Florida Motorcycle Helmet Laws

Florida is one of the states that allows motorcycle riders who are over 21 to make a choice about whether they wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle. There is one requirement though if you choose not to wear one.  If you are over 21 and decide not to wear a helmet when you ride, you must have at least $10,000 worth of bodily injury motorcycle insurance. If you are riding in Florida without a helmet, and do not have the legally required insurance, you can receive a ticket from the police. Also if you have a passenger on your motorcycle that is under 21, helmets are mandatory in Florida.

Vertical license plates on motorcycles

There is a bit of uncertainty in the Florida law about whether people can mount motorcycle license plates vertically instead of horizontally. The present state of the law in Florida is that you can mount a motorcycle license tag vertically so it can be read from top to bottom, but there is one catch. Florida law requires it anybody who mounts a motorcycle tag vertically so it can be read from top to bottom must have an active and paid Sun Pass transponder mounted on their motorcycle. The reason why the State of Florida requires this is because some of the drive-through toll bridge cameras have trouble reading license plates that are mounted vertically. Having an activated Sun Pass device on your motorcycle will allow the toll bridge readers to identify the vehicle that is coming to the toll bridge.

Uninsured motorist coverage for motorcycles

The state of Florida does not require automobiles or motorcycles to have a special type of insurance called uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage provides additional insurance for you if the person who causes the accident does not have enough insurance to cover your injury costs or medical bills. Uninsured motorist coverage is usually not expensive but is almost always an extra option to add to your motorcycle insurance package. We strongly recommend that you consider purchasing uninsured motorist coverage specifically for your motorcycle insurance policy. We have seen so many riders who only have very minimum coverage because the person who causes an accident does not have adequate insurance to cover bills from injuries suffered during motorcycle accidents. Uninsured motorist coverage added as an option to your motorcycle insurance policy is an inexpensive way to make sure that you have enough coverage if the person causing the accident does not have insurance at all, or they have insufficient insurance.

Motorcycle passenger insurance in Florida

In Florida, the law treats automobiles and motorcycles differently with respect to coverage for passengers. The law in Florida for automobiles requires that the driver have $10,000 in personal injury protection. This also covers automobile passengers in almost all cases. The same is not true for motorcycle passengers. Each motorcycle policy is different. You need to check to see whether or not your motorcycle insurance policy covers passengers that ride with you, since it is not automatic or required in Florida for bikes. If you regularly carry passengers on your motorcycle and want to know if they are covered by your insurance if there is an accident, you need to carefully read your policy, or call your insurance carrier. It’s always a good idea to have a Florida motorcycle accident lawyer someone reviews your motorcycle insurance policy to see if it includes passengers or not.