If you live in Valley Center or elsewhere in Southern California, now is a great time to learn more about motorcycle safety. According to a recent article in the Patch, May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in California, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is taking steps to prevent serious and deadly motorcycle accidents throughout the state. Although the weather is warm enough year-round for motorcyclists to enjoy the streets and highways of Southern California, it is a fact that more bikers are on the road in the spring and summer months. As such, it is an important time to assess previous motorcycle safety problems and to institute better practices going forward.

High Rate of Motorcycle Accidents Last Year in California

As the article explains, we are not seeing a noticeable reduction in the rates of motorcycle accidents in California. In 2015, there were 494 motorcycle accident fatalities and more than 13,500 accident-related injuries. By 2016, the number of nonfatal accidents had increased to more than 14,000, while the fatality rate dropped, although not considerably, to 476.

Part of the reason that there are so many motorcycle accidents in California is that there is a particularly high number of licensed riders in our state. There are currently “more than 884,000 registered motorcycles and more than 1.4 million licensed riders in the state,” the article says. According to the CHP, as we mentioned, “throughout the spring and summer, the number of motorcyclists on the road will increase.”

Safety First on California’s Highways

Given the high rate of motorcycle accidents and injuries, the CHP is focused on reducing the number of motorcycle accidents and injuries and creating a safer environment for bikers. Part of that safer environment revolves around renewed campaigns to share the road, which emphasize that automobile drivers and truckers have a responsibility to motorcyclists, just as motorcyclists have a responsibility to other motor vehicles on the highway. What does the CHP recommend when it comes to sharing the road?

The CHP has the following tips for automobile drivers:

• First and foremost, stay alert to your surroundings;
• Recognize that motorcyclists can be hard to see (and thus always look twice before changing lanes or turning left);
• Use common sense when you are on smaller roads or on the highways;
• Be courteous to all other motor vehicle drivers on the road always keep safety measures in mind.

What can motorcyclists do to help prevent accidents? The CHP recommends the following:

• Always use a turn signal;
• Avoid riding in a car’s blind spot; and
• Wear a DOT-approved helmet.

Much of the May safety campaign involves raising awareness about sharing the road and understanding the differences between automobiles and motorcycles when they are on the highways together. The key is acknowledging that car drivers and motorcyclists have duties toward one another, and the sooner we take into account our own safety just as much as another driver’s, the sooner we may see a reduction in motorcycle accidents, injuries, and fatalities.

Contact a Valley Center Motorcycle Accident Attorney

If you have questions about filing a motorcycle accident lawsuit, a Valley Center motorcycle accident lawyer can speak with you today about your case. Contact the Walton Law Firm to learn more about how we can assist you.

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(image courtesy of Igor Ovsyannykov)

Connecting Riders to Improve Safety

As the article emphasizes, “connected motorcycles may sound cool, but researchers are delving into more serious aspects of them.” For instance, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) applications might be able to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities that occur in motorcycle accidents. If connected motorcycles become the norm, riders who have been involved in an accident can quickly reach out for assistance. And some applications might even be able to connect riders involved in collisions immediately with emergency medical responders.

Up until recently, connected motorcycles weren’t common like connected cars. In 2013, however, Zero Motorcycles produced a mobile app that allowed riders to communicate via Bluetooth, and it also allowed the company to diagnose mechanical problems with a bike while being hundreds—or even thousands—of miles away. This kind of connectivity has recently been added to Zero’s lightweight electric bikes. As a result, according to the director of consumer experience at the company, “our bikes’ owners can communicate with us from anywhere in the world using our mobile application and its connection.”

And what does such connectivity produce? When it comes to traffic collisions, “the result is a 50% faster response than before for emergency service.” Zero and other motorcycles companies also hope to add vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology to bikes in the near future, allowing riders’ bikes to communicate with one another. The goal of V2V, ultimately, is “to prevent accidents,” and such technology could be mandatory as early as 2017.

New Age of Smart Helmets

In addition to connected vehicles, technology is also improving the safety of motorcycle helmets. The smart helmet entered into its first stages of development in 2013, and the owners of the Skully AR-1 smart helmet expect to delivery the first batch of orders by December of this year. What is a smart helmet?

Smart helmets provide riders with “full situational awareness with GPS navigation, a blind-spot camera view, and transparent heads-up display (HUD)” With these tools, the helmets deliver essential information to motorcyclists without causing distractions. And as many of us know, distracted driving (or, in this case riding) can quickly lead to a deadly auto accident. In addition to preventing crashes, smart helmets can also be synced with the bike’s fuel tank, for instance, to alert the rider that she or he needs to stop for gas.

Although connected motorcycles and smart helmets aren’t yet the norm, Californians who are in the process of developing these products hope that they’ll ultimately lead to a drastic reduction in the number of motorcycle accident injuries and fatalities on our roads each year. In the meantime, if you or someone you love suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident, you should contact an experienced San Diego motorcycle accident lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your case.

Photo Credit: linie305 via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: Deadly Motorcycle Accidents and Safety Measures More Hit-and-Run Accidents in San Diego

Motorcycle accidents can be extremely serious, and in many cases they result in fatal injuries. According to a recent article in U-T San Diego, a 46-year-old man from Fallbrook died in a motorcycle crash late last month. What happened? Based on testimony from the group members with whom he had been out riding and the California Highway Patrol officer who responded to the accident, the motorcyclist rode ahead of the others and “entered a curve at high speed, braked, and lost control of his motorcycle.” The rider “was thrown from the bike and hit his head [on] the metal guard rail.”

The force from the collision was so extreme that the motorcyclist’s helmet was knocked off, and the other riders found him “lying in the road, unconscious.” The accident occurred around 11:20 p.m. The motorcyclist was rushed to a hospital in Escondido by emergency responders, but he later died from the traumatic head injury he sustained in the crash.

What caused the crash? The initial California Highway Patrol report suggests that aggressive driving—speeding, specifically—led to the deadly accident. This crash, as with numerous other motorcycle accidents, likely could have been prevented. What do you need to know to prevent fatal motorcycle injuries?

Motorcycle Safety: Preventing Deadly Accidents in Southern California

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motorcycle crashes result in more than 4,500 deaths each year. Thousands more produce debilitating injuries, making motorcycle accidents “a growing public health concern.” To be sure, the financial cost of motorcycle collisions has grown in recent years, totaling about $12 billion annually. It’s more important now than ever to take note of these facts, given that “motorcycle ownership is at an all-time high,” particularly in sunny California. What can you do to ensure that you or someone you love avoids a devastating motorcycle crash?

The CDC emphasizes that we should know the risk factors for a deadly motorcycle collision:

• Age is a major factor, and the age of many motorcycle accident victims has shifted in recent years. While young people used to be the ones who were most susceptible to a crash—making older drivers, perhaps, consider themselves safer on their bikes—more than 50 percent of all deadly motorcycle accidents in recent years have involved drivers aged 40 and up.
• Helmets are extremely important for motorcycle safety. To be sure, more than 40 percent of motorcycle operators and 50 percent of motorcycle passengers who sustain fatal injuries in accidents weren’t wearing helmets.
• Riding under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs drastically increases your risk of being involved in a deadly collision. Nearly 30 percent of motorcyclists who sustain fatal injuries in accidents have blood alcohol concentrations above the legal limit.
• Believe it or not, the type of motorcycle you ride can be a risk factor for a fatal crash. Most people who suffer life-threatening injuries, according to the CDC, “are riding sport motorcycles with mid-size engines designed to maximize speed and agility.”

If you recently lost a loved one in a motorcycle accident, you may be eligible to file a claim for compensation. Many deadly accidents occur because of another driver’s negligence. Contact an experienced San Diego motorcycle accident attorney today to learn more about how we can assist you with your case.

Photo Credit: itarugra via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: More Hit-and-Run Accidents in San Diego Dangerous Motorcycle Accidents in Southern California