In this article 8 sections
May is recognized as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and the California Highway Patrol has used it to remind drivers to watch for riders. The reminder exists for a reason. A rider has none of the steel, airbags, or crumple zones that protect people in cars, so a crash that would leave a driver shaken can leave a motorcyclist with broken bones, a head injury, or worse.
If you were hurt on a motorcycle, you may already have heard some version of “riders always get blamed.” There is some truth in that. Insurance adjusters know that some people carry a bias against motorcyclists, and they often lean on it. They may point to the fact that you were lane splitting, question your helmet, or look into whether your bike was insured.
This post walks through how California law actually treats each of those issues, what they can and cannot do to your claim, and the steps that help protect you after a crash.
Why Motorcycle Crashes Are So Serious
The numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are sobering. In its most recent motorcycle fact sheet (covering 2023 data, published July 2025), NHTSA reported that 583 motorcyclists were killed in traffic crashes in California that year. Nationwide, 6,335 motorcyclists died in 2023, and per mile traveled, the fatality rate for motorcyclists was almost 28 times the rate for passenger car occupants.
Those figures are not meant to scare you. They explain why motorcycle injury claims tend to involve serious medical care, long recoveries, and larger losses, and why insurers often fight them harder than a typical fender bender.
Lane Splitting Is Legal in California
Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines “lane splitting” as driving a two-wheeled motorcycle between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, on divided or undivided roads and highways. The same law allows the CHP to develop educational guidelines on lane splitting. The CHP states plainly that lane splitting by motorcyclists is legal in California.
Legal does not mean anything goes. The CHP’s safety guidance encourages riders to:
- Consider the whole environment, including lane width, the size of nearby vehicles, and road, weather, and lighting conditions
- Remember that danger increases as the speed difference between the motorcycle and traffic grows
- Remember that danger increases as overall speed increases
- Split between the far left lanes when possible, which is typically safer than other lanes
- Avoid splitting next to big rigs, buses, motorhomes, and other large vehicles
- Stay visible and avoid lingering in other drivers’ blind spots
How lane splitting comes up in a claim
Because lane splitting is lawful, the fact that you were splitting lanes is not, by itself, proof that you caused the crash. The real questions are the same ones asked in any collision. Was the driver who changed lanes paying attention and signaling? Did they check their mirrors? Were you riding at a reasonable speed for the conditions?
Expect the insurer to compare your riding to the CHP guidance. If you were moving far faster than traffic, for example, the adjuster may argue that you share some of the blame. That argument goes to how fault is divided, which we cover below. It does not automatically defeat your claim.
California’s Helmet Law
California has a universal helmet law. Under Vehicle Code section 27803, both the driver and any passenger must wear a safety helmet that meets state requirements when riding a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, or motorized bicycle on the highway. The law defines “wearing” a helmet as having a compliant helmet on your head, fastened with the straps, and sized to fit securely.
NHTSA’s 2023 data shows that, among California motorcyclists killed that year whose helmet use was known, 94 percent were wearing helmets.
What if you were not wearing a helmet?
Not wearing a helmet is a violation of the Vehicle Code, and you should expect the insurance company to raise it. But it does not erase your right to compensation from a driver who caused the crash.
In many cases, the argument about a missing or unfastened helmet is really an argument about which injuries the helmet might have prevented or lessened. A helmet has nothing to do with a broken leg caused by a car turning left in front of you. It may matter a great deal to a head injury claim. How much weight that argument carries depends heavily on the facts and the medical evidence, which is one reason careful documentation of each injury matters.
How Fault Is Shared: Comparative Negligence
California uses “pure comparative negligence,” a rule the California Supreme Court adopted in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804. Under this system, your compensation is reduced by your own share of fault, but you are not barred from recovering just because you were partly to blame.
Here is how that works in a hypothetical: a driver drifts into your lane without signaling while you are lane splitting at a speed well above the flow of traffic. Suppose a jury decides the driver was 80 percent at fault and you were 20 percent at fault, and that your total damages are $200,000. You would generally recover 80 percent of those damages, or $160,000.
This is why the insurer’s arguments about lane splitting speed or helmet use matter. They are usually attempts to shift a percentage of fault onto you, not reasons to deny the claim outright. Our post on what your case may be worth explains more about how damages are valued.
Riding Without Insurance: Proposition 213
There is one rule that can hit uninsured riders hard. Proposition 213, approved by voters in 1996 and found in Civil Code section 3333.4, generally bars an injured person from recovering non-economic damages (pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement) in a case arising from the use of a motor vehicle if that person:
- Owned a vehicle involved in the accident that was not insured as required by California’s financial responsibility laws
- Was operating a vehicle involved in the accident and cannot show the required financial responsibility, or
- Was driving under the influence and was convicted of that offense
Under the Vehicle Code, a motorcycle is a motor vehicle, and California requires all drivers and owners of motor vehicles to be able to show financial responsibility, usually through insurance. So an uninsured rider may be limited to economic damages such as medical bills and lost income.
There is an important exception. An uninsured owner who is hurt by a driver who was driving under the influence, and who is convicted of that offense, is not barred from recovering non-economic damages. Whether Proposition 213 applies to your situation can turn on details such as who owned the bike and what coverage was in place on the date of the crash, so it is worth having a lawyer look at the specifics.
What to Do After a Motorcycle Crash
The basics in our guide to the first 24 hours after a crash apply to riders too. A few points matter even more on a motorcycle:
- Get medical care right away. Riders often walk away from a crash on adrenaline and discover later that they have a concussion, a fracture, or a spinal injury. Prompt records also connect your injuries to the crash.
- Keep your gear. Do not throw out or repair your helmet, jacket, gloves, or boots. Damage to your gear can show how and where you were struck, and it can answer helmet questions directly.
- Photograph the bike and the scene. Capture the motorcycle, the other vehicle, the lane positions, traffic conditions, and any skid marks or debris.
- Get witness information. Other drivers and riders who saw the crash can confirm what the at-fault driver did.
- Look for video. Many riders use helmet cameras, and nearby businesses and other vehicles may have recorded the crash. Footage can be overwritten quickly.
- Be careful with the insurer. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company before you understand your rights, and do not guess about your speed or lane position.
John Reardon spent nearly two decades treating injured patients as a chiropractor before becoming a lawyer. That background shapes how we look at a rider’s medical records: which injuries came from which part of the impact, and whether the records fully capture what you are going through.
Deadlines You Should Know
In California, most personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If a government vehicle or a dangerous public road contributed to the crash, the timeline is much shorter: a claim to the public entity generally must be presented within six months under Government Code section 911.2. Our post on government claims deadlines explains that process.
Talk to a California Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Lane splitting, helmet questions, and insurance status are all issues an insurer may use to push your claim down. None of them automatically ends it. If you were hurt in a motorcycle crash, our motorcycle accident team can review what happened, deal with the insurance companies, and explain your options.
The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Call us at 657.522.7122.