What are the most significant causes of motorcycle accidents?
One of the main appeals of riding a motorcycle is the ability of the rider to enjoy the feeling of freedom that sitting in a car cannot duplicate. Motorcycles are fair-weather machines, so their popularity in Florida is easy to understand.
The downside of riding a motorcycle is that if you are involved in a collision, there is less to come between you and the pavement than if you were riding in a vehicle. Understanding some of the environments and situations that can increase the risk of getting into a motorcycle accident therefore must be a primary concern of any rider.
The Florida Department of Transportation keeps statistics on many of the factors involved in crashes that involve motorcycles. From these statistics, we can determine some of the things to watch out for when it comes to reducing the risk of becoming part of the statistical database.
Don’t drink and ride. You don’t need to be legally drunk to be at a much greater risk of getting into a motorcycle accident; any amount of alcohol in your system less than a .05 blood alcohol content will raise your rise of an accident five-fold, and when you go beyond that level you are about 40 times more likely to get into a crash.
Take it easy on curves. About one-third of fatal motorcycle accidents happen on curves.
Observe these cautions and you are much less likely to be involved in an accident. Indeed, accidents that involve close interaction with cars, such as passing or changing lanes, account for only about five percent of crashes.
This post only discusses some of the information available from the Florida DOT when it comes to motorcycle accidents and motorcycle accident injuries. One final piece of information to remember: If you must be admitted to a hospital after a motorcycle crash, you can expect to pay on average more than $50,000 -- and much of that amount may not be paid by your health insurance.
Although suing the other driver for negligence in a multi-vehicle accident may be one way to offset health care costs, especially for motorcycle-related injuries, prevention clearly remains the best medicine.