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

The month of May 2010 is being commemorated as Motorcycle Safety Month across the US. This commemoration coincides with an announcement by federal agencies that there has been a substantial drop in motorcycle accident fatalities for 2009.

Last week, I blogged about new statistics by the Governors’ Highway Safety Association that shows a drop of more than 10% in motorcycle crash fatalities for the first nine months of 2009. The drop was seen in New Jersey too, which in fact, had one of the more substantial declines in fatality rates. The reasons for the decline are not clear yet. There are indications that the recession could have played a part. That puts a damper on the spirits of New Jersey motorcycle accident lawyers like me, who were hoping that the decline was due to safer motorcycling and greater respect for motorcyclists