In vehicle collisions, motorcycle riders are twenty-eight times more likely to die than vehicle occupants. Riders are completely exposed to danger, unlike sheltered and restrained vehicle occupants. The serious injury rate is also much higher in motorcycle crash cases. These injuries include things like head injuries, badly broken bones, and severe lacerations. To build a [...]
As the calendar moves toward fall, the number of motorcycle crashes begins to decline in many parts of the country. It is simply too cold to ride. But in Florida, the year-round warm temperatures also mean year-round motorcycle crashes. Although they are much less common than vehicle-on-vehicle collisions, vehicle-on-motorcycle collisions often cause catastrophic injuries. Other [...]
The oft-quoted statistic is that motorcycle-vehicle crashes are twenty-nine times more deadly than vehicle-vehicle crashes. The reason is simple. Vehicle occupants usually have several restraint layers for protection, not to mention a plastic, steel, and glass cocoon. Motorcycle riders almost literally only have the clothes on their backs. But, items like these only tell part [...]
Alcohol, speed, and distracted driving cause most of the car crashes in Florida. But motorcycle crashes are different. Instead of an intentional, or at least reckless, violation of the rules of the road, lack of visibility causes most motorcycle accidents. In fact, about a third of motorcycle-vehicle collisions are left turn wrecks. The tortfeasor (negligent [...]
In some areas of the country, motorcycle-vehicle collisions are very rate during the winter months. But in the Sunshine State, it’s almost always warm enough to ride. These riders risk serious injury every time they go out. In fact, motorcycle riders are about twenty-nine times more likely to die in roadway crashes than four-wheel vehicle [...]
These incidents are responsible for about a third of the fatal motorcycle crashes in Florida, so understanding them is critical to understanding motorcycle crashes as a whole. Like most other motorcycle crashes, left-turn collisions often occur because the tortfeasors (negligent drivers) do not take an extra moment to look out for all other people and [...]
Although most all states passed seat belt laws with practically no opposition or fanfare, other vehicular safety laws have stirred more controversy, and motorcycle helmet laws are a good example. While there is little or no evidence on point, many riders, and some safety advocates, believe that motorcycle helmets are basically a wash. While they [...]
After several years of declining numbers, the death toll among Florida motorcycle riders went up 30 percent in 2015. Moreover, although they account for only 3 percent of the traffic, motorcycle riders make up 20 percent of roadway fatalities in Florida. Victims who survive face an average of $84,000 in medical expenses. Miami-Dade County had [...]
According to one prominent study, about a third of motorcycle crashes happen when the motorist makes an unprotected turn in traffic and steers directly into a rider’s path. Typically, that maneuver is a U-turn, an unprotected left turn across traffic, or a sudden lane change. SMIDSY (sorry, mate, I didn’t see you) crashes might be [...]
In most parts of the country, motorcycle accidents decline sharply from the late fall to the early spring. But in Florida, the weather is generally warm all year long, so riders are out all year long. Since there are more riders on the roads, one might think that vehicle operators are more cautious around motorcycles [...]
