Young men leaning over handlebars, hair flying in the breeze as they pass cars and trucks on the right and left—sometimes at the same time straddling lines separating lanes—are not the cause of most Florida motorcycle collisions with other vehicles, according to a university study.
In Florida motorcycle crashes involving other vehicles, it’s the drivers of cars and trucks who are at fault in six out of ten cases, according to a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) study conducted by the University of South Florida Center for Urban Transportation Research.
With automobile drivers often blaming “reckless riding by bikers,” Daytona Beach motorcycle accident attorneys Johnson & Gilbert note the importance professional assistance in examining these cases.
The FDOT report notes failure to yield the right of way by drivers of the larger vehicle is often the cause of collisions between automobiles or trucks and motorcycles
USF senior researcher Chanyoung Lee, notes the study of 10 years of Florida motorcycle crashes with larger vehicles found the latter at fault 60 percent of the time, indicating a bias where car and truck drivers don’t expect to encounter motorcycles.
Nearly two-thirds of all motorcycle accidents involve other vehicles and in fatal and severe-injury crashes the drivers of cars or trucks are generally mostly to blame, according to Lee. Many crashes involve cars or trucks making left turns in front of an oncoming motorcycle. Due to its size, a motorcycle is harder to see and may seem farther away than it actually is.
Some motorcycle riders blame winter visitors and distracted drivers for collisions. They claim visitors from outside the state are not accustomed to having so many motorcycles on the road. The majority of Florida crashes occur in March, when there are the most motorcycles and visitors on the road, according to the study.
If you’ve been injured in a Florida motorcycle accident, call the Daytona personal injury trial lawyers at Johnson & Gilbert at 386.673.4412 or toll-free at 800.556.8890 for a free consultation. Their experienced motorcycle accident attorneys have been helping clients settle claims for more than 15 years.
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