The number one perennial hot-button item of discussion amongst U.S. motorcyclists has to be the mandatory helmet law issue. It has been for years, and will be ‘til the earth stops spinning.
While scouting around on the subject I ran across an interesting chart from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that compares state-by-state helmet laws for motorcyclists and bicyclists. During my cursory review of this chart I couldn’t find any pattern between states, or any logic to some of the laws. For example, why do some states require only a motorcycle passenger up to a certain youthful age wear a helmet but not the operator, or kids on bicycles, while other states mandate helmet use across the board?