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Seat Belts for Motorcycles

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John Bennett

John Bennett

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Our annual Texas "Click it or Ticket" campaign reminded me....

When I taught Defensive Driving classes a Student would occasionally ask me...

"Do motorcyclists have to wear seatbelts?"

Me: "No."

Student: "Then why are we forced to wear them?"

Me: "Uh...."

A sudden cascade legal theory and philosophical questions stumped me. I never did come up with a good answer. I fumbled on with something about it being impractical and actually less safe. Neither of us was ever satisfied.



This year's new campaign propaganda from our Texas D.O.T. was actually not bad.

 
John Bennett said:
Student: "Then why are we forced to wear them?"

Me: "Uh...."

A sudden cascade legal theory and philosophical questions stumped me. I never did come up with a good answer. I fumbled on with something about it being impractical and actually less safe. Neither of us was ever satisfied.
Click to expand...
Personally, I feel it is better to be strapped into a thing that has all manner of safety features to minimize injuries, but only if you are in the position where you need to be for them to work correctly. Also, it is far better to be strapped into a cage than rattling around inside of it, or getting thrown out of it only to have it come and get you.
 
Actually, motorcycles do have a seat belt law. Well, of sorts. It's called Mallorie's law. On some of the bikes sold, my Suzuki being one, it had a strap for the back passenger, which I quickly took off. I don't think HD's come with them


In many jurisdictions, specifically under laws like Malorie's Law (HB 3838) in Texas, a motorcycle carrying a passenger must be equipped with dedicated passenger handholds, such as a grab strap on the seat or metal grab rails, in addition to a permanent seat and footrests.
  • The Law's Intent: These regulations require a secure, fixed point for the passenger to hold onto that is designed for that purpose, ensuring they do not have to rely solely on holding the operator's waist.
  • What Counts as a Handhold: A grab strap across the pillion seat, dedicated grab rails, or handles integrated into the seat are acceptable.
  • Legal Consequences: Operating a motorcycle without these, if required by your state, can be treated as a traffic violation, such as a Class C Misdemeanor, potentially resulting in fines.
  • Passenger Position: The passenger must ride behind the operator on the designated seat, keeping their feet on the foot pegs, and should not ride in front of the operator.
 
I remember, when Jimmy Carter was president, his transportation secretary - Joan Claybrook - experimented with seat belts on motorcycles and rear-steering motorcycles. Seat belts increased injuries and nobody could operate the rear-steering bikes.
 
Add on a neck brace or HANS device while we’re at it.
 
DFW_Warrior said:
Personally, I feel it is better to be strapped into a thing that has all manner of safety features to minimize injuries, but only if you are in the position where you need to be for them to work correctly. Also, it is far better to be strapped into a cage than rattling around inside of it, or getting thrown out of it only to have it come and get you.
Click to expand...
Only one reason for seat belt law; to keep the driver in control as long as possible to save ME who might get hit by the driverless vehicle.

Fools that don't get that a seat belt could save them are not my concern.
 
Keeping the occupants strapped in the cage is obviously safer. Both keeping them inside and away from each other.

Being strapped to the outside of a possibly 900lb motorcycle flipping out of control would be worse. Better odds of surviving if thrown free of the bike.
 
Besides the obvious safety factor, the insurance industry was a big driving reason for seatbelts to reduce injury claims.
 
When I was stationed (Army) in West Germany, they did not have a law requiring the use of seat belts - the insurance company policies reduced injury coverage by something like 75% if the occupants were not wearing them.
 
John Bennett said:
Our annual Texas "Click it or Ticket" campaign reminded me....

When I taught Defensive Driving classes a Student would occasionally ask me...

"Do motorcyclists have to wear seatbelts?"

Me: "No."

Student: "Then why are we forced to wear them?"

Me: "Uh...."

A sudden cascade legal theory and philosophical questions stumped me. I never did come up with a good answer. I fumbled on with something about it being impractical and actually less safe. Neither of us was ever satisfied.



This year's new campaign propaganda from our Texas D.O.T. was actually not bad.

Click to expand...
This safety nut supports seatbelts in cars, but not on Bikes. On Bikes, we need to be able to get away from it. Passenger grab straps are a good thing of course, because they don't have handlebar thingies.
 
charliez said:
Actually, motorcycles do have a seat belt law. Well, of sorts. It's called Mallorie's law. On some of the bikes sold, my Suzuki being one, it had a strap for the back passenger, which I quickly took off. I don't think HD's come with them


In many jurisdictions, specifically under laws like Malorie's Law (HB 3838) in Texas, a motorcycle carrying a passenger must be equipped with dedicated passenger handholds, such as a grab strap on the seat or metal grab rails, in addition to a permanent seat and footrests.
  • The Law's Intent: These regulations require a secure, fixed point for the passenger to hold onto that is designed for that purpose, ensuring they do not have to rely solely on holding the operator's waist.
  • What Counts as a Handhold: A grab strap across the pillion seat, dedicated grab rails, or handles integrated into the seat are acceptable.
  • Legal Consequences: Operating a motorcycle without these, if required by your state, can be treated as a traffic violation, such as a Class C Misdemeanor, potentially resulting in fines.
  • Passenger Position: The passenger must ride behind the operator on the designated seat, keeping their feet on the foot pegs, and should not ride in front of the operator.
Click to expand...
That grab strap coment reminded me of an incident from years ago. As a tec in an auto shop we were always playing pranks on each other
I got the bright idea to remove the spark plug wire from the right side of a co workers Kawasaki Ltd 750 and insert a wire into it. The other end got stripped and run under that grab hold strap. Of course when he started the bike he got a nice shock in the backside. I should have disabled the other plug wire as well because the bike actually started and in steady of just a monetary shock he got a constant stream till he moved. Good times.
 
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