Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents

Although not necessarily more frequent than other types of vehicle accidents, motorcycle accidents are far more likely to cause serious injuries and fatalities. Backing this up, a 2006 federal study found 35 times more death per mile driven by motorcyclists than by miles driven by in a car. It is clear that bikers should learn about the preventable causes of accidents so they can be as safe as possible.

Autos Turning Left

There is a simple answer to the question “what is the single greatest danger to a motorcyclist?" That answer is cars making left hand turns. This accounts for 42% of the accidents between a motorcycle and car. This usually occurs in one of two ways.

• When the motorcycle is improperly passing a car on the left (typically the cyclist is not in a legal lane or is “lane splitting” with the car)
• The cyclist is riding in the opposite direction and going straight and the car turns into the motorcyclist

Left turns are a frequent cause of accidents in general. However, a motorcycle's lower profile makes it more difficult to see for a turning car. Cyclists who (illegally) pass cars on the left within the same lane as the car are vulnerable to being struck by a car turning left. Car drivers just do not anticipate bikers passing them in this manner, are unaware the bike is passing them and thus turn left into the path of the motorcycle.

When a vehicle turns left and strikes another vehicle its driver is nearly always found to be at fault. On the other hand, when a biker is not legally passing a car or speeding, liability is not so clear or may be found to be primarily on the cyclist. This may mean the motorcyclist will receive reduced compensation in a legal proceeding or possibly no compensation whatsoever.

Motorcycles in Head-On Collisions

Fifty-six percent of motorcyclist fatalities are the result of accidents between a motorcycle and a vehicle which is not a motorcycle. Seventy-eight percent of these incidents involve head on collisions. Riding a motorcycle provides far less protection than riding a car and the chance to be thrown from a motorcycle is much greater than being thrown from a car.

Lane Splitting by Motorcycles

When a cyclist shares a lane with a car (often without the car driver’s knowledge) this is called lane splitting. For example, we have all seen motorcycles weaving between traffic during a traffic jam. Lane splitting is extremely dangerous and can cause accidents for several reasons.

• Cars and the motorcycle are operating very close to each other
• the motorcycle has very little room to maneuver, and
• the car drivers do not anticipate the motorcycle to be where it is.

Lane splitting is not legal in many states and may result in a finding that the motorcyclist is responsible for any resulting accident.

Motorcyclist Speeding and Alcohol Use

About half of accidents with a single motorcycle are speeding or alcohol related.This is not surprising as these factors also play a significant part of many accidents involving other vehicles too.

Motorcycles Crashing Into Fixed Objects

A quarter of motorcycle road deaths are caused by motorcycles crashing into objects that are fixed. As common sense would indicate, because a motorcyclist is not surrounded by a box of metal (a car) and is likely to be thrown far and with great force, a motorcycle accident can have higher fatalities than while in a car.

In fact.... there were a "total of 5,172 motorcyclists died in crashes in 2017," according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute.