Motorcycle Insurance Articles
How Helmet Laws Affect Motorbike Insurance Rates
2011-06-02
In 2010 The National Transportation Safety Board proposed a nationwide mandate that anyone riding a motorcycle was required to wear a helmet. If the proposal sticks, riders could see lower motorbike insurance rates. Today at least 20 states force motorcycle riders and their passengers to wear helmets. Twenty-seven other states require minors, and passengers to wear helmets. The only states that do not have motorcycle helmet laws are Iowa, Illinois and New Hampshire.
Motorbike insurance rates vary from state to state. Insurance rates are normally based on the rider's driving record and the type of motorcycle that is being insured. Motorbike insurance rates can run anywhere from $20 to $300 per month. If a state can prove that their claims have decreased because of motorcycle helmet laws, then insurance rates may be decreased but this could take several years to be proven. The majority of insurance claims involve bodily injury to the policyholder or their passengers. A helmet law significantly decreases the chance of serious injury for the driver and their passengers.
Statistics show motorcycle riding is safer since motorcycle helmet laws have been enforced. The National Transportation Safety board stated that from 1997 to 2008, the number of motorcycle fatalities doubled during a period when overall highway deaths had declined. In over half of motorcycle fatalities, the drivers or passengers were not wearing their helmets. Although in 2009, after motorcycle helmet laws were put into place, fatalities dropped over 16 percent. The statistics clearly show us how helmet laws affect insurance rates in states around the country. Motorbike helmet laws affect insurance rate around the country. A person who is not wearing a helmet is 40 percent more likely to have a fatal head injury and 15 percent more likely to have a life-threatening injury than a person who wears a helmet. These statistics alone can help individuals understand how helmet laws affect insurance rates in states around the country.
The majority of people believe that insurance companies aren't as concerned about motorcyclists hurting themselves as they are about insuring someone driving a full-size vehicle that may severely injure or kill a motorcyclist. If this situation should occur, the insurance company could have to pay a substantial amount of money for a settlement.
Many people are worried about how motorcycle helmet laws affect motorbike insurance rates in the country instead of considering how many lives could be saved if helmets were required by law in all states. It is hard to say how much money individuals save in states that have helmet laws, but common sense tells us that not only can money be saved by enforcing helmet laws but many lives as well.