El Paso and West Texas provide no shortage of beautiful backdrops for motorcyclists to enjoy, from Big Bend National Park Loop to Mount Livermore Loop to Carlsbad Caverns National Park to White Sands National Park to Guadalupe Peak to Scenic Drive running along the Franklin Mountains. Despite the scenic surroundings, people of all ages can suffer injuries in motorcycle accidents all over West Texas, and it becomes urgent for victims to seek the help of an El Paso motorcycle accident lawyer.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reports that 521 motorcyclists (including both motorcycle operators and their passengers) were killed last year, with 45 percent of the motorcyclists not wearing helmets at the times of their crashes. According to TxDOT, motorcycle accidents also included 2,275 suspected serious injury crashes, 2,821 suspected minor injury crashes, 1,435 possible injury crashes, 128 unknown injury crashes, and 8,322 total crashes.

Did You Know?

The US is sadly full of accident victims who are living with ongoing injuries. Automobile crashes are very pervasive today, especially accidents leading to injury:

• A roadway crash leading to paralysis can result in overwhelming medical expenses.
• Almost half of the people disabled in automobile collisions are not able to work.
• More than a million Americans are disabled due to automobile collisions.

Motorcycle Accidents Are Worse than Car Accidents

Motorcycles face two main vulnerabilities on the roadway.

Motorcycles Lack Crucial Safety Features

Motorcyclists are generally more seriously injured in accidents because motorcycles do not have steel frames, restraints, or airbags. In even a minor crash, a motorcycle rider can be easily thrown from their bike. Even with a helmet, motorcycle riders are at a disadvantage. Good safety gear like a USDOT helmet and a padded/reinforced motorcycle jacket is the bare minimum and still leaves riders highly vulnerable. Most motorcyclists are ejected from their bikes in a crash, meaning the rider is left lying on the road, which is clearly a dangerous and vulnerable position. The bottom line: motorcycle crashes are dangerous.

Smaller Size

The weight difference between most cars (3,000-4,000 pounds) or semi-trucks (50,000-80,000 pounds) and a motorcycle (300-500 pounds) is tremendous. Sadly, motorcycle riders are 29x more likely to die in a collision than those traveling in cars.  

Is Another Party Liable?

In a motorcycle crash, other factors may contribute to the collision if you look under the surface. Have you considered the following:

• Was all the safety gear functioning properly? For example, helmets that claim to be USDOT-approved may not actually be.
• Were all drivers involved licensed?
• Was the roadway properly maintained at the time of the crash?
• Could there have been a mechanical failure caused by a manufacturer defect or improper servicing by your mechanic?
• Was the roadway free of debris at the time of the crash? If, for example, a dump truck leaked some gravel or a garbage truck spilled some trash on the road, these parties may be partially or wholly liable.
• Have there been any manufacturer recalls that the motorcyclist was not aware of?

Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcyclists often feel that other drivers or parties are liable for causing their accidents, but insurance companies frequently try to find reasons to blame motorcyclists for causing their own injuries. The uphill fight you will have with an insurer represents one of the major reasons you should invest in retaining legal counsel.

The truth is that any one of several possible explanations can exist for why a motorcycle accident occurred.

Some of the most common reasons include:

• Driver Fatigue — When another driver is operating on a lack of sleep or simply feeling exhausted, there is an increased risk of that motorist dozing off or even falling asleep behind the wheel. Drivers in such cases can easily drift into other lanes and collide with motorcycles.
• Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) — Any motorist in Texas who operates a motor vehicle while they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol can face criminal charges for causing a collision with a motorcycle. When a person commits a DWI and causes a traffic accident resulting in serious bodily injury, they can face third-degree felony intoxication assault charges. When a DWI offense causes the death of a motorcyclist, then the negligent driver can be charged with second-degree felony intoxication manslaughter charges.
• Distracted Driving — Distractions come in many forms, with cell phones often being the most common kind of distraction for most drivers because many people simply cannot resist checking their phones while they are behind the wheel. When another driver was texting, talking, or using social media while behind the wheel, an attorney will know how to seize the phone records that can prove a driver was distracted.
• Reckless or Aggressive Driving — Texas Transportation Code § 545.401 defines reckless driving as driving a vehicle in wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. The Texas Department of Insurance states that aggressive driving is any unsafe behavior a person performs purposely with ill intent or disregard for the safety of others that puts other drivers or property at risk. TxDOT notes that aggressive driving violations can result in fines of up to $200 for each offense.
• Speeding — Any other driver who is operating in excess of posted speed limits is placing all other people on the road at risk because a speeding driver cannot come to a complete stop as quickly as somebody operating at a lawful speed. Many motorcycle accidents involve other drivers who were speeding at the time of collisions.
• Running Stop Signs or Stop Lights — All drivers are expected to stop for stop signs or red lights, but inattentive or possibly speeding drivers may go through these intersections without stopping. The obvious risk of doing this is colliding with passing motorcyclists at such intersections, and such collisions can often cause catastrophic injuries.

