Articles Tagged with bicycle accidents

As a general rule, bicycle helmets are a smart investment in safety for all cyclists, regardless of age or skill – especially in Florida, which has the unfortunate, long-running reputation as the most dangerous state in the U.S. for riding. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported of the thousands treated in hospital emergency rooms nationally for bicycling injuries, traumatic brain injuries account for 60 percent of deaths, 67 percent of hospital admissions and 33 percent of injuries. Only 17 percent of all cyclists killed in crashes were wearing helmets.

If you weren’t wearing a helmet at the time of your bicycle accident, it’s important to understand how Florida helmet law will – or won’t – affect your claims and/ or litigation.

What is Florida’s Bicycle Helmet Law?

Legally, there is no universal Florida helmet law or even bike helmet law in Florida for that matter. If you’re 16 or older, you don’t have to wear one. However, if you’re younger than that, the law says you must wear one that meets federal safety standards, fastened to your head securely with a strap.

However, a defendant in a Fort Myers bicycle accident cannot use your decision to wear a bike helmet – or to ensure your child is wearing one – as a means to gain the upper hand in the case. The defense strategy, existing in some states that don’t expressly forbid it, involves asserting that a cyclist’s decision to forego the known protection of a helmet, is an act of contributory negligence resulting in exacerbated trauma that otherwise would not have been sustained, and therefore, the defendant shouldn’t be responsible for the full extent of your injuries.

While a rider’s lack of wearing a helmet will likely be mentioned at trial, Florida law expressly prohibits the jury from reducing monies for damages due to your lack of wearing a helmet. Continue reading