Breaking Traffic Laws Causes Most Motorcycle Accidents

Riding a motorcycle is a common choice of transport for many Americans, but it carries certain risks. Motorcycle riders lack the physical protections that vehicle occupants enjoy. Passenger cars, SUVs, and light trucks employ crash safety and feature crumple zones, seat belts, and airbags.

Motorcycles have none of these features. There is no barrier between a rider and the environment, nothing to cushion the impact of an accident. Motorcyclists can only protect themselves by wearing armored clothing and helmets and following safe riding practices.

But even the most well-equipped and skilled motorcycle rider cannot control what others do on the road. Car and truck drivers who break traffic laws put motorcyclists at risk for accidents that inflict severe and potentially fatal injuries.

Here is a review of traffic law violations that pose the greatest dangers to motorcyclists and how a skilled motorcycle accident attorney can help crash victims and their loved ones.

Traffic Law Violations That Endanger Motorcyclists

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 5,000 American motorcycle riders lose their lives each year in a traffic accident. Thousands more suffer disabling injuries that inflict crushing financial costs while preventing them from earning a living, going to school, and living independently.

Many factors contribute to the cause of motorcycle accidents in the United States. But chief among them is the violation of traffic laws by other motorists who share the road with motorcyclists. Few drivers intend to break laws and to motorcycle riders and others in harm’s way. Nevertheless, it happens with distressing regularity and can have devastating physical, emotional, and financial consequences for motorcyclists, their loved ones, and the community.

Speeding/Failure to Operate at Safe Speed for Road Conditions

According to NHTSA crash data, unsafe speed plays a contributing role in roughly 40 percent of the approximately 5,000 fatal motorcycle accidents every year in the United States. Too many motorcycle crashes occur because of another vehicle’s unsafe speed.

The NHTSA and other traffic researchers have extensively documented the dangers of speeding (exceeding a posted speed limit) and going too fast for road conditions. Speed increases reduce an operator’s reaction times, lengthen a vehicle’s stopping distance, and amplify the destructive forces of an impact. It is no exaggeration to say that “speed kills.” Traffic laws require all drivers to observe posted speed limits and operate their vehicles only at speeds safe for road conditions.

Drivers who speed put motorcyclists with whom they share the road at exceptionally high risk, simply because of the massive difference between cars and trucks on the one hand, and motorcycles on the other, in size, weight, and operator safety features. Even a relatively low-speed collision between a car and a motorcycle will inflict severe damage and injuries on the motorcycle and its rider. At high speeds, the consequences are catastrophic.

Impaired Driving

Laws in every state prohibit drivers from operating motor vehicles while impaired by the effects of drugs or alcohol. Yet, the tragic drumbeat of drunk driving and drug-impaired driving accidents continues to take a heavy toll on U.S. roads, inflicting severe consequences on motorcyclists. Around one-third of fatal motorcycle accidents involve at least one driver with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) above the legal limit.

The effects of drugs and alcohol destroy a driver’s ability to operate safely. They slow a driver’s reaction times, impair vision and motor coordination, and induce poor decision-making and heightened risk-taking. All-too-predictably, this leads to violent accidents. Someone other than the drunk or drugged driver suffers the most harm, especially if the drunk or drugged driver crashes into a motorcyclist.

Aggressive Driving

Aggressive drivers put everyone on the road at risk, but they have a dangerous and well-documented habit of targeting motorcyclists. Their misconduct around motorcycles—which commonly includes following too closely, honking or causing other distractions, and passing or changing lanes unsafely—puts motorcyclists at extreme risk of a deadly crash. Ride a motorcycle for long enough, and you are virtually guaranteed to encounter this type of unacceptable driver misbehavior.

According to the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA), only a small minority of states currently have laws explicitly addressing aggressive driving. All states, however, require drivers to operate in a manner that respects the safety and rights of other motorists, including motorcyclists. Aggressive driving, whether defined explicitly in the law or not, violates these laws.

Distracted Driving

As cell phone use has become universal, numerous states have removed or placed limits on texting and other screen use behind the wheel. But while these laws have an essential purpose, they haven’t necessarily stopped distracted driving accidents from happening.

In fact, in some ways, the focus on driver cell phone use has obscured the fact that distraction while driving comes in a wide variety of forms besides texting or talking on a cell phone, including:

• Managing a navigation or vehicle entertainment system;
• Eating or drinking;
• Grooming, such as applying makeup or shaving;
• Having pets in the vehicle;
• Speaking to other passengers;
• Looking for something while driving;
• The preoccupation that leads a driver’s mind to drift; and
• Glancing away from the road ahead for any reason.

Any of these distractions can violate a traffic law. They can also put a motorcyclist in grave danger. Distraction while driving a car or truck often leads to a vehicle drifting out of its lane or rolling through a stop. It can also result in drivers failing to see or register an approaching or passing motorcyclist. And this, in turn, can lead to a dangerous motorcycle accident.

Failure to Yield the Right-of-Way

Every new driver learns the rules governing rights-of-way in various driving scenarios. Right-of-way laws exist in every state’s motor vehicle code. But not every driver remembers those lessons or abides by them once they get behind the wheel. These driver failures land especially hard on motorcyclists, who often feel that drivers of cars and trucks treat them as second-class citizens on the road.

