If you have been in a motorcycle accident, you are not alone. Over 5,000 people are killed each year in motorcycle accidents, and over 100,000 motorcyclists and their passengers are injured. The most common cause of a motorcycle accident is an automobile or truck driver’s failure to yield the right of way to the motorcyclist, especially at an intersection when the motor vehicle is making a left turn in the face of an oncoming motorcycle. Because of their relatively small size, motorcycles may be difficult to see on the road, requiring other drivers to pay attention to their driving and the road ahead of them and obey all traffic signs and signals. Another common cause of motorcycle accidents is roads that are in unsafe condition, either because of potholes or uneven surfaces.

Even though he or she was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, the motorcycle driver or his or her passenger can be severely injured, even killed, when his or her motorcycle is hit by a motor vehicle weighing thousands of pounds more than the bike. Often the motorcyclist’s injuries are catastrophic, such as a spinal cord injury like a broken neck or back, resulting in permanent paralysis from the neck down (“quadriplegia”) or from the waist down (“paraplegia”). The motorcyclist may suffer broken arms, legs, ribs, and other bones. Even though the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, it is still possible for him or her to suffer traumatic brain injury by the brain’s hitting against the inside of the skull. The motorcyclist may also suffer severe friction burns by being dragged along the asphalt or pavement for any distance. You also risk the possibility of a ruptured fuel tank catching fire, causing you to be severely burned (“thermal” burns).

A motorcycle riding between two lanes of cars moving in the same direction (“lane-splitting) is legal in California, whether the cars are stopped or are moving. Drivers changing lanes, especially in slow moving rush-hour traffic, must look in his or her mirror and turn his or her head to see whether any motorcycles are lane-splitting before changing his lane. California law requires a driver to turn on his signal light prior to making the lane change so that approaching vehicles, including lane-splitting motorcyclists, can be warned of the impending lane change and take appropriate action to avoid getting into a collision.

If you have been injured or a loved one killed in a motorcycle accident, whether you were the driver or a passenger, it is imperative that you contact an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately so that he or she can start working right away on your case to obtain all the monetary compensation you are entitled to. The lawyer will want to have his investigator check out the scene of the accident and inspect and take pictures of the motor vehicle that hit you as well as pictures of your damaged motorcycle. The investigator will also want to track down witnesses to the accident and get their statements while the events are still fresh in their minds.  In a case involving serious (“catastrophic”) injuries like quadriplegia, paraplegia, or traumatic brain injury, the lawyer will likely want to hire an expert “accident reconstructionist” to help to prove that the driver of the motor vehicle was at fault.