Despite the efforts of both state and federal authorities, as well as those of private organizations and clubs, motorists on the nation’s roadways still fail to recognize motorcycles in time to prevent accidents. Worse, when a motorcycle is involved in an accident, the injuries sustained by the rider or passenger are often catastrophic. If you have been injured in a New York or New Jersey motorcycle accident, you may be due compensation for the injuries you received as a result of the accident.
Causes of Motorcycle Accidents
Although motorcycle accidents can occur as a result of obstacles in the roadway, weather, or driver error, the vast majority of motorcycle collisions are caused by the driver of another vehicle on the roadway. In fact, in multi-vehicle collisions, the driver of the other vehicle is at fault 75 percent of the time. When interviewed regarding a collision with a motorcycle, the most common reason given by the at-fault driver is that he or she did not see the motorcycle.
In support of this statistic, consider another statistic: The most common accident pattern involving a motorcycle occurs when another driver turns left into the path of an oncoming motorcycle, even though the bike had the right of way. Unlike accidents involving two passenger vehicles or trucks, rear-end collisions where the motorcycle is the victim happen less than 10 percent of the time, leading to the conclusion that a motorcycle has to be directly in front of a vehicle for the motorcycle to feel relatively certain of being recognized.
Motorcycle Injuries
Collisions on the nation’s roadways have steadily been declining over the past few decades. Accidents involving motorcycles, though, have not decreased — in fact they have increased dramatically. Statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, tell us that fatal collisions involving motorcycles increased 55 percent from 2001 to 2008.
During the same seven-year period, over 1.2 million people were injured in motorcycle accidents and 34,000 were killed across the country. These numbers represent an all-time high for motorcycle accidents during a time period when accidents involving passenger vehicles dropped to an all-time low. In the State of New York alone, there were 5,426 motorcycle accidents in the year 2007, which resulted in 172 deaths. New Jersey saw 87 fatalities as a result of motorcycle accidents in 2006 alone.
The most common injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident are injuries to the legs or feet. Even with state-of-the-art riding gear, injuries to a rider’s legs are hard to prevent when a bike goes down. Likewise, wearing a helmet may help decrease the severity of head injuries to a biker or passenger in a motorcycle accident, but statistics compiled by the CDC tell us that over 20 percent of accident victims still receive head or neck injuries in a motorcycle accident. Many of these injuries result in serious and permanent injury to the victim.
As any rider knows, your risk of being injured if involved in a motorcycle accident is extremely high — as high as 90 percent. The same thing that draws bikers to ride–the open feeling of the wind on your face as you cruise down the road–is precisely what makes a rider vulnerable to injuries when involved in an accident. There simply is nothing protecting a rider from injury when hit by another vehicle.
If you have been injured in a New York or New Jersey motorcycle accident, statistics tell us there is a 75 percent likelihood that you were not at fault in the accident. If the driver of the vehicle that collided with you was indeed negligent, or at fault, then you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.
The motorcycle accident attorneys at Ginarte Gonzalez & Winograd, LLP, can help. We have seven offices conveniently located in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. Contact the firm today by calling 888-446-2783 for your free consultation or fill out our online contact form.