Riding a motorcycle in San Diego, CA, comes with many risks. Motorcycles get into more single-vehicle accidents than automobiles. These accidents are often caused by weather conditions, road hazards, and vehicle breakdowns.
But the greatest road dangers for motorcyclists are automobile drivers. Over 60% of collisions between motorcycles and automobiles result from careless, distracted, or intoxicated drivers.
Learn some common road dangers for motorcyclists and when you can seek compensation for an injury arising from a motorcycle accident.
Contact an accident injury lawyer at Mission Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free initial consultation today by calling (619) 777-5555.
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How Mission Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After a Motorcycle Accident in San Diego
Mission Personal Injury Lawyers is a family-run law firm that has represented accident victims since 2010. The firm’s San Diego car accident attorneys have over 43 years of combined experience. Over their careers, they have amassed a 99% success rate while recovering tens of millions of dollars for their clients.
The firm’s attorneys have won many awards and recognitions, including:
- An AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell based on peer reviews
- A 10.0 Superb rating from Avvo, its highest rating for lawyers
- A Top Los Angeles Attorney by Los Angeles Magazine
The firm can help you with your case in the following ways, just to name a few:
- Handle all of the paperwork, communications, and negotiations with the other party or parties involved in your case
- If the other side won’t negotiate in good faith, the ability to bring your case to court and even to trial if necessary
- Protect you from allegations that the accident was actually your fault
A motorcycle accident can cause severe injuries even when you wear a helmet. Contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers to discuss the injury compensation you may be entitled to after a motorcycle accident in San Diego, California.
How Common Are Road Dangers for Motorcyclists?
In 2021, San Diego County had 1,385 motorcycle crashes that caused injury or death, according to California’s transportation injury mapping system (TIMS). A total of 640 of these accidents happened in the City of San Diego.
San Diego County has 85,488 registered motorcycles. This gives an accident rate of 1,620 motorcycle crashes per 100,000 registrations.
For comparison, San Diego County has an overall accident rate of 468 traffic accidents per 100,000 registrations. Thus, in San Diego County, motorcyclists have an accident rate nearly 3.5 times higher than all vehicle operators.
Overview of Common Road Dangers for Motorcyclists
Road dangers to motorcyclists come from many sources because motorcycles are much more prone to accidents than automobiles. Since they ride on two wheels, motorcycles require motorcyclists to maintain their balance to avoid a crash.
Gravel, railroad tracks, potholes, or standing water usually do not affect the stability of a car or truck. But these same road hazards could unbalance a motorcycle enough to cause a crash.
Moreover, many minor crashes that might cause no more than bumper or fender damage to a car could kill or seriously injure a motorcyclist. For example, a sideswipe collision might strip some paint off a car’s door. But the same collision could crush a motorcyclist’s leg or eject a motorcyclist into the road shoulder.
Some common road dangers for motorcyclists in San Diego include:
Slick Surfaces
One of the most common causes of motorcycle accidents is excessive speed. This happens when a motorcyclist travels too fast for the road or weather conditions.
Excessive speed combined with slick surfaces can lead to single-vehicle motorcycle crashes. Stopping, turning, and accelerating become more difficult on slick road surfaces. Slick road surfaces also impair your ability to make an emergency maneuver when you encounter a road or traffic hazard.
Slick surfaces can cause you to lose control of your motorcycle. Your motorcycle’s tires will often slide sideways and tip your motorcycle over. When you go into a slide, you can suffer serious injuries to your arms or legs, such as lacerations, abrasions, road rash, burns, or fractured bones.
If your accident resulted from excessive speed combined with slick surfaces, you would bear a share of the blame for the accident.
But if the accident resulted solely from a slick surface, you might have a claim against anyone whose negligence caused the road hazard. For example, if a tanker truck spills oil onto the road, the trucking company might bear liability for any resulting accidents.
Traffic Congestion
Heavy traffic can pose a danger to motorcyclists. According to TIMS, the most common type of motorcycle accident is a rear-end collision. These collisions occur when a rear vehicle hits the back of a front vehicle.
While rear-end collisions are usually non-fatal for auto drivers, they can injure or kill motorcyclists. A rear-end collision can eject a motorcyclist onto the road, causing head, neck, or back injuries.
Rear-end collisions usually happen when the driver of the rear vehicle follows the front vehicle too closely. As a result, liability for these crashes usually lies with the driver of the rear vehicle.
Intersections
Intersections pose a serious road danger to motorcyclists. Nearly 52% of San Diego motorcycle accidents happened at intersections in 2021, according to TIMS.
These accidents are often the fault of careless drivers who:
- Turn right into an oncoming motorcycle’s path
- Turn left across an oncoming motorcycle’s path
- Fail to yield the right of way
These accidents often result in angle collisions. In 2021, 48% of San Diego motorcycle accidents that occurred at intersections caused a fatality, incapacitating injury, or other visible injuries.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our San Diego Motorcycle Accident Lawyers
A motorcycle accident can happen even when you exercise caution against known road dangers. To discuss the compensation you can pursue for your motorcycle accident injuries, contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers.