Motorcycle Crashes and Helmets in Shreveport: What You Should Consider

Motorcycle collisions can result in severe injuries, and these debilitating crashes are often deadly. While motorcyclists can sustain a wide range of serious injuries in wrecks, it is particularly important to understand how helmet use can be a significant factor in motorcycle collision claims involving brain injuries. Our Shreveport motorcycle injury attorneys can help you with any questions you have, and in the meantime, we have more information about motorcycle crashes and helmets in Louisiana.

Research Helmets Can Prevent Brain Injuries in the Event of a Crash 

Research shows that helmets can play a key role in preventing traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the event of a motorcycle crash, and as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) emphasizes, it is also important to ensure that you have the right kind of helmet that fits you properly.

Louisiana Law Requires You to Wear a Motorcycle Helmet 

Louisiana law actually requires motorcyclists to wear helmets, regardless of age or experience level. Indeed, the law says: “No person shall operate or ride upon any motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, or motorized bicycle unless the person is equipped with and is wearing on the head a safety helmet of the type and design manufactured for use by operators of such vehicles, which shall be secured properly with a chin strap while the vehicle is in motion.”

Your Compensation for Brain Injuries in a Motorcycle Crash Could Be Reduced If You Were Not Wearing a Helmet 

If you are not wearing a helmet and suffer a TBI or another type of head injury in a motorcycle crash, your compensation could be diminished or barred. Louisiana uses a “pure comparative fault” system, which means that, even if you are partially at fault for your injury (such as by not wearing a motorcycle helmet and sustaining a brain injury), you can still recover damages even if the defendant (or defendants) are even partially at fault. However, your total recovery will be diminished by your percentage of fault determined by the court.

You Should Seek Medical Attention As Soon As Possible 

Even if you were wearing a motorcycle helmet but failed to seek medical attention in a timely manner, and it turns out that you did in fact sustain a head injury in a motorcycle collision, you could still be at risk of having a damages award reduced due to Louisiana’s comparative fault law. In other words, failing to seek timely medical attention—even if you were wearing a helmet as required—could be considered negligent and could limit the at-fault motorist’s liability for your head injury. As such, seek a medical assessment from a health care provider as soon as possible after a crash, even if you do not immediately experience signs and symptoms of head trauma. As the Mayo Clinic underscores, sometimes traumatic brain injuries do not immediately produce signs or symptoms, but they can still be worsening without quick care.

Contact a Shreveport Motorcycle Crash Lawyer 

Did you sustain a TBI or another type of injury in a motorcycle crash in Louisiana as a result of another party’s careless or reckless behavior? It is important to get in touch with one of the experienced Shreveport motorcycle crash attorneys at Rice & Kendig, LLC as soon as you can in order to get started on a claim for compensation.

Sources:

legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=88170#:~:text=No%20person%20shall%20operate%20or,while%20the%20vehicle%20is%20in

legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=109387#:~:text=If%20a%20person%20suffers%20injury,suffering%20the%20injury%2C%20death%2C%20or

nhtsa.gov/motorcycle-safety/choose-right-motorcycle-helmet

mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20378557