Personal Injury Law

The highways can be extremely dangerous for all drivers. When it comes to motorcycles, this danger increases greatly. Recently, a motorcyclist  was critically injured after a hit and run wreck with an SUV. The biker was riding with two other motorcycles when an SUV ran a stop sign.

After running the stop sign, the SUV collided with one of the motorcyclists, which caused it to roll over.   The other two motorcyclists put their bikes down on the asphalt in an effort to  avoid a head on motorcycle crash. One of the motorcyclists who laid down his bike hit his head on a fire hydrant and suffered critical head injuries. All three motorcyclists were wearing helmets.

In an unwise move, the SUV driver ran from the scene. The police apprehended the hit and run SUV driver several hours later. The authorities are investigating the accident.

Despite the known dangers, motorcycle riding is quite popular, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there were 7.1 million motorcycles on the road in 2007 and in 2008, sales for motorcycles were over 1 million in 2008. During this time motorcycle fatalities also increased, in 2008 reaching the record number of  5290 in 2008. There has also been a dramatic jump in the number of deaths among motorcyclists age 40 and older in recent years.

The Governor's Highway Safety Association (GHSA) issued a preliminary report on Motorcyclist Traffic Fatalities by State for 2009. In the Spotlight on Highway Safety report on motorcycle fatalities for 2009, there was a trend in a decrease towards fatalities. The report only included data from 39 States, however, this trend is positive news. The top nine states with motorcycle fatalities include the following states: California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

       2008       2009    Change

CA  454            321       - 133

FL   413            302        -111 

IL    110            113         + 3 

IN   112            104          -8

NY 159             134         -2 

NC 147             136       -11 

OH 184             136       -48 

PA  202             185       -17 

TN 132              101    -  31 

This brings us to a few very important issues. How can we make the roadways a safer place for motorcyclists and other drivers?

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has created a great list on Ten Things All Car & Truck Drivers Should Know About Motorcycles.  Please click on the link below to read a few selected few highlights from this list.