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Madison Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Motorcycle Accidents: Share the Road

Motorcycles are becoming increasingly popular on our nation’s roads. Unfortunately, so are motorcycle accidents. As loud as motorcycles may be and as obnoxious as some drivers may be, the fact remains that we still must share the road with these vehicles and their drivers.

Of all of the motorcycle accidents, roughly three-fourths involve another vehicle. This other vehicle is usually a passenger vehicle at that. It is interesting to note that in roughly two-thirds of all multiple vehicle accidents involving a motorcycle fault is assigned to the driver of the other vehicle for violating the motorcycle’s right of way.

In all accidents, the failure of the motorists to detect and recognize motorcycles is the predominant cause of motorcycle accidents. Rarely are accidents caused by a motorist’s deliberately hostile actions. In addition, intersections are the most common place for multiple vehicle accidents.

Following an accident, 62% of the time, there is a fuel system leak or spill. This creates an undue hazard for fire.

While it would be easy to discount motorcycle accidents as being high-speed and somewhat the fault of motorcycles, the median pre-crash speed is 29.8 miles per hour. More telling is the fact that the median crash speed is 21.5 miles per hour. These are far from high-speed crashes. In addition, weather is only a factor in 2% of all crashes.

In single-vehicle accidents, vehicle failure is a cause of less than 3% of all accidents. The majority of vehicle failure accidents are due to a loss of a control that was triggered by a punctured flat tire. In the majority of single vehicle accidents, motorcycle operator error was the precipitating factor. This is true in roughly two-thirds of all cases. The two most common errors were a sideout and fall due to overbraking. Running wide on a curve is generally due to excess speed or under-cornering.

If you have been in a multiple vehicle motorcycle accident, please contact the Madison motorcycle accident lawyers of Habush, Habush, & Rottier at 1-800-822-1690 to discuss your case and to determine your legal options.