New Jersey’s Division of Highway Traffic Safety gets right to the point concerning one distinct demographic that shares road space with other motorized vehicles.
Namely, that group comprises motorcyclists, which a DHTS website page terms the state’s “most vulnerable segment.”
Candidly, that is an obvious and unsurprising observation, right? Bikers and their passengers stand out in glaringly differentiated fashion when compared with other conveyances surrounding them on New Jersey’s busy and varied roadways.
Like trucks, for example, which can easily take up entire traffic lanes and weigh scores of thousands of pounds. Like large and often cumbersome municipal and construction vehicles. Like busses. And like the myriad types of passenger conveyances constantly jockeying for position on state streets, highways and interstate corridors.
Evidence underscoring motorcyclists’ heightened vulnerability
No reader of this blog post is likely surprised by the sheer degree to which motorcyclists are exposed to road risks. There is no dearth of culled empirical evidence underscoring how comparatively imperiled bikers are when negotiating traffic. Here are a few relevant data bits to consider:
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stresses that motorcyclists have a fatality rate in vehicle accidents that is 28 times higher than that applicable to passenger vehicle occupants
- Bikers reportedly have a nonfatal injury rate exceeding that for passenger car occupants by a stunning 500%
Those bulleted points are germane to the riding public nationally. Accident/injury data supplied by the above-cited DHTS website relevant to New Jersey are equally alarming, to wit:
- Scores of fatal injury outcomes each year
- Almost 12,000 motorcycle crashes within a recent five-year period
Prime injury catalysts in New Jersey motorcycle crashes
The culprits promoting bike crash outcomes are recurring and predictable. Negligent drivers’ reckless behind-the-wheel behaviors range from speeding and lane weaving to tailgating and more. Some motorists simply drive aggressively when near motorcycles. Others are dangerously preoccupied with various on-board distractions. Many parties responsible for motorcyclists’ injuries claim that they never even saw a bike before they struck its rider.
Injured motorcyclists and their passengers are far from powerless in the wake of a literally negligence-driven crash. A legal remedy can often ensure accountability and secure maximum damages relevant to medical costs, future rehabilitation, lost wages, disability, pain and suffering and additional matters.
A proven personal injury legal team can provide further information.
