Family Firm of West Virginia Personal Injury Lawyers Represents Victims of Motorcycle Accidents

What are some causes and effects of motorcycle accidents?

While motorcycle accidents rarely occur under identical circumstances, general categories may be made by grouping together similar injuries and damages. These categories are often good indicators of whether compensation may be sought.

• Single cycle accidents. Nearly half of all motorcycle accidents occur without the interference of another vehicle. By design, two wheels make motorcycles far more susceptible to loss of control on a variety of road surfaces, as well as when speeding or lane shifting. Motorcycles are also more likely to collide with a fixed object, such as a median, in attempts to avoid an accident with a larger vehicle.
• Collisions with another motor vehicle. This is the most common type of motorcycle accident and involves a direct collision with another car or cars on the road. Due to the motorcycle’s compact size, it is easy to see how one can be relegated to a car’s blind spot and often go unnoticed. A car’s simple lane change can turn tragic when a motorcycle goes unnoticed. More than ninety percent of motorcycle-car collisions are fatal to the motorcyclist. The other ten percent result in the motorcyclist’s serious injury. In rare cases, there are fatalities to the car’s occupants.
• Open door accidents. A motorcycle’s compact profile and agility allow it to ride close to parked cars. If an automobile driver fails to notice a motorcycle, he or she may cause an accident by opening the driver side door. This type of accident is especially common in urban settings where large numbers of cars are parked at curbside. When a motorcycle strikes a fixed object, its driver can easily be thrown from it and sustain serious body and brain trauma or death.
• Wipeout accidents. A wipeout refers to a motorcycle accident in which the bike hits the ground rather than colliding with another vehicle or fixed object. These often happen on degraded road surfaces or on loose gravel, and are especially dangerous in high traffic areas. In wipeouts, the motorcyclist can be pinned beneath the bike and crushed, or suffer serious burns when exposed flesh comes into contact with the exhaust pipe.
• Accidents involving pedestrians. These types of accidents occur when either the pedestrian or the motorcyclist does not notice the other. They are common at busy intersections as well as in urban settings where both vehicular and foot traffic are abundant. Here, too, the motorcyclist is more likely to suffer injury without striking the pedestrian when sudden swerving to avoid a hit causes loss of control.