Georgia Motorcycle Helmet Laws: Impact on Your Injury Claim

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Georgia requires every motorcycle operator and passenger to wear approved headgear. After a crash, the practical question is whether a missing or noncompliant helmet can be put in front of a jury, and Georgia’s motorcycle helmet statute, unlike its helmet statutes for young cyclists and electric bicycles, says nothing about that.

What OCGA 40-6-315 Requires

The statute has four operative parts:

  • Headgear. “No person shall operate or ride upon a motorcycle unless he or she is wearing protective headgear which complies with standards established by the commissioner of public safety” (OCGA 40-6-315(a)).
  • Eye protection. “No person shall operate or ride upon a motorcycle if the motorcycle is not equipped with a windshield unless he or she is wearing an eye-protective device of a type approved by the commissioner of public safety” (OCGA 40-6-315(b)).
  • Exceptions. The section “shall not apply to persons riding within an enclosed cab or motorized cart” or to “a person operating a three-wheeled motorcycle used only for agricultural purposes” (OCGA 40-6-315(c)).
  • Standards. The commissioner “is authorized to approve or disapprove protective headgear and eye-protective devices” and to issue regulations establishing standards, and must publish lists of approved items “by name and type” (OCGA 40-6-315(d)).

The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the headgear requirement in Ritter v. State, 258 Ga. 551 (1988). The court reasoned that a helmetless rider is exposed to dangers “that may cause him to lose control of his motorcycle and thus become a hazard to other motorists,” and it concluded “that the statute is a valid exercise of police power, and that the individual cyclist’s desire not to wear a helmet must succumb to the statute.” Ritter quoted an earlier version of subsection (a) that referred to the Board of Public Safety rather than the commissioner.

The Federal Helmet Standard

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218 “establishes minimum performance requirements for helmets designed for use by motorcyclists and other motor vehicle users,” and its purpose “is to reduce deaths and injuries to motorcyclists and other motor vehicle users resulting from head impacts” (49 CFR 571.218, S1, S2). It sets three tests. In the impact attenuation test, the helmet is dropped onto a test anvil, and “[p]eak accelerations shall not exceed 400g” (S5.1(a)). In the penetration test, “the striker shall not contact the surface of the test headform” (S5.2). In the retention test, the retention system must “attain the loads specified without separation,” and the adjustable portion of the test device may not move more than 1 inch (S5.3.1).

Each helmet must carry a label “constituting the manufacturer’s certification that the helmet conforms to the applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards” (S5.6.2). Georgia’s statute ties compliance to standards set by the commissioner of public safety; the federal standard is a separate requirement for the helmet itself.

Helmet Evidence in a Civil Claim

Whether a missing helmet may be shown to a jury is a question of evidence law. Stockert v. Rogers, No. A21A1047 (Ga. Ct. App. Sept. 29, 2021), arose from a collision between a bicyclist and a college student on a motorized skateboard who suffered skull and facial fractures. The trial court excluded evidence that the skateboarder wore no helmet, drawing a public policy from two statutes that preclude using certain cyclists’ failure to wear a helmet as evidence of negligence or liability: the helmet rules for cyclists under 16 and for riders of electric bicycles. Those statutes did not cover motorized skateboards, and the Court of Appeals reversed.

The court’s analysis reaches beyond skateboards. “Evidence is properly excluded on one of two grounds: either the evidence is not relevant, or a specific exclusionary rule applies.” Specific exclusionary rules must have constitutional, statutory, or common law provenance, and “new judge-made rules are never valid grounds for excluding evidence.” The court held “only that it was error to exclude evidence that Rogers was not wearing a helmet here based only on a new rule not grounded in constitutional or statutory text,” and it added that such evidence “may or may not be relevant under the circumstances of a given case, and a specific exclusionary rule may or may not apply.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the helmet requirement cover passengers?
Yes. OCGA 40-6-315(a) applies to any person who operates “or ride[s] upon” a motorcycle.

Does OCGA 40-6-315 say what a violation means in a civil case?
Its text sets the headgear and eye-protection requirements, the exceptions, and the commissioner’s authority; it contains no provision on evidence or on liability in a civil action. The bicycle helmet statutes that the trial court relied on in Stockert do contain such a provision.

Where is the federal certification label on a helmet?
On the outer surface, with the symbol “DOT” placed 1 to 3 inches from the bottom edge of the back of the helmet. The label shows “DOT,” the term “FMVSS No. 218” and the word “CERTIFIED” beneath it, and the precise model designation and the manufacturer’s name or brand above it (49 CFR 571.218, S5.6.2).

  • OCGA 40-6-315(a), (b), (c), (d)
  • Ritter v. State, 258 Ga. 551 (1988)
  • 49 CFR 571.218 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218), S1, S2, S5.1, S5.2, S5.3.1, S5.6.2
  • Stockert v. Rogers, No. A21A1047 (Ga. Ct. App. Sept. 29, 2021)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Georgia’s motorcycle helmet requirement and its relation to an injury claim. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether helmet evidence is admissible, and what effect it has, depends on the facts of the crash and the court’s rulings. Anyone injured on a motorcycle should consult a licensed Georgia attorney promptly about the particular situation.

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