One common cause of motorcycle collisions with vehicles involves a driver’s failure to yield to an oncoming motorcyclist when making a left turn. Some drivers fail to see or register an oncoming motorcycle and turn into its path, and others mistakenly think motorcycles must yield and allow them to make a turn. Whatever the cause, however, drivers who violate right-of-way rules often inflict severe and fatal injuries to innocent motorcyclists.

Holding Traffic Law Violators Accountable

Violating a traffic law exposes drivers to potential criminal and administrative penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and license suspension. But those consequences do little to help the victims of a motorcycle accident caused by a lawbreaking driver, who often face severe physical, emotional, and financial difficulty.

Motorcyclists who suffer injuries because of drivers’ traffic law violations, and the loved ones of motorcyclists who died in a crash, have rights in every state to hold the law-violating driver (and, potentially, others) legally and financially accountable. With the help of a skilled motorcycle accident injury lawyer, victims can obtain substantial payment for their injuries and losses.

Who should pay for a motorcycle accident caused by a traffic law violation?

In every state, the law generally holds a person accountable for any harm caused by that person’s wrongful conduct. Most motor vehicle accidents, motorcycle crashes included, happen because someone fails to take reasonable care for the safety of others on the road. Lawyers refer to this sort of failure to take care as “negligence.” A driver whose negligence causes an accident that injures a motorcyclist, in other words, usually owes money to that motorcyclist to pay for the injuries and losses the motorcyclist suffered.

Traffic laws set the minimum standard for what constitutes reasonable care while operating a motor vehicle. So, a driver’s violation of those laws usually amounts to negligence. If a motorcyclist’s lawyer can prove that the violation contributed to the cause of a crash, the driver will usually face legal liability to the motorcyclist. Most commonly, the driver will carry auto liability insurance that obligates an insurance company to pay for the damages the driver caused.

Others may share that legal liability with the driver and the driver’s insurance company. For example, the driver’s employer may face a penalty to the injured motorcyclist if the driver violated the law and caused a crash while driving a work vehicle. Or, other parties’ misconduct may contribute to the cause of an accident independent of the driver’s traffic law violation—such as when an automotive manufacturer’s defective products lead to a crash or when a municipality fails to maintain roads safe for motorcycle travel.

Speaking with a skilled, experienced motorcycle accident lawyer is the most reliable way to determine who may owe damages for a motorcycle crash that injured you or your loved one.

What damages should a traffic law violator pay?

Generally speaking, the laws in every state require a party whose negligence caused a motorcycle accident (and anyone else with legal liability) to pay financial compensation for any physical, emotional, and financial harm a victim suffered.

This will typically include payment for an injured biker’s:

• Medical expenses in treating crash-related injuries and any subsequent health complications, including the costs of hospitalization, surgeries, medication, and physical therapy
• Other expenses directly resulting from the crash and the injuries it caused for the motorcyclist, include the cost of repairing or replacing a damaged motorcycle or of hiring someone to help with everyday needs while a motorcyclist heals from an injury
• Lost wages the injured motorcyclist could not earn while out of work with an injury.
• Lost future income the motorcyclist reasonably would have earned in the future, but now will not, because of the injuries or disabilities resulting from the accident.
• Pain and suffering, which encompass the full range of difficulties and inconveniences the injured biker faces after the accident, including physical discomfort, emotional and mental health challenges, interference with personal or intimate relationships, and overall loss of quality of life.

Sometimes, a skilled motorcycle accident lawyer can convince a court to award a motorcycle crash victim additional non-compensatory damages. These may include statutory damages (damages that a wrongdoer must pay regardless of the actual harm done by the accident) and punitive damages (damages designed to punish the wrongdoer for especially reckless or intentional misconduct).

Talking to an experienced motorcycle accident attorney is also the best way to find out the types and potential amounts of compensation you may have the right to receive after a traffic law-violating driver harms you or your loved one.

How a Motorcycle Accident Injury Lawyer Can Help

Victims of motorcycle accidents benefit from having a skilled, experienced lawyer. A lawyer’s job is to represent the motorcycle accident victim in all aspects of the process of securing compensation for the victim’s injuries and losses.

A lawyer knowledgeable about motorcycle accidents and how to hold lawbreaking drivers accountable can:

• Investigate an accident to identify how it happened and the specific traffic laws a driver broke in causing it;
• Evaluate the motorcyclist’s injuries and losses to calculate how much money to demand from the driver (and others) as compensation;
• Answer questions and advise the injured motorcyclist and loved ones about their rights and options for seeking justice and fair compensation;
• Prepare, file, and prosecute lawsuits against the driver who violated traffic laws and anyone else the law holds accountable for the motorcycle crash;
• Negotiate with the driver’s (and others’) defense lawyers and insurance companies to secure a fair settlement, if at all possible;
• Go to court to prove the injured motorcyclist’s case to a judge and jury, if necessary, to see justice served and money damages paid.
• Collect all money due to a motorcyclist from a settlement, judgment, or jury award.

The sooner a motorcycle crash victim contacts an experienced lawyer, the better the chances of obtaining maximum damages to help pay for medical care, unplanned expenses, and other needs.

Contact an experienced motorcycle accident attorney today for a free case consultation.