Motorcycle Accidents
There’s an old saying by those who live to ride, “There’s two kinds of riders. Those that have been hit and those that are going to be hit.” Motorcycle accidents are a common occurrence here in Texas. Unfortunately, the injuries from these accidents are often severe or fatal. As riders ourselves or friends and family of riders, the Merman Law Firm hopes to shed some light on why these accidents occur so often.
The statistics that The Texas Department of Transportation have provided for 2016 are terrifying. There was a total of 3,620 non-incapacitating injuries. 2,074 of these wore a helmet. As for incapacitating injuries, there was a total of 2,008. 1,031, a little over half of which wore a helmet. In addition to debilitating injuries, there were 496 motorcyclist deaths last year; less than half these riders wore a helmet.
As you can see, helmets are a very crucial part of motorcycle safety. However, helmets aren’t the only thing to be concerned about while on the road. “When motorcycles and other vehicles collide, it is usually the other (non-motorcycle) driver who violates the motorcyclist’s right of way,” according to an issue statement from NHTSA. “There is a continuing need to help other motorists ‘think’ motorcycles and to educate motorcyclists to be aware of this problem.” Motorcycles are much smaller than the majority of other vehicles on the road. Unfortunately, most drivers don’t see them. Usually this is because the driver’s view of the motorcycle is obstructed by their blind spots or other vehicles. A lot of the time though, the crash is related to the driver just being distracted, more often than not, by their cell phones. It is extremely important that both motorcycle riders and vehicle drivers are fully aware of their surroundings and always take their safety into consideration.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a motorcycle accident, call the Gulf Coast Motorcycle Injury Attorneys at The Merman Law Firm today for a free consultation.
Sources:
http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/trf/crash_statistics/2016/09.pdf
