Massachusetts Motorcycle Accident FAQs

Motorcycle crashes follow different insurance rules in Massachusetts than car crashes, starting with the fact that riders do not receive no-fault PIP benefits. These answers cover what is different for riders and passengers. For the general rules that apply to every crash, see our motor vehicle accident FAQs.

No. Personal injury protection (PIP) does not cover people hurt while riding a motorcycle, as the operator or as a passenger. A Division of Insurance regulation, 211 CMR 3.02, says insurers are not required to include PIP in motorcycle policies for owners, operators, or guests.

The regulation also bars an injured operator or passenger from collecting PIP through the assigned claims plan or under the PIP coverage of another motor vehicle policy the person owns. The standard Massachusetts auto policy separately excludes from PIP anyone who was operating or occupying a motorcycle when hurt.

There is one exception in the other direction: a motorcycle policy must provide PIP to a pedestrian the motorcycle strikes.

Your health insurance pays first. Under Massachusetts coordination of benefits rules, medical payments coverage (MedPay) on a motor vehicle policy is always secondary to and in excess of a health benefit plan (211 CMR 38.05(1)(b)). So the order usually looks like this:

• Your health insurance pays under its normal terms, with your deductibles and copays. MassHealth is different: Medicaid is generally the payer of last resort and is left out of the coordination rule's definition of a plan, so MedPay may pay before MassHealth does.
• MedPay, if you bought this optional coverage on your motorcycle policy, can pay covered medical expenses the health plan does not, up to the limit you chose, regardless of fault.
• The at-fault driver's bodily injury liability coverage does not pay bills as they come in. It pays your damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering, through a settlement or judgment, up to the policy limit.
• Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage stands in for the at-fault driver's liability coverage if the driver had none or not enough.

Many health plans, and Medicare and MassHealth, have a right to be repaid from a recovery, but the rules differ by plan type. Since there is no PIP wage benefit either, lost income is part of the injury claim. Our motorcycle injury attorneys can sort out which coverage applies.

Not for a rider who was shut out of PIP, under the Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Murphy v. Bohn. Massachusetts law limits pain and suffering claims in car crashes unless medical bills exceed $2,000 or the injury is on a statutory list, such as a fracture (M.G.L. c. 231, § 6D).

In Murphy v. Bohn, 377 Mass. 544 (1979), the court held that a motorcycle operator who was excluded from PIP was not bound by that threshold, reasoning that he contributed to the no-fault system but was denied its key benefit. Under that decision, a rider with a soft tissue injury and modest medical bills may still be able to claim pain and suffering. The general threshold rules are explained in our motor vehicle accident FAQs.

It does not bar your claim, but the defense may try to use it against part of your damages. Massachusetts requires every motorcycle operator and passenger to wear protective headgear that meets the registrar's standards, and requires eye protection for an operator whose motorcycle has no windshield (M.G.L. c. 90, § 7).

The helmet law does not say that riding without one defeats an injury claim, and no Massachusetts statute says how it affects damages. A safety law violation can be evidence of negligence, but only if it caused the harm in question. So the defense would have to prove that a helmet would have prevented or reduced a particular injury, typically a head injury. An injury the helmet could not have affected should not be reduced on that basis. Read more about Massachusetts helmet laws.

No. Massachusetts law says a motorcycle may not pass another vehicle within the same lane, except another motorcycle, and no more than two motorcycles may ride side by side in a lane (M.G.L. c. 89, § 4A). Riding between lanes of cars, including in slow or stopped traffic, violates that rule.

If you were lane splitting when the crash happened, you can still recover if your share of fault was not greater than the combined fault of the drivers you are suing, with your damages reduced by your percentage (M.G.L. c. 231, § 85). A driver who changed lanes without checking may still bear more of the fault. Proposals to allow lane filtering have been filed in the Legislature, but none had become law as of September 2026. See how lane splitting cases.

The turning driver often bears most of the fault, but it depends on the facts. Under M.G.L. c. 89, § 8, a driver turning left at an intersection across oncoming traffic must yield the right of way until the turn can be made with reasonable safety. Breaking that rule is evidence of negligence.

Drivers must keep a reasonable lookout, so a driver who says they did not see an oncoming motorcycle has not explained away the failure to yield. The usual defense argument is that the rider was speeding or could have avoided the crash, which makes comparative fault the real fight. Speed evidence comes from skid marks, crush damage, video, electronic data where the motorcycle records it, and accident reconstruction. Keep the motorcycle, helmet, and gear unrepaired until they have been inspected. Learn more about failure to yield crashes.

Then the claim may be against the city, town, or state, and it has a 30-day written notice deadline. Our bicycle accident FAQs explain the notice rule and the low damage caps for road defect claims, which apply to riders the same way.

A pothole, loose gravel, or a steel plate that a car rolls over can throw a motorcycle. A contractor working on the road can also be responsible, and a claim against a private contractor is an ordinary negligence claim without those caps. Photograph and measure the defect before it is repaired. Our page on claims against the government explains more.

A passenger has no PIP, the same as the operator, under 211 CMR 3.02. If a car driver caused the crash, you claim against that driver's bodily injury coverage.

If the person operating the motorcycle was at fault, your claim is against the operator. The compulsory bodily injury coverage in a Massachusetts policy does not cover guest occupants (M.G.L. c. 90, § 34A), so your claim depends on whether the operator bought optional bodily injury coverage on the motorcycle. Read about motorcycle passenger injuries.

Your own motorcycle policy's uninsured motorist coverage is the usual source, and in Massachusetts that coverage includes hit-and-run crashes. Underinsured motorist coverage, which is optional, applies when the driver had some insurance but not enough.

Report a hit-and-run to police right away and notify your insurer promptly. Check your motorcycle policy for its specific notice deadline. A later lawsuit against a driver who is identified has its own written notice rule, covered in our motor vehicle accident FAQs. See our page on hit-and-run motorcycle crashes.

Get evaluated even if the helmet held and you feel mostly fine, because concussion symptoms such as headaches, memory gaps, and trouble concentrating can appear days later. A damaged helmet is evidence too: keep it.

For a rider, a brain injury also connects back to the helmet question in this FAQ. If the defense argues about helmet use, the medical records and the helmet itself show what the helmet did and did not prevent. Serious brain injuries can involve future care and lost earning capacity, so these claims usually are not valued until doctors can say what recovery looks like. Read about motorcycle brain injuries. If a rider died, our wrongful death FAQs explain the family's claim.

Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Glassman, founding attorney. Updated September 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts.