Who Has Compulsory Helmet Laws? Do they work?
Twenty-two states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and West Virginia, including the District of Columbia require helmets for some riders, usually under age 16. So do over 190 cities and counties. We have the current list up. More than a half of the under-16 population of the U.S. lives in one of those states or cities. Enforcement is rare, and helmet acceptance is probably too low for compulsory laws to work well at present in most areas. New Jersey reported a 60% reduction in fatalities for the age group covered in the five years after they adopted their law.
