Motorcycle Helmet and Lane-Splitting Laws in Maryland

Maryland is a universal-helmet state where lane-splitting is illegal and contributory negligence still applies. Here's what each rule means if a driver hit you.

ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial
Jun 2, 2026
6 min read

Motorcycle helmet and lane-splitting laws in Maryland

If a driver just hit you on your motorcycle in Maryland, two questions tend to come up fast: were you required to wear that helmet, and does it matter that traffic was crawling and you slipped between the lanes. Maryland answers both in its Transportation Code, and the answers are stricter than in a lot of other states.

Maryland is a universal-helmet state, lane-splitting is flatly illegal here, and it is one of only a few states, along with the District of Columbia, that still follows pure contributory negligence. That last rule is why the helmet and lane-splitting questions carry real financial weight, well beyond a ticket.

Maryland's universal helmet law

Every person who operates or rides on a motorcycle in Maryland has to wear protective headgear. The statute is Md. Code, Transportation §21-1306, and it draws no line by age: a 55-year-old rider and a 16-year-old passenger are under the same rule.1 There is one narrow exception. The requirement does not apply to a person riding in an enclosed cab.1

The law also handles your eyes. An operator must either wear an eye-protective device approved by the Motor Vehicle Administration or ride a motorcycle equipped with a windscreen.1 A full-face helmet with a visor works, and so do goggles paired with a windshield.

Protective headgear is not just any helmet. The MVA is directed to publish a list of approved headgear by name and type,1 and Maryland regulation sets the floor. COMAR 11.13.05.02 adopts Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 (FMVSS 218, 49 CFR §571.218) as the minimum standard, and the MVA accepts helmets that comply with it.2 In practice that means a DOT-certified helmet, the kind bearing the "DOT" symbol that FMVSS 218 requires on the back. A novelty helmet does not meet the standard.

Lane splitting is illegal in Maryland

Riding between lanes or between rows of stopped or slow traffic, often called lane splitting or filtering, is prohibited in Maryland. Md. Code, Transportation §21-1303 states plainly that a person may not operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles.3 Unlike California, which legalized the practice, Maryland has never carved out an exception, and no bill has changed that.

The same section gives you rights, too. A motorcycle is entitled to the full use of a lane, and a driver may not operate a vehicle in a way that deprives a motorcycle of the full use of a lane.3 Two riders may travel side by side, two abreast, in a single lane.3 What you cannot do is share a lane by passing: the operator of a motorcycle may not overtake and pass in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being overtaken.3

If you were splitting lanes when a car moved into you, expect the other driver's insurer to lean on §21-1303 hard. In Maryland that argument is more dangerous than in most states, and the next section explains why.

Why a helmet or lane-splitting violation can sink a claim

Maryland is one of only a few states, and the District of Columbia, that still apply contributory negligence. The Maryland Supreme Court reaffirmed the doctrine in Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia, 432 Md. 679 (2013).4 Under that rule, if your own negligence contributed to the crash at all, even slightly, you can be barred from recovering anything from the other driver.

Lane splitting is the clearest example. Because §21-1303 makes it illegal, a rider who was filtering between cars hands the defense a ready-made contributory negligence argument. If a jury finds that riding between the lanes was a proximate cause of the collision, the claim can fail outright, not just get reduced.

The helmet question is narrower but still worth understanding. Not wearing a required helmet usually has nothing to do with why a crash happened, so it is unlikely to bar a claim over, say, a broken leg. Where a defense lawyer raises it is on the size of a head-injury claim, arguing that a DOT helmet would have reduced the harm. In a contributory negligence state, the safest position is a compliant helmet on every ride.

None of this means a violation automatically ends your case. Contributory negligence turns on proximate cause and the specific facts, and those are exactly the points a lawyer fights over. You can start with the thatcarhitme.com legal directory to find a Maryland attorney who handles motorcycle cases.

The insurance Maryland makes drivers carry

Every Maryland vehicle owner must carry liability coverage of at least $30,000 for injury to one person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage, written as 30/60/15 under Md. Code, Transportation §17-103.5 Those minimums have not moved since 2011, and $30,000 goes fast against a serious motorcycle injury.

That gap is why the next coverage matters so much to riders. Maryland requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on every auto policy, and it must equal your bodily injury liability limits unless you signed a written waiver to reduce or reject it (Md. Code, Insurance §19-509).6 If the driver who hit you carried only the state minimum, your own UM/UIM coverage is often what actually pays the hospital. It is worth pulling your declarations page to see whether you waived it.

Deadlines and the cap on damages

You generally have three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in Maryland. The deadline comes from the general civil statute of limitations, Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings §5-101, which requires a civil action to be filed within three years from the date it accrues.7 Miss it and the court can dismiss the case no matter how strong it is. The same three-year clock covers property damage to the bike.

Maryland also caps noneconomic damages, the pain-and-suffering part of a verdict. For a cause of action arising through September 30, 2026, the cap is $965,000; it rises to $980,000 on October 1, 2026, and by another $15,000 every October 1 after that (Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings §11-108).8 In a wrongful death case with two or more beneficiaries the limit is 150% of that figure, which is $1,470,000 as of October 1, 2026.8 The cap does not touch economic damages like medical bills and lost wages, and it does not apply to punitive damages.8 A 2026 bill to repeal the cap, House Bill 476, did not become law; the House Judiciary Committee sent it to interim study.9

After a Maryland motorcycle crash

Get the crash documented. A police crash report is the backbone of most claims, and you can request one and see Maryland crash data through the Maryland crash reports page; the reports themselves are held by the Maryland Department of State Police, Central Records Division.10

Don't overlook the bike. Even after a clean repair, a motorcycle with a crash on its record is worth less, and that lost value is its own claim; the Maryland diminished value guide walks through it.

One more Maryland rule shows up in a lot of these crashes. Handheld phone use behind the wheel is banned, and a driver may only touch a phone to start or end a call (Md. Code, Transportation §21-1124.2). It has been a primary offense, one an officer can stop and ticket for on its own, since October 1, 2013.11 If the driver who hit you was on a phone, that statute helps establish their negligence.

This is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. Md. Code, Transportation §21-1306 (motorcycle protective headgear and eye protection). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtr&section=21-1306&enactments=false

  2. COMAR 11.13.05.02 (Protective Helmets, adopting FMVSS 218 / 49 CFR §571.218). https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/11.13.05.02

  3. Md. Code, Transportation §21-1303 (motorcycles, lane use, and passing). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtr&section=21-1303&enactments=false

  4. Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia, 432 Md. 679 (2013). https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2013/9a12.pdf

  5. Md. Code, Transportation §17-103 (required security and minimum liability limits). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtr&section=17-103

  6. Md. Code, Insurance §19-509 (required uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin&section=19-509&enactments=false

  7. Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings §5-101 (three-year statute of limitations). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=5-101&enactments=false

  8. Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings §11-108 (noneconomic damages cap); Maryland Department of Legislative Services, Fiscal and Policy Note, HB 476 (2026 Session). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/fnotes/bil_0006/hb0476.pdf

  9. Maryland General Assembly, House Bill 476 (2026 Session), bill status and history. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0476?ys=2026RS

  10. Maryland Department of State Police, Central Records Division (crash report requests). https://mdsp.maryland.gov/community-services/request-police-reports

  11. Md. Code, Transportation §21-1124.2 (handheld phone use while driving). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtr&section=21-1124.2&enactments=false

About This Guide

Written by: ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial

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