As deaths and injuries from automobile collisions decline, the number of accidents involving mopeds, motor scooters, choppers, cruisers, sport bikes and touring bikes keeps growing in Illinois and Wisconsin, as it does across the country.
Even when drivers and riders wear safety helmets and other gear, motorcycle accidents almost always injure motorcyclists. As motorcycle accident statistics reveal, catastrophic injuries and fatalities are far more common for bikers than for car drivers, who operate vehicles with a steel cage, seatbelts and airbags.
Despite some unavoidable risks of operating a motorcycle, crashes and spills are not always a biker’s fault. It’s a popular myth that bikers are daredevils and that, as many insurance companies believe, a biker contributes to nearly every accident by choosing to ride. At Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle, our motorcycle accident attorneys and experts thoroughly investigate the factors that caused a personal injury or the loss of a loved one during a motorcycle crash.
Motorcycle accidents usually occur because the driver of a car or other vehicle fails to see a biker, whether the motorcycle is in a blind spot, obscured by objects, or even stopped directly ahead in a roadway. At times drivers ignore the right of way or make sudden left-hand turns. A vulnerable motorcyclist also can become severely injured, even when driving defensively, if it’s necessary to spill a bike to avoid a collision with a negligent or reckless driver.
Injuries and fatalities also occur when bikes have defective brakes, strike road debris, experience fuel leaks, hit potholes or uneven pavement on poorly maintained roads, or become involved in drunk driving accidents with cars or motorcycles. Because a motorbike provides hardly any injury protection, motorcycle accidents often result in road rash, amputations, internal injuries, knee fractures, broken ribs and other crushed bones, head injury and traumatic brain injury, and injuries to the spinal cord, back, and neck.
For a free consultation to evaluate any wrongful death claim you may have or a personal injury claim for medical bills, lost wages, rehabilitation, pain and suffering, and other bike accident-related expenses, please contact the motorcycle accident lawyers at ZRFM.