U.S. Motorcycle Helmet Laws (Infographically Speaking)

Huh. Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire have absolutely no helmet laws for motorcyclists. Alaskan passengers must always wear a helmet on a motorcycle, no matter how old they are. We were curious about which States required everyone to helmet-up and which didn’t. We then realized our country is a mixed bag of “you-musts,” “only-ifs” and “don’t-have-to-if-you-don’t-want-tos” when it comes to motorcyclists’ head protection. So, after cross-referencing and fact-checking till it started to become un-fun, we decided to put together this handy li’l infographic to aid in our understanding of who must wear a helmet and who doesn’t hafta.

If you’re planning a bike trip across the country and you’re not a helmet kinda guy, use this graphic to know when to reluctantly pull over and put on a dang ol’ helmet. If you religiously wear a helmet, regardless of the government’s opinion of who’s too young to have a choice on the matter, this infographic may still intrigue your responsible self. Either way, click on it for a more enlarged view.

Keep in mind, we’re not broadcasting this for folks to use as THE law. Anyone who’s still unclear about the rules should consult their State’s DMV to get the lowdown.

These infographics are fun for us to create, so keep an eye out for more.

For a printable version of this infographic, download the PDF by clicking here.