What States have Helmet Laws?

The helmet laws in the United States for Motorcycle riders are set by the individual states. The only national law that comes into play is the fact that, when a state requires a rider by law to wear a helmet, they must wear one which is sanctioned by the department of transportation as being a safe enough helmet to meet the safety guidelines.

As the helmet laws are set from state to state, they can be quite different from each other. However, it is safe to say that most states have at least some form of a helmet law. The only states which have no law whatsoever governing the wearing of a helmet while on a motorcycle are Iowa, Illinois, and New Hampshire. All other states have some form of a motorcycle helmet law.

From there, the motorcycle laws can be divided into two groups, those which require ALL riders, regardless of age, to wear a helmet at all times when riding a bike and those which require only riders of a certain age to wear a helmet. The universal helmet states, which have laws that force every motorcycle rider to wear a helmet, include Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Nebraska, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

All of the states which have not already been mentioned have some kind of partial helmet law. Typically, these require that everyone under a certain age must wear a helmet, while for those over the age limit are left to their own judgment. States are divided into two different ages for helmet laws. Some states require all riders 17 and under wear a helmet, such as Arizona, while other such as Arkansas require that all riders 20 and under wear a helmet at all times when riding a motorcycle.