Many times if someone is in a bike accident and they aren’t wearing a helmet, the insurance company takes the position that the injury was the fault of the person not wearing the helmet.
There is no question that it is safer to ride with a helmet in California, but it’s also true that if the injury to the person is something other than their head (like their shoulder, or their ankle, or their hip) then the fact that a bicyclist is not wearing a helmet probably is not going to make very much difference in the outcome of the case.
On the other hand, if it’s a head injury–a cracked skull, a fractured skull, a concussion–the failure to wear a helmet is going to make a big difference in the case.
But every case is different, and we have helped a lot of people evaluate these cases. Sometimes we are able to take them and help, sometimes we aren’t, but there is no charge to find out what our view on the case is.