MERIDEN, Conn. -- Three motorcyclists were in critical condition following two separate crashes in the state on Saturday.

Police said Robert Donovan, suffered serious head injuries after his bike struck a car on Cook Avenue in Meriden.

Police told Eyewitness News that Donovan wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

Around 5 p.m., two motorcycles collided on Route 198 in Chaplain, police said.

They said a female motorcyclist was attempting to turn into a driveway when she was struck by a man on another motorcycle.

Police said that while the woman was wearing a helmet, the man was not.

A recent spike in motorcycle crashes has spurred debate across the state on whether it should be law that bikers wear helmets.

Gov. Jodi Rell proposed a mandatory helmet law following the deaths of two riders in Rocky Hill earlier in the month.

It is state law in Massachusetts for motorcyclists to wear helmets, and in Rhode Island passengers on bikes must wear helmets.

The Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association and riders who spoke with Eyewitness News on Saturday said that helmets should remain optional.

“If you want to wear it you can, if not, you don’t need to,” said rider Darrell Briere.

The mandatory helmet law has been brought up in the past, but has been defeated. It has yet to go before Legistlature.