NEVADA MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS

Motorcycle Safety

Motorcycles are becoming ever more popular in the U.S. More than 7.9 million motorcycles were registered in 2009, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Riders rode motorcycles nearly 20.8 billion miles. In the first three months of 2011, the Motorcycle Industry Council reported that sales of motorcycles increased over 7 percent.

Along with their growing popularity, motorcycles continue to contribute to high fatality rates among all motor vehicle drivers. People riding motorcycles are nearly twice as likely to be involved in a fatal accident as people using other forms of motorized transportation.

Motorcycle riders as well as drivers of the cars on the roads and freeways around them contribute to the high fatality and injury statistics.

Factors contributing to motorcyclists’ own injuries and deaths include:

• Speeding
• Drinking alcohol or using drugs
• Failure to negotiate turns, often because of speeding
• Riding between two lanes on a freeway
• Not wearing helmets
• Not using eye protection
• Not being good defensive drivers
• Zipping in front of drivers without allowing them enough time or distance to stop

Car drivers contribute to motorcyclists’ injuries and deaths by:

• Driving too closely behind a motorcycle
• Turning in front of a motorcycle
• Running a red light, hitting a motorcycle broadside
• Failure to see the motorcycle driver
• Driving too aggressively near or behind a motorcycle
• Not “sharing the road” with motorcycle riders

Helmet Safety

One of the best ways to protect you from severe brain Injuries is to wear a helmet. According to a Transportation Review of Motorcycle Safety of the National Conference of State Legislatures regarding 2009:

• Only 59 percent of motorcyclists fatally injured were wearing helmets
• NHTSA estimated that helmets saved 1,438 motorcyclists’ lives that year
• The saving of these lives led to an approximate economic savings of $2.39 billion
• NHTSA projected that another 732 people might have been saved if they had worn helmets

Helmets sometimes protect motorcycle riders from head and neck injuries.