What Makes Motorcycle Accidents Different?

Texas Motorcycle Accident Lawyers

Tate Law Offices, P.C., focuses on motorcycle accidents. We want to help riders and their passengers if they have been injured in an accident that someone else caused. We know motorcycle accidents are different from other types of motor vehicle accident cases. If you or a loved one has been seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident in Dallas, Houston or elsewhere in Texas, our attorneys will use our knowledge of these differences to your advantage.

Here are five key differences:

  1. Motorcycle accidents can result in severe injuries.
    Motorcycle riders have very little protection in an accident compared to car drivers. In a collision with another vehicle, motorcyclists face the initial impact plus a secondary impact with the road, ground or other structures or objects. Serious bone fractures as well as spinal column injuries and traumatic brain injury are common.
  2. Motorcycle crashes can be deadly.
    A motorcyclist is far more likely to die in an accident or because of injuries suffered in an accident. Motorcyclist deaths had been declining since the early 1980s. Yet, they began to increase in 1998 and continued until plateauing in 2008, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports.
  3. The insurance company will try to blame the motorcyclist.
    Insurance companies regularly try to shift blame onto motorcyclists after crashes. Drivers will, too. They may claim something like, “He came out of nowhere!” Insurers may also assert that a motorcyclist failed to wear adequate protection such as a helmet or other protective gear. This is a bogus argument. Even when the law requires a helmet, the presence or absence of protective gear has nothing to do with who caused a crash. Most often, the motorcyclist is not to blame.
  4. In reality, the motorcyclist often is not the one to blame for a crash.
    Driver error causes most motor vehicle accidents. In motorcycle collisions, the car or truck driver is more likely to have erred. The “Hurt Report,” a touchstone study of motorcycle accidents, found that the driver of the other vehicle caused the accident by violating the motorcyclist’s right-of-way in nearly two-thirds of all motorcycle accidents. Drivers often wind up in the path of a law-abiding motorcyclist because of some type of impairment (distracted driving, drunk driving, drowsy driving), recklessness (speeding, tailgating, trying to share the lane with a motorcycle) or simple negligence (drifting from a lane, failing to look, failing to yield).
  5. Road conditions may be to blame.
    Neglected maintenance or faulty construction of a roadway that leads to potholes, ruts, crumbling and shifting pavement can contribute to any vehicle accident. Those conditions are more likely to wreck a motorcycle. Many motorcycle accident victims are surprised to learn that the local government may be held responsible for a faulty roadway.

Let Tate Law Offices, P.C., Review Your Texas Motorcycle Accident Claim

The lawyers of Tate Law Offices, P.C., understand why motorcyclists like to ride. More importantly, we understand the obstacles a motorcyclist and/or their family faces after an accident – often due to bias against those who ride. We want to protect your rights. If you or a loved one has been injured in a motorcycle accident in Texas that someone else caused, let us review your case by talking to us online or by calling us. We will provide a free legal consultation and do everything we can to protect your rights and pursue the full compensation you deserve.