DC Bike Helmet Laws

If you are bicyclist in Washington, DC the following is what you should know regarding bike helmets and how they can impact an injury case. To learn more or begin filing your claim, call and schedule a consultation with a DC bike accident attorney today.

Rules Regarding Bike Helmets in DC

If you’re over 16, you don’t have to have a bicycle helmet. It’s not against the law to not wear a helmet, but it’s against all common sense to not wear a helmet.  It can literally prevent you from having a traumatic brain injury, which could alter your life completely.

How A Bike Helmet Can Impact Your Injury Case

If you suffer an injury to your head or your brain, which are the areas that would be designed to be protected from wearing a helmet, and you are not wearing a helmet, a jury could attribute any injuries you have as your failure to mitigate your damages. You could still argue that you would have the brain injuries or the head injuries, but a jury might think otherwise and that could potentially affect the value of your case.

If you said that you were involved in a bicycle accident and it was the fault of someone else, and your only injuries are to your head or to your brain, a jury might think that, if you had your helmet on you wouldn’t have had these injuries. This could have a negative impact on the value of your recovery because the jury thinks that you weren’t exercising reasonable care and protecting yourself in mitigating your own damages.

What Other Measures Can You Take To Protect Yourself?

Having a camera on your bike might be helpful in detailing parts of the accident if there are no witnesses or no police come to the scene of the accident. It might be helpful in identifying other vehicles involved in the accident. This could help towards the liability aspect to your claims especially if the driver leaves the scene. You’d be able to identify the driver and contact the insurance company or the owner of the vehicle.

Having your pertinent information available, such as your blood type and any allergies or other medical information would be important as a good safety tip. You’re knocked unconscious and emergency treatment has to be rendered to you, other people who respond to the scene are going to be able to see your pertinent information even though you’re not able to give it. This can also be the case if you had any kind of amnesia or something else following your accident.  It’s always important to have that information on you, either on a bracelet or in your car. This is a good example of a protective measure.