. Michigan lets many adult riders go helmet-free, and even when a helmet would have helped, your claim is measured under Michigan’s comparative fault rules, not thrown out. Here is how the law under MCL 257.658 actually works.
Is it legal to ride without a helmet in Michigan?
For many riders, yes. Michigan repealed its universal helmet requirement in 2012. Under MCL 257.658, a rider who is at least 21 years old may ride without a crash helmet if two conditions are met. First, the rider has either held a motorcycle endorsement for at least two years or has passed an approved motorcycle safety course. Second, the rider carries at least $20,000 in first-party medical benefits coverage. A passenger who is 21 or older may also ride without a helmet if that same $20,000 in coverage is in place for the passenger.
Riders and passengers under 21 must still wear an approved helmet, without exception. So whether helmet use was legally required in your situation depends on age and the coverage in place at the time of the crash.
Can the insurance company blame you for not wearing a helmet?
An insurer will often try. Michigan follows modified comparative negligence, so your own conduct can reduce what you recover. Under MCL 600.2959, your economic damages, such as medical bills and lost wages, are reduced by your percentage of fault. Your non-economic damages, meaning pain and suffering, are reduced by that same percentage and are barred entirely only if you are found more than 50 percent at fault.
Two limits protect riders here. First, helmet non-use only matters if it actually made a difference. An insurer must connect the missing helmet to the specific injury. If your injuries are to your legs, spine, or internal organs, a helmet would not have changed them, and the argument does not apply. Second, the crash itself is usually the other driver’s fault. Not wearing a helmet does not cause a collision, so it does not shift blame for how the crash happened.
| Situation | Effect on your Michigan claim |
|---|---|
| Injuries not to the head (legs, spine, internal) | Helmet use is irrelevant; no reduction for going helmet-free. |
| Head injury, helmet legal for your age and coverage | Insurer may argue comparative fault, but must prove a helmet would have reduced that injury. |
| Rider under 21, or adult without the required coverage | Helmet use was legally required; expect a stronger comparative-fault argument on head injuries. |
| You are found more than 50 percent at fault | Pain-and-suffering recovery is barred; economic damages still reduced by fault share. |
What you can still recover
Even in a helmet dispute, a seriously injured rider usually keeps two tracks of recovery. Medical care and wage loss can be paid as first-party no-fault benefits through the insurer with priority for a motorcycle-versus-vehicle crash, which is a separate question from fault. To recover pain and suffering from the at-fault driver, your injury must clear the serious-impairment threshold in MCL 500.3135, the standard the Michigan Supreme Court set out in McCormick v Carrier, 487 Mich 180 (2010).
Deadlines still control the case. A motor-vehicle injury lawsuit generally must be filed within three years under MCL 600.5805, and no-fault benefits carry their own one-year notice and one-year-back limits under MCL 500.3145. Waiting can quietly shrink or end a claim regardless of the helmet question.
- Legal to go helmet-free at 21 and up. Only if the endorsement or safety-course rule and the $20,000 coverage rule are both met.
- Not an automatic bar. Michigan reduces recovery by fault percentage; it does not erase a claim for going helmet-free.
- Causation is the fight. Helmet non-use matters only for injuries a helmet could have reduced.
- The clock still runs. Three-year filing limit and one-year no-fault limits apply either way.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I was not wearing a helmet, can I still bring a claim?
Yes. Going without a helmet does not bar a Michigan claim. Your recovery is measured under comparative fault, and it is reduced only if the missing helmet is shown to have worsened a specific injury.
Does not wearing a helmet reduce my recovery by a set amount?
No. There is no fixed percentage for helmets. The 5 percent cap in the seat belt statute applies to seat belts only. Helmet non-use is argued as ordinary comparative fault and depends on the evidence.
I had leg and back injuries, not head injuries. Does the helmet matter?
Generally no. A helmet protects the head. If your injuries are elsewhere, going helmet-free should not reduce your recovery for those injuries.
Injured in a Michigan motorcycle crash?
Free consultation with Manny Chahal, no fee unless we recover, call 1-844-624-2425.
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