New Jersey Accident and Injury Law Blog : New Jersey Injury Lawyer & Attorney : The Grossman Law Firm : Serving Monmouth County, Bergen County

When it comes to preventing auto accidents, there's plenty of good effective advice. Always drive at safe speeds, and don't drive under the influence of alcohol. However, you don’t come across easy advice on preventing bike accidents. That’s because bicyclists face unique challenges as they ride on New Jersey streets.

Bicycling Magazine has a list of the five most frequent bicycle-car accidents. The list includes the five most common bicycle crash scenarios, and also steps to prevent these.

The situations include a few that bicyclists in New Jersey frequently come across. For instance, a bicyclist may find that a motorist passes him on the left, and then tries to turn right into the bicyclist. Another frequent bicycle-car accident situation that often causes a bicyclist serious injuries, is when a biker is passing a line of parked cars, and one of the car doors is suddenly opened. 

In all these situations, one thing is certain - it’s the bicyclist who is at the highest risk of suffering serious injuries, or even death.

These tips to prevent bicycle accidents take on even more significance during May, which is Bicycle Safety Month. Across the country, bicycling organizations and groups are promoting safety efforts in their communities, and encouraging people to join bicyclists. As a New Jersey personal injury lawyer, I strongly believe that we should be encouraging more people to bike to work, not just for the numerous health benefits associated with cycling, but also to reduce congestion on New Jersey's congested streets. However, it's important that new bicyclists take the time to get oriented to the challenges of bicycling. Bicycle Safety Month is the perfect time to do that.

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Summer is the time when there are more people riding motorcycles, bicycles and all-terrain vehicles in New Jersey. Wearing helmets can help prevent brain injuries in an accident. However, safety is the last thing on the minds of people who set out to enjoy summer activities without wearing helmets. A group of emergency room physicians is stressing the importance of wearing helmets while riding and motorcycling.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, there are more numbers of people biking, motorcycling and riding ATVs at this time of year. It's the right time to reiterate an important safety message - helmets save lives. All it takes is a single accident and a single head injury to kill you, or leave you with a catastrophic injury with lifelong consequences.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every year more than 300,000 children are rushed to emergency rooms with injuries sustained in bicycle accidents. Out of these, at least 70% of the injuries could have been prevented if the child had been wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The agency estimates that if all children between the ages of four and 15 wore helmets while bicycling, it would prevent up to 45,000 head injuries every year. The agency also estimates that helmet use could have prevented more than 1,800 motorcycle fatalities in 2008.

When it comes to wearing a helmet while biking or motorcycling, any helmet won’t do. As a New Jersey injury lawyer, I would advise purchasing a well fitting and approved helmet. Look for bicycle helmets that meet or exceed the standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Motorcyclists must look for helmets that are approved by the Department of Transportation.

It's not just motorcycles, bicyclists and ATV riders who must wear helmets. Wearing helmets can also prevented injuries among rollerbladers and skateboarders. 

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My experience as a motorcycle accident attorney representing many bikers injured throughout central and northern new jersey is that most often these victims suffer extensive fractures, scrapes, burns or traumatic brain injuries as the result of the failure of drivers of a car or automobile to see the motorcycle until it is far too late. Those who ride on our over crowded highways and roads also experience the decay in the infrastructure or the toll that the roads and highways take due to the winter weather and constant pounding of tractor trailer trucks, cars and buses. Reducing the incidences of motorcycle crashes in the nation’s most densely populated state is a noble and vital goal.  

According to the Federal Highway Authority about 2,500 New Jersey motorcyclists are involved in crashes each year. In 2006, in NJ there were 89 deaths which have more than doubled the 40 motorcycle deaths in 1991. As reported in a recent Glouster County Times article, Rowan University partnered with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and Virginia Tech to promulgate a study gathering data about motorcyclist habits that may help to reduce the incidence of motorcycle related fatalities and injuries.   Dr. Yusuf Mehta, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rowan said”Motorcyclists are vulnerable highway users, and we have been watching the number of motorcycle fatalities in our state increase. The goal is to understand the root cause of increasing motorcycle fatalities." Dr. Mehta said his students will look at police reports of motorcycle crashes and investigate several factors such as pavement conditions, street lighting, and visibility. The study will continue through June 2009 and is funded through a $199,000 grant from the State Department of Transportation.

In addition, surveys will be sent to motorcycle dealerships, ride coaches, and riders asking if dealers encourage riders to take safety courses and wear protective gear. Furthermore, a survey sent to riding coaches asks whether they agree with road and written tests, and riders will receive a survey asking what they think they could do to improve safety.  Some MVC statistics gathered from the same Gloucester County Times article state “more than half the motorcycle crashes involving other vehicles occur at intersections. More than two-thirds occur when the vehicle's driver does not see the motorcycle. In motorcycle crashes that don't involve another vehicle, more than two-thirds result from excessive speed and more than 40 percent of crash fatalities occur during turns and corners.” Cathleen Lewis, a spokeswoman from MVC said “Our goal really is just to use the information that's found to get a better understanding of the riding community. Rider education is very important not just for new riders, but riders who are returning to their bikes. Most riders don’t take courses until they have been injured so let’s stop that trend and educate ourselves before any another serious injury or fatality happens.  

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