Toledo Bicycle Helmet Laws

One of the best things you can do to protect yourself from sustaining serious bicycle accident injuries is to wear a helmet. Helmets shield people’s heads and could protect people from sustaining serious traumatic brain injuries. Toledo bicycle helmet laws do not really exist, but that does not make wearing a helmet any less necessary. If you have been involved in a bike crash and have sustained serious injuries, speak with a qualified bike accident attorney that could help.

Helmet Requirements

There is no mandatory wearing of a helmet law under Toledo law. In all circumstances, there is no legal requirement to wear a helmet as a bicycle rider under Toledo law. Law enforcement officers would still encourage both children and adults to wear a bicycle helmet simply to avoid traumatic brain injuries, abrasions to the face, and other typical serious injuries.

Protection That Helmets Offer

Wearing a helmet can help a bicyclist injured in an accident prevent traumatic brain injury, broken bones of the face and body, abrasions and eye damage. It just makes good common, practical sense. The bicyclist could be the safest operator in the world but if a motor vehicle of some type hits them, they are going to face serious physical injury. Wearing a helmet is the sensible thing to do.

Impact Wearing a Helmet Can Have on a Case

A driver not wearing a helmet is not breaking Toledo bicycle helmet laws, but in the case of an accident, the value of the case will be reduced. Juries will believe that a person has a duty of care to minimize consequences of an injury. From a common sense perspective, it is a known risk that if someone falls off a bike or is hit by a vehicle when riding on a bike, a head injury is a possible consequence.

Therefore, even though the jury may be instructed by the judge not to be prejudiced and award major damages, a reasonable jury may conclude that the bike operator assumed a substantial risk by not wearing a helmet, and would probably discount the value of the case.

What is Contributory Negligence in Toledo?

Contributory negligence in Toledo is a situation where the bicycle rider is partially at fault for the accident.

For example, if the bicycle rider was either going too fast or too slow or weaving in and out of the lane of travel, a reasonable jury could determine that the bicycle rider bears a certain percentage of fault for the accident.

If a jury determines that the car was 70% at fault for the accident and the bicyclist was 30% at fault, the bicyclist would receive 70% of the total dollar amount the jury determined for the damages.

Under Ohio law, there is no official jury instruction or contributory negligence for not wearing a helmet. However, it is possible juries will look more kindly on someone who was wearing a helmet and made an attempt to minimize their potential exposure to injury than they are for someone who was not wearing a helmet and suffers a traumatic brain or head injury. There is no difference under Toledo law pertaining to the number of wheels on a cycle.

Role Helmets Have in Survival Statistics

The vast majority of individuals involved in a bicycle accident in Toledo survive. Statistics do show however, there are substantially greater incidences of wrongful death and more serious injuries when the individual is not wearing a helmet. If an individual wants to know more about Toledo bicycle helmet laws, they should speak with a knowledgeable bike accident attorney that could answer their questions.