Motorcycle Crashes Reach All-Time High in Texas

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) December 16, 2014 – Motorcycle crashes are claiming more lives than ever before in Texas and across the nation.

“Deaths from motorcycle crashes are on the rise, and the numbers are cause for concern,” indicated motorcycle accident lawyer Brooks Schuelke with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP in Austin. “From January through September this year, there were 14 fatalities in Fort Worth. In 2013 there were 11 deaths the entire year.”

The scenarios vary, but the outcome often remains the same. Two young bikers rammed into a guardrail on I-635. A motorcycle rear-ended a tractor-trailer. A motorcyclist lost control of her bike entering a curve, was ejected onto the highway and died when she was run over by another vehicle. A car turned left in front of a biker, leading the man to ram into the driver’s door. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Another biker was sideswiped by a truck. The hospital could not re-attach his severed leg.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), as of June 2013, the state had 403,632 motorcycles registered, a number that has doubled since 2000. Thanks also to the price of gas, more people have turned to motorcycles to reduce their expenses. Texas alone has at least 450 to 500 fatal accidents every year. The summer months appear to be the worst, when the weather is good and the highways beckon to bikers. 

What caused the numbers to increase? “Very simply, there are now more bike owners in the state than ever before,” Schuelke explained. Given that Texas offers year-round riding, increased ownership also increases the likelihood of more accidents, serious injuries and deaths. Nationwide, close to 5,000 bikers and passengers die every year.

The root causes of many motorcycle fatalities relate to speeding, driving under the influence, failure to wear helmets, lack of proper safety training, reckless driving, failure of other vehicles to see and yield to cyclists, and poor weather and road conditions. The TxDOT numbers show that speeding was the primary cause of more than 50 percent of the accidents causing death.

“If you have been involved in a motorcycle crash and lived to tell the story, reach out and connect with a competent personal injury attorney. You are going to need compensation to deal with your injuries and property damage,” said Schuelke.

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