Lots of people in the northern New Jersey area choose to ride a motorcycle rather than drive a car. For many, the feel of the road and the taste of the open air are far better than being stuck inside a car. Many bikers make this decision in the full awareness of the severity of motorcycle accidents.
Unfortunately, when a biker does get into a crash, the losses that they suffer are often far more severe than they would have been if they were in a car. This is why the personal injury attorneys at the law office of Lavery, Selvaggi & Cohen work tirelessly to make sure injured bikers get the compensation they deserve to make a full recovery.
The High Cost of Motorcycle Accidents
Cars dominate the roads in the United States. Encased in 3,000 pounds of metal and plastic, the drivers of these vehicles can count on numerous safety mechanisms to keep them safe in the event of a crash.
However, the weight of a passenger vehicle puts motorcyclists at serious risk of a severe injury in even the smallest crash. Worse, bikers do not have the same kinds of safety mechanisms that car drivers can count on do to keep them away from the dangers of a collision. Typically, motorcyclists can only rely on their helmet to keep their head safe in an accident.
This makes motorcycle accidents far more likely to be deadly, or lead to serious injuries for the biker. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 4,976 motorcyclists were killed in 2015 alone, while another estimated 88,000 were hurt in motorcycle accidents. This meant motorcyclists accounted for 14% of all traffic fatalities and 4% of all traffic injuries in 2015, despite the fact that motorbikes only made up 3% of all of the registered vehicles in the U.S., and only accounted for 0.6% of the vehicle miles traveled that year.
Based on this information, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) states that, per mile driven in 2014, motorcyclists were 27 times more likely than a car driver to lose their life in a crash.
Car Drivers Tend to Be the Cause of Motorcycle Crashes
Unfortunately, motorcyclists are not the arbiter of their own fate. Instead, where there are multiple vehicles involved in a motorcycle crash, car drivers were generally the ones at fault for the accident. According to a study done by the University of South Florida's Center for Urban Transportation Research, 60% of the motorbike accidents that involved a bike and a car were the fault of the driver of the car.
This statistic rarely surprises motorcyclists, who often have to deal with cars trying to squeeze them off the road or following them too closely. Especially at night, many car drivers tend not to see a biker on the road, or fail to comprehend that what they are seeing is not just another car. Additionally, motorcyclists are known for being more attentive to the road than many passenger vehicle drivers. Being mere inches from the pavement instills a seriousness to driving a motorcycle that car drivers are immune to feeling – motorcyclists are constantly reminded not to drive while distracted, while car drivers do it all the time.
Motorcycle Accident Attorneys in New Jersey
If you or someone you love was driving their motorbike when they got hit by a car, getting legal representation early in the process is crucial. The personal injury attorneys at Lavery, Selvaggi & Cohen fight for your rights and interests from the very beginning, and work both inside the courtroom and out to make sure you get the compensation that you need to make the full recovery that you deserve. This means we stand by your side when you deal with insurance companies, as they try to avoid paying what they rightfully owe you under your insurance policies. It also means we are still by your side if you need to find another source of compensation to pay for your losses.
Contact the New Jersey law office of Lavery, Selvaggi & Cohen by calling us at (908) 852-2600 or by reaching out to us online.