With more than three months left in 2026, motor vehicle crashes have killed 75 people in the state, including more than two dozen people who were not wearing a seat belt or were riding a motorcycle without a helmet, a N.H. Department of Safety report released last week said.
There have been some high profile cases recently involving motorcycle accidents in which people who were not wearing a helmet were killed, including a triple fatality in Laconia and the out-of-state death of state Rep. Charlie St. Clair, D-Laconia.
New Hampshire law doesn’t require adults to use seat belts or helmets, but Nelson Police Chief Joseph Filipi and other law enforcement officials encourage their use.
“If you’re playing the odds, you are better off with them than without them,” Filipi said in an interview Thursday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says use of seat belts in the front seat of a passenger car reduces the risk of fatal injury by 45%. Use of a helmet reduces the risk of a fatal injury by 37% for operators and 41% for passengers, according to the National Safety Council.
The accident report for St. Clair shows he had a severe head injury along with hip, arm and leg injuries. The report said he died of heart failure caused by traumatic internal injuries about two weeks after the crash, which occurred after his rear tire blew out on a highway in Avon, Ohio.
Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield knew St. Clair well and praised him highly.
The department’s honor guard participated in memorial services for St. Clair, who long presided over a motorcycle rally that attracted thousands of people each year.
Without an autopsy, it’s difficult to say whether a helmet or a seat belt could save a life in any individual accident. Many people die in traffic crashes whether or not they are using this safety equipment.
But Canfield, like Filipi, encourages helmet and seat belt use.
“In New Hampshire, people have that freedom to not wear a helmet, but in the many accidents I have seen over the course of my career, helmets do save lives and we would highly recommend them,” Canfield said, adding the same is true of seat belt use.
New Hampshire is the only state in the nation without a mandatory seat belt law for adults. Seat belts are required for people under 18 and appropriate child restraint systems are required for those under the age of 7 or under 57 inches tall.
It is one of three states, along with Illinois and Iowa, that have no helmet requirements for any adult motorcycle rider.
Other states have varying helmet laws. In Ohio, for example, adults must wear a helmet only within the first year of receiving a motorcycle license.
On Sept. 12, two motorcycles, each carrying a driver and a passenger, collided on Route 3 in Laconia. Three people not wearing helmets died in the crash. A fourth person who was wearing a helmet was badly injured, Canfield said.
The chief said he does not know the cause of death for the three who died, but noted that they did have head injuries.
Rep. Daniel Veilleux, D-Amherst, was the prime sponsor of a bill in 2023 that would have New Hampshire join the rest of the nation in requiring adults to use seat belts. The measure never left the N.H. House.
“The bill wasn’t very popular,” he said. “This is New Hampshire. People like to have individual freedom.”
In 2010, legislation to require mandatory motorcycle helmet use did not advance out of the House.
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