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Many motorcycle injuries and deaths could be prevented if more drivers and their passengers protected themselves. Studies show that motorcyclists who wore a helmet lowered a rider’s risk of fatal injury by 37%. Despite this, many riders choose not to wear helmets. If more states required helmets, more lives would be saved. In 2007, studies showed that 1,784 lives were saved by the use of helmets. If all riders wore helmets, an estimated 1000 lives could have be saved.
Because of the size and speed of motorcycles, motorcyclists were found to be 45 times more likely than passengers in cars to die in a crash and 10 times more likely to be fatally injured. Traffic deaths that account for motorcyclists is currently above 20%. Many of these deaths were caused from excess speeding and unreasonable driving.
A study at the University of California was conducted analyzing 3,600 motorcycle accidents reported in the Los Angeles area and they concluded that riders between the ages of 16 and 24 were overly represented. They found that 96% of the cases were male, and 92% of the riders were self-taught. Almost 50% of the accidents involved alcohol. They found that riders involved in these accidents were largely found without motorcycle licenses or with their licenses revoked. 73% of the riders used no eye protection, suggesting that wind may have contributed to their impairment of vision. Riders who wore helmets showed significantly lower levels of injury. 98% of all motorcycle accidents result in a injury. More than 50% of the riders injured had less than 5 months of riding experience. Approximately 3/4th of these accidents involved a collision with another vehicle, resulting in injuries to one or more passengers in the vehicle.
Should you, or a loved one, require the services of attorneys who for many years have successfully handled this type of case, please feel free to call our office at (312) 977-9900.