El Paso Motorcycle Accidents Other Common Reasons

• Improper Lane Changes or Turns — Motorcycles are much smaller than most passenger vehicles, so it is easy for drivers of passenger vehicles to not see motorcyclists while attempting lane changes or performing certain turns. Motorcyclists can be powerless to avoid collisions in such instances.
• Failure to Yield Right of Way — Another type of intersection accident involves other drivers not yielding the right of way to motorcyclists, and this is a particularly common kind of crash because other drivers seem to have a poor understanding of motorcyclist intentions.
• Motorcycle Defects — There may be cases in which motorcycle accidents stem from something being wrong with a motorcycle itself. While another driver is not liable for damages in such cases, a parts manufacturer, mechanic, or another party could be responsible for your injuries.
• Tailgating — Drivers who follow motorcycles too closely are at a far greater risk of causing rear-end accidents. These types of collisions are especially risky for motorcyclists because rear-end collisions often have the potential to throw motorcyclists several feet from their bikes and also risk them striking other objects.
• Inclement Weather Conditions — Not all motorists take proper precautions when the weather is bad, and drivers who operate unsafely in rain or other kinds of poor weather can be at risk of causing collisions.
• Potholes or Other Dangerous Road Conditions — Another kind of accident that may not involve the negligence of another motorist relates to certain kinds of dangerous roads. Local or state government agencies responsible for caring for these roads could be accountable if they did not perform necessary repairs or at least warn road users about hazardous conditions.

A Deeper Look at Motorcycle Lane Change Accidents

Lane change accidents are arguably the most common motorcycle crashes. A lane change accident is when a driver does not check their blind spot before leaving their lane and ends up crashing into another car, truck, or motorcycle. Typically, lane change accidents involving motorcycles happen because:  

• One of the vehicles passed the other too closely
• Failing to look before changing lanes
• One of the drivers was traveling in the other one’s blind spot
• The motorcycle driver was splitting lanes and driving between the cars instead of behind them
• A DUI was involved
• Distracted driving
• Speeding
• Failing to use a turn signal or faulty brake lights
• Road rage

Regardless of whether the motorcycle driver or a car/truck driver is at fault, lane change collisions are particularly common among motorcycle crashes.

The Role of Blind Spots in Motorcycle Crashes

All cars, trucks, and motorcycles have “blind spots.” The blind spot is just behind the driver on either side of the vehicle. It’s necessary to turn your head and actually make eye contact with this spot in order to change lanes safely—it is not visible in either the rearview or side mirrors. Many drivers don’t bother to make an effort. Because motorcycles are smaller than cars, it’s harder to see them with a quick over-the-shoulder glance.

Visibility (Or Rather “Invisibility”) of Motorcycles

Statistics show that 3/4 of motorcycle crashes happen when the other driver doesn’t see the motorcycle. To increase your visibility on the road, wear neon motorcycle clothing. One study discovered that motorcyclists wearing fluorescent or reflective clothing were 37% less likely to be hit.  

Proper motorcycle jackets are designed to be seen and to protect because they have carefully placed padding and protection plates. For example, a neon motorcycle jacket by Alpinestars with reflective piping is much safer than a leather jacket. Leather jackets don’t have special elbow and shoulder protection like an Alpinestars jacket would. We’ve all seen motorcyclists in the summer in shorts and a tank top. Sitting on a hot motor while wearing full motorcycle protection in the summer heat is not comfortable, but it’s safe.  

Types of Motorcycle Accident Injuries

Motorcyclists are often far more exposed to severe injuries than occupants of passenger vehicles because they do not enjoy many of the same forms of protection inherent to passenger vehicles. For example, there are no airbags on a motorcycle.

Motorcyclists can often be thrown from their bikes in collisions, and such incidents significantly worsen the extent of injuries because motorcyclists could strike or land on other objects, which makes injuries even worse. All motorcyclists have to be sure to quickly obtain medical attention after any accident so they can be sure to get a proper medical record connecting any injuries to the time of an accident.