Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog
The Federal Highway Administration says it will conduct a study so it can understand what causes motorcycle crashes and how to prevent them from happening. Our Washington DC motorcycle crash lawyers wish to point out that this is an important endeavor, considering that almost 5,300 motorcycle riders died last year while 96,000 others were injured.
The federal government hasn’t conducted a study like this since its Hurt Report in 1981—that was almost 30 years ago. Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma Transportation Center will be the study’s lead researcher.
Information from hundreds of motorcycle accidents will be examined in an attempt to pinpoint common factors, such as rider experience, road configurations, and environmental conditions. Hopefully figuring out the latest common causes of motorcycle crashes will allow for countermeasures to be identified, developed, and implemented.
From 1997 – 2008, the US Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting says that the number of motorcycle deaths went up by 150% from 2,116 to 5,290 motorcycle fatalities.
Washington DC Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle riders are vulnerable to sustaining serious injuries whenever they are involved in a traffic accident. Motorcyclists only have their helmet and protective clothing to protect them. Statistically, their chances of dying in a motorcycle crash is more than 20 times greater than the fatality risk of someone riding in a car. In most motorcycle-car accidents, it is usually the driver of the motor vehicle who caused the traffic collision.
While efforts have been made to teach motorcycles and car drivers, truckers, and bus drivers how to share the road safely with each other, this is not always the case. It doesn’t help that there are the occasional defective road conditions and motorcycle part defects that can cause a motorcyclist to crash without another motorist’s help.
Federal Government To Study Motorcycle Crash Causation, Chicago Now, October 9, 2009
Related Web Resources:
The Hurt Report Summary
Our Washington DC motorcycle accident lawyers would like to offer you a free case evaluation.