Wyoming motorcyclists made up roughly 22% of the state's 107 traffic deaths in 2024, a share far out of proportion to how few motorcycles are actually registered in the state.1 The Wyoming Department of Transportation counted 247 motorcycle-involved crashes and 17 rider deaths in 2025 alone, and its safety campaign ahead of the Sturgis rally traffic each summer boils down to one line: look twice, save a life.2 Here is what Wyoming law actually requires when it comes to helmets and where you're allowed to ride relative to other traffic, and where the state leaves the choice up to you.
Who has to wear a helmet in Wyoming
Wyoming's helmet law is narrow. Under Wyo. Stat. 31-5-115(o), only a rider or passenger under 18 has to wear protective headgear, and it has to be securely fastened and meet a standard the statute still defines by reference to the American National Standards Institute's Z90.1-1971 spec.3 If you're 18 or older, Wyoming doesn't require a helmet at all, for the operator or for a passenger.
That puts Wyoming among the roughly 30 states with a law covering only some riders rather than a universal requirement.4 The gap shows up in the fatality numbers: WYDOT reports that 58% of motorcyclists killed in Wyoming crashes between 2020 and 2024 weren't wearing one.2 WYDOT's own safety materials put the value of a helmet at roughly a 50% reduction in head-injury severity and about triple the odds of surviving a crash, and note that most Wyoming motorcycle crashes happen on short trips under five miles, at speeds below 30 mph, not just on the open highway where a rider might expect the risk.5
Lane-splitting and lane-sharing
Wyoming draws a hard line between splitting lanes and sharing one. Riding between lanes of traffic, or between rows of stopped or slow-moving vehicles, is illegal statewide under Wyo. Stat. 31-5-115(g).3 WYDOT's own rider guidance puts it plainly: a motorcycle can't pass another vehicle within the lane that vehicle occupies, with one exception, passing another motorcycle.6 There's no carve-out for a backup on I-80 or I-25; the ban applies regardless of speed or road type.
What is legal: two motorcycles riding side by side in a single lane, if both riders agree to it. Wyo. Stat. 31-5-115(e) entitles every motorcycle to full use of a lane, bars other drivers from squeezing a rider out of that space, and specifically allows two bikes, not three or more, to travel abreast in one lane by mutual consent.3
Equipment rules riders overlook
A few other requirements sit in the same statute and carry the same misdemeanor exposure as the helmet and lane rules, even though riders cite them less often: passengers need footrests, since any motorcycle carrying a passenger outside a sidecar or enclosed cab must have footrests installed for that passenger; handlebars can't rise above shoulder height, measured with the rider seated astride the bike in its upright position; and headlights stay on at all times the bike is on the road, day or night, not just after dark.3
Wyoming has no statewide eye-protection statute; the law doesn't require goggles, a face shield, or a windscreen for any rider. WYDOT recommends eye protection anyway, along with abrasion-resistant jackets and pants that cover the arms and legs, sturdy over-the-ankle boots, and leather or synthetic gloves, none of it mandatory, all of it aimed at the same short, low-speed trips where most Wyoming crashes actually happen.5 The state funds rider training by statute, too: the Motorcycle Safety Education Program backs WYDOT's RiderCourse, a two-day class offered around the state from May through October for $50 for Wyoming residents and $150 for out-of-state riders.7
What a violation actually costs
A helmet, lane-position, or equipment violation under 31-5-115 is a misdemeanor prosecuted through Wyoming's general traffic-penalty schedule. A first conviction tops out at a $200 fine. A second conviction for the same offense within a year rises to $300. A third or later conviction within that year can reach $500, up to six months in jail, or both. Every conviction also carries a flat $5 officer training fee on top of whatever fine applies.8
How it plays into an injury claim
Wyoming follows modified comparative negligence: if you're found 51% or more at fault for the crash that hurt you, you recover nothing, and any award below that line gets reduced by your percentage of fault.9 A minor riding without the required helmet, or any rider caught splitting lanes, hands an insurance adjuster or defense lawyer an easy argument for shifting some of that percentage onto you, even when the other driver caused the wreck. An adult riding helmetless isn't violating any statute, since Wyoming doesn't require it past age 18, though insurers sometimes still try to argue it affected the injuries anyway.
None of that shrinks the size of a properly apportioned award. Wyoming's constitution bars the legislature from capping compensatory or punitive damages in an ordinary injury case, motorcycle crashes included. The only exception on the books is a narrower cap lawmakers are allowed to set for medical malpractice claims, which doesn't reach a crash case.10
Insurance matters more than the helmet law
Wyoming doesn't require, or even require insurers to offer, medical payments or PIP coverage that would pay a rider's own bills regardless of fault. That leaves an injured motorcyclist relying mainly on the at-fault driver's liability coverage, and Wyoming only mandates 25/50/20 in minimum limits, thin against the kind of injuries a bike crash tends to produce, especially for a rider who wasn't wearing a helmet.11 Uninsured motorist coverage is required on every Wyoming auto policy unless the policyholder rejected it in writing, so it's worth checking whether that rejection ever happened on any policy in the household.12 Underinsured motorist coverage isn't mandated at all; it has to be purchased separately if it exists on the policy at all.
After the crash
Get the official report once law enforcement has filed it through Wyoming's crash-report system. If the bike itself was damaged short of a total loss, a diminished value claim may cover the drop in resale value that survives even a complete repair. And because the four-year clock on a Wyoming injury claim, and a separate four-year clock on a property-damage claim, starts running on the date of the crash rather than the date treatment ends, it's worth talking to someone about the case well before that deadline closes in.13 The legal directory is a place to start if you don't already have someone handling the claim.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Fatality Facts 2024: State by state. https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/fatality-statistics/detail/state-by-state
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Wyoming Department of Transportation data, reported in "WYDOT warns of more motorcycles ahead of Sturgis; 247 crashes, 17 deaths in 2025," KOTA Territory News, July 15, 2026. https://www.kotatv.com/2026/07/15/wyoming-officials-remind-drivers-share-road-sturgis-rally-approaches/
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Wyo. Stat. 31-5-115, Operation of Motorcycles, Autocycles and Pedestrian Vehicles. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-5/article-1/section-31-5-115/
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Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Fatality Facts 2024: Motorcycles and ATVs. https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/fatality-statistics/detail/motorcycles-and-atvs
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Wyoming Department of Transportation, Motorcycle Safety. https://www.dot.state.wy.us/home/dot_safety/motorcycle-safety.html
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Wyoming Department of Transportation, Motorcycle Safety - Safety Laws. https://dot.state.wy.us/home/dot_safety/motorcycle-safety/safety-laws.html
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Wyo. Stat. 31-5-1502, Motorcycle Safety Education Program Created. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-5/article-15/section-31-5-1502/
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Wyo. Stat. 31-5-1201, Violation of Provisions to Constitute Misdemeanor; Penalties; Officer Training Fee. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-5/article-12/section-31-5-1201/
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Wyo. Stat. 1-1-109. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-1/chapter-1/section-1-1-109/
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Wyo. Const. art. 10, Sec. 4. https://sos.wyo.gov/Forms/Publications/WYConstitution.pdf
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Wyo. Stat. 31-9-405(b)(ii). https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-9/article-4/section-31-9-405/
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Wyo. Stat. 31-10-101. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-10/section-31-10-101/
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Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(iv)(B)-(C). https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-1/chapter-3/section-1-3-105/