What Causes Motorcycle Crashes?
Human error, usually aggressive driving or operator impairment, causes over 90 percent of the motorcycle crashes in SoCal. Regardless of the cause of a motorcycle crash, the result is usually the same. These victims usually sustain serious injuries. In fact, the motorcycle rider fatality rate is thirty times higher than the vehicle occupant fatality rate. The serious, and often fatal, injuries include head injuries, internal bleeding, and spine injuries.
These wounds usually require extended hospital stays, and California has one of the highest per diem hospital costs in the country. Hospitalization is just the beginning, as many of these victims have a long road to recovery. A San Marcos personal injury lawyer obtains the financial resources these families need to pay these expenses and move on with their lives.
Aggressive Driving
Excessive speed may be the most common, and most dangerous, kind of aggressive driving. It increases the risk of a wreck and the force in a collision.
Left-turn motorcycle wrecks are a good example of speed’s adverse effects in these cases. These scenarios account for about a third of the motorcycle crashes in California. Generally, a tortfeasor (negligent driver) is waiting to make a left turn against traffic, either at a traffic light or when exiting a private driveway. The tortfeasor doesn’t see an approaching motorcycle. If the tortfeasor is speeding, the tortfeasor cannot react quickly enough to avoid a wreck.
Usually, motorcycle riders cannot react quickly enough either. Two-wheel motorcycles are much harder to control than four-wheel cars or trucks.
Speed’s impact is universal. According to Newton’s second law of motion, speed multiplies the force in a collision between two objects.
Once again, this effect is especially pronounced during motorcycle wrecks. These victims almost literally only have the clothes on their backs to protect them from onrushing vehicles. The extreme force of a collision usually throws riders off their bikes, a fact which accounts for many of the aforementioned serious injuries.
Legally, excessive speed may invoke the negligence per se rule or the ordinary negligence doctrine. If tortfeasors violate safety laws and cause crashes, they could be liable for damages as a matter of law. If weather, traffic, or other conditions are less than ideal, motorists have a duty to slow down and drive below the speed limit (ordinary negligence).
Other motorcycle crash-causing aggressive driving behaviors include turning unsafely, a mistake that contributes to many left-turn wrecks, ignoring a traffic control device, and tailgating.
Operator Impairment
Alcohol impairment may be the most common, and most dangerous, kind of operator impairment. The impairing effects of alcohol, which include slow reflexes and clouded judgment, begin with the first sip of alcohol.
The one-two punch of alcohol impairment is much like the one-two punch of excessive speed. Because alcohol clouds judgment, these tortfeasors take risky chances and miscalculate things like the distance between themselves and other vehicles. Then, once again because of the alcohol, they cannot react quickly when things go sideways.
Also s is the case with speeding, a San Marcos personal injury lawyer can use the ordinary negligence doctrine or the negligence per se rule to obtain compensation in these cases. As mentioned, alcohol impairment begins with the first drink (ordinary negligence) and DUI is against the law (negligence per se).
Other kinds of driver impairment include fatigue, drug use, distraction, and a serious (or moderate) medical condition.
Connect With an Assertive San Diego County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Carlsbad, contact the Pursley Law Firm. You have a limited amount of time to act.
Source:
cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2013/12/human-error-cause-vehicle-crashes
