More Safety Systems in Cars Could Save Bikers’ Lives

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), each year 8,000 two-vehicle collisions with motorcycles could be mitigated or prevented if passenger vehicles were equipped with certain safety systems, including lane maintenance, blind spot detection and front crash prevention.

These systems can be designed and installed to help detect motorcycles, the IIHS study estimates. That could save lives.

Many newer-model vehicles roll off the line with sophisticated crash avoidance features. The systems are designed to monitor the environment for the driver and use sensors and cameras to warn drivers of hazards. Some systems even intervene when collisions appear inevitable.

Sadly, many of these detection systems aren’t designed to detect motorcycles. Since motorcyclists being readily visible decreases the likelihood of collisions with vehicles, including these additional detection systems would give drivers another tool to avoid a crash. It could potentially save many motorcyclists from injuries and deaths.

Statistics supplied by the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System and others indicate that 86 percent of accidents involving motorcycles result in injuries or fatalities. The majority of two-vehicle collisions involve passenger vehicles rear-ending motorcycles.

It’s estimated that front crash prevention systems could have relevance to 13 percent of collisions reported to police during one specific period, 10 percent of injury-causing nonfatal accidents and 4 percent of fatal collisions.

Unless and until these safety systems become the norm for vehicles, motorcyclists will continue to bear the brunt of these crashes. If you suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident, your life can be irrevocably altered. You may never be able to resume work or other activities of daily living again.

In order to be compensated for these damages, it may be necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit in the Georgia civil courts.