RIDE TO LIVE; LIVE TO RIDE-New York's Motorcycle Safety and Helmet Law

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Brooklyn Injury Attorney)

One of the best ways to avoid serious injury after a motorcycle accident is for the rider to follow motorcycle safety laws. Keep safe and keep legal by reviewing New York's motorcycle and helmet laws, which cover helmet use, handlebar height, helmet speakers, eye protection, lane splitting, and lane sharing. Take heed Dear Readers, and take note of study the following rules.

Safety Helmet	Required by Law - Must be Dept. of Transportation (DOT) approved! Reflectorization required (4 inch square).
Eye Protection	Goggles and/or face shields required by law, day or nighttime.
Daytime Use of Headlight	Required by law-modulating headlight permitted.
Passenger Seat	Required if carrying a passenger.
Passenger Footrest.	Required if carrying a passenger.
Helmet Speakers	Single earphone only is permitted.
Rear View Mirror	One required by law or right or left side.
Two Brakes	1-a. Every motorcycle registered in this state and manufactured or assembled after 1/1/1971 and designated as a nineteen hundred seventy-one or later year model shall be equipped with brakes acting on the front as well as the rear wheel.
Turn Signals	Required if bike manufactured in 1985 or later.
Muffler	Muffler required; no straight pipes; no removal of baffles; no modification of exhaust system that increases noise beyond exhaust system originally installed. See N.Y.S. Vehicle & Traffic Law, Section 381.
State Insurance Requirements	Compulsory Liability (Minimum Limits)(25/50/10) - Minimum limits where death results are 50/100.
Handlebar Height	Handle bars or grips cannot be more than the height of the operator's shoulders.
Motorcycles operating two abreast in same lane	Yes. N.Y.S. Vehicle & Traffic Law, Section 1252 states that motorcycles are entitled to full use of a lane and no motor vehicle or motorcycle shall be driven in such a manner as to deprive any motorcycle of the full use of a lane. And this provision is not to be construed to prevent motorcycles from being operated two abreast in a single lane.
Lane Splitting	The operator of a motorcycle shall not overtake and pass in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being overtaken. No person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles.