The Motorcycle Safety Foundation this week released a statement drawing attention to the real risks to motorcyclists from distracted drivers. According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, it’s not just motorists who are at risk from distracted driving, but also, and probably to a larger extent, motorcyclists.
Los Angeles catastrophic injury lawyers often see that in any collision between a motorcycle and a car, it is the motorcyclist who suffers the most severe injuries. Even a moderate impact accident can be enough to leave motorcyclists severely injured. A non-helmeted motorcyclist is also at a higher risk of suffering skull fractures and brain injuries. Part of the reason why motorcycle accident fatalities have been increasing steadily over the past decade has been that motorcyclists must now contend with motorists who are distracted while driving.
Last year, a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that a motorist had a higher risk of being involved in an accident when he was texting while driving. Many of those collisions include motorcycles.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is currently in the process of conducting a naturalistic study, the first such study in the world, to identify the causes of motorcycle accident. The last major study into motorcycle accidents was back in the ’70s, and the study resulted in the publication of the Hurt Report in 1980. However, that was not an extensive naturalistic study, although it did provide useful information on the causes of accidents, some of which helped define motorcycle safety initiatives, like promotion of helmet use.
This naturalistic study will provide far more detailed information about the causes of motorcycle accidents, especially the role of distracted drivers in these, and hopefully will help in policy planning to prevent accidents in the future.