Basic safety procedures are critical to follow, particularly if you are a motorcycle owner. A motorcycle accident can take a tremendous toll on your body, your wallet, and others. And often, these accidents are completely avoidable.
Too often, motorcycle owners are more concerned with looking cool than with safety, or they don’t perform proper maintenance before taking their bike out for a spin. And before they know it, they’re waiting for emergency services to arrive.
Safety Mistakes Riders Often Make
When you look at motorcycle accident data, you’ll find that many accidents and related injuries result from some common mistakes. Some of these include:
- Not performing proper maintenance, such as regulating filling tires with air
- Speeding
- Not wearing a helmet or wearing novelty helmets with little protective value
- Not wearing other protective gear
- Maneuvering in and out of common car blind spots
- Driving under the influence
Motorcycle owners also often forgo buying bikes and equipment with the latest safety measures. There have been many advancements in the safety features and gear available on the market, including:
- Adaptive headlights
- Air-bag clothing
- Anti-lock braking systems
- Automatic clutch and shift
- Electronic tire pressure monitors
- Vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems
Making these mistakes or not taking advantage of the latest safety measures can cause accidents or worsen accident-related injuries. And in many cases, even when you’re fully insured, you may not be offered the full amount of compensation to which you’re entitled. Even when an offer covers your repairs, the medical expenses and loss of income you incur from the accident may be devastating.
Risks of Motorcycle Ridership
If you’re a motorcycle owner, you should know the risks of riding even when you follow all the safety rules. Now, many motorcycle owners ride their bikes each day without incident. However, not every car or truck driver follows appropriate safety rules when sharing the road with motorcycles and vice versa.
Further, motorcyclists are less protected from injury than car or truck drivers. As a result, motorcyclists must go out of their way to keep themselves and passengers safe or risk one of the following:
High Potential for Catastrophic Injury
Motorcycles provide minimal protection for their drivers and passengers in the event of a crash, thus, the potential for catastrophic injury is high. When you are in a car or truck, even one without advanced safety features, every car will come with basic features such as:
- Airbags
- Antilock brakes
- Electronic stability control
- Safety-belts
- Tire-pressure monitors
- Traction control
Even the structure of a car or truck will shield you to some extent from the impact of a collision. However, in a motorcycle accident, you may suffer from whiplash and sprained or broken limbs or ribs. In some cases, you could suffer from organ damage, internal bleeding, spinal injuries, or traumatic brain injuries.
Potential Harm to Others
Your motorcycle accident may also harm others, especially your passenger. Your passenger is also subject to the same lack of protection from a collision that you are. Accordingly, they could suffer the same injuries as you or worse.
Your accident could also harm other parties involved. Chances are, if you hit someone in a Ford F-350, their injuries will be minor compared to yours. However, in trying to avoid the accident, the other party may swerve, causing secondary crashes that could be just as damaging as the first.
If you hit a pedestrian or a cyclist, you run the risk of causing them severe injury. They also lack any real safety protection. And if you collide with them at even slow speeds, you could cause them serious harm.
Property Damage
In addition to the risk of injury, your bike can also do a lot of property damage if it collides with a stationary or moving object. Though bikes are smaller than cars, they are still heavy metal masses. And at high speeds, they can knock down fences, smash up a driver’s side door, or plow through a building door.
You’re almost guaranteed to cause some property damage when you’re in a motorcycle accident. Even if you crash in a field on private property, the property owner could sue you for the landscaping costs necessary to make their field look like it did before your accident. No matter where you crash, your accident could make you liable for damage to someone else’s property.
Expensive and Time-Consuming Repairs
Bikes can also be expensive to repair. Even minor accidents can result in pricy fixes, especially if you own a newer bike with substantial computing components, a limited-run edition, or a heavily customized one. Depending on your policy, you may not be covered for all of the repairs you need to make your bike whole.
Motorcycle repairs may also take some time to complete. Fewer people ride their motorcycles in the winter than in the warmer months. So with more motorcycles on the road when it’s warmer, more accidents tend to occur.
With more accidents occurring in the warmer months, your local mechanic may be backed up for days or weeks. They may have difficulty maintaining an inventory of the parts needed to fix your bike. If you’re hoping to fast-track repairs with another mechanic, you may be forced to pay more than your insurance offer will cover.
What to Do If You’ve Been in a Motorcycle Accident
If you’ve been in a motorcycle accident, you should first understand that your insurance company is not your friend. Insurers train their staff on how to pay you the least they have to according to your policy’s terms. The first offer they make you may not be sufficient to cover your repairs, let alone your medical and property damage costs.
Too often, people file claims immediately, hoping to get the quickest possible payout, get their bike repaired, and go back to their normal lives. Unfortunately, they may be leaving money on the table. If they’ve been severely injured or have injured others, their fight to make themselves whole is usually just beginning.
That’s not only why motorcycle safety is a must. It’s why you should call an experienced attorney as soon as you’ve been in a motorcycle accident. Don’t settle for just any attorney though, you should call the office of Pacific West Injury Law.
Why You Should Call Pacific West Injury Law After Your Motorcycle Accident
When you’ve been in a motorcycle accident, you should have an experienced attorney by your side with deep knowledge of the local legal landscape and a track record of winning personal injury claims. And with our track record in Las Vegas, Pacific West Injury Law is your best option for getting the award or settlement for your motorcycle accident that you deserve.
The quicker you call Pacific West Injury Law and start exploring your legal options, the better your chances are of getting the best outcome. So contact Pacific West Injury Law today, and let’s schedule a time for a free evaluation of your case.
