Motorcycle helmet and lane-splitting laws in Vermont

Vermont gets roughly 73 inches of snow a year in Burlington alone¹, which squeezes most of the state's motorcycle traffic into a six-month window between the last frost and the first hard freeze. That short season means a lot of riders, some rusty after a winter off the bike, are sharing back roads and highways with drivers who aren't yet used to looking for motorcycles again. Vermont's helmet and lane-use laws exist for exactly that stretch of road.

Two things set Vermont apart from a lot of its New England neighbors: it has one of the strictest helmet laws in the country, and it does not allow lane splitting in any form, not even the narrow exception some other states carve out for riding two abreast. Here's what the statutes actually say, what a ticket costs, and what these rules mean if you're hurt in a crash.

Vermont's helmet law has no adult exemption

Under 23 V.S.A. § 1256, anyone who operates or rides on a motorcycle on a Vermont highway has to wear protective headgear that meets the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard at 49 C.F.R. § 571.218, the DOT standard². There's no age cutoff and no experience-based or insurance-based opt-out like some states offer riders over 21. The only carve-out in the statute is for occupants of a fully enclosed autocycle, the three-wheeled, car-like vehicles built with a windshield and full side and top enclosure².

A headgear violation is a civil traffic ticket, not a criminal charge. Under the Vermont Judicial Bureau's current waiver penalty schedule, it carries no points against your license, a fine range of $47 to $1,197, and a standard waiver penalty of $162 if you don't contest it³. That's a smaller fine than most of the traffic code, but it's still a citation an insurer will see, and it can become relevant if you're hurt in a crash and headgear ends up in dispute.

Vermont also requires eye protection. If your motorcycle isn't equipped with a windshield or screen, you have to wear glasses, goggles, or a face shield while riding, and the lenses have to be colorless during the 30 minutes after sunset, the 30 minutes before sunrise, or any other time visibility drops below 500 feet⁴. That's a separate violation from the headgear rule. It carries 2 points against your license, the same $47 to $1,197 fine range, and its own $162 waiver penalty³⁴.

Lane splitting is flatly illegal, and so is riding two abreast

Some riders assume the "motorcycles are entitled to full use of a lane" language found in most state vehicle codes means two bikes can legally share a lane side by side. In Vermont, it doesn't. 23 V.S.A. § 1115 lays the rule out in four parts⁵:

• Every motorcycle is entitled to full use of a lane, and no other vehicle may drive in a way that squeezes a rider out of it.
• A motorcyclist can't pass another vehicle while staying in that vehicle's own lane.
• No one may operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between rows of vehicles, the actual lane-splitting ban.
• No motorcycle may be operated in the same lane alongside another motorcycle or vehicle, or closer than 10 feet ahead of or behind one.

That last point is the one riders get wrong most often. Vermont doesn't carve out an exception for two motorcycles riding abreast the way the model vehicle code language does in some other states. Police officers get a narrow exemption from the passing and between-lanes rules while acting in their official duties, but that exemption doesn't reach the lane-sharing distance rule⁵.

A lane violation under § 1115 is a moving violation: 2 points against your license, the same $47 to $1,197 fine range, and a $220 waiver penalty, higher than the headgear fine³. Vermont regulates how you sit on the bike, too. An operator has to stay on the permanent seat, sitting astride and facing forward, and can't carry a package that keeps both hands off the handlebars; a passenger needs a seat actually designed to carry one⁶. That's a different section of the same chapter, and it shows up on the same fine schedule as its own 2-point, $220-waiver violation.

What these laws mean if you're hurt in a crash

None of this changes who's at fault when a driver turns left across your lane or fails to see you at an intersection. Vermont uses modified comparative negligence: you can recover damages as long as your share of fault isn't greater than the other driver's, though whatever award you get is reduced by your own percentage of fault⁷. If you weren't wearing required headgear, or you were riding in a way that violated § 1115, an insurance adjuster may try to argue that fact into the comparative-fault math. It doesn't automatically bar your claim, but it's the kind of argument worth having a lawyer push back on.

It's also worth knowing what's actually backing the other driver. Vermont doesn't require much liability coverage to begin with: drivers only need $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries, plus $10,000 for property damage⁸. For a motorcyclist, whose injuries routinely run past $25,000 in emergency care alone, that floor is thin. Vermont does require uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in every auto policy, at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash, and if your own liability limit is higher than that, your UM/UIM limit has to match it unless you direct your insurer otherwise⁹. If you own a car in Vermont, confirming your own UM/UIM limits are adequate is one of the more useful things you can do before you ever swing a leg over a bike again.

You also have a clock running. Vermont gives you three years from the date of a crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, and the same three years to sue over damage to the motorcycle itself¹⁰. If your bike was totaled, or its resale value took a hit even after repairs, that property claim runs on the same three-year deadline as your injury claim; our Vermont diminished value guide walks through how that kind of claim works.

If you were in a crash, pulling the Vermont crash report is one of the first practical steps, since the responding officer's account of lane position, headgear, and fault will shape everything that follows. And because comparative-fault fights over gear and lane position get technical fast, it's worth talking to an attorney early. You can find one through our legal directory.

This article provides general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. National Weather Service Burlington, Historical Snowfall, https://www.weather.gov/btv/historicalsnow

2. 23 V.S.A. § 1256, Motorcycles; headgear, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/013/01256

3. Vermont Judiciary, Judicial Bureau Waiver Penalty Schedule, https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/sites/default/files/documents/Waiver_Penalty_Schedule_2024_rev1B_Website.pdf

4. 23 V.S.A. § 1257, Eye protection, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/013/01257

5. 23 V.S.A. § 1115, Operating motorcycles and motor-driven cycles on roadways laned for traffic, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/013/01115

6. 23 V.S.A. § 1114, Riding on motorcycles and motor-driven cycles, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/013/01114

7. 12 V.S.A. § 1036, Contributory and comparative negligence, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/12/027/01036

8. 23 V.S.A. § 800, Maintenance of financial responsibility, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/011/00800

9. 23 V.S.A. § 941, Insurance against uninsured, underinsured, or unknown motorists, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/011/00941

10. 12 V.S.A. § 512, Injuries to person or property, https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/12/023/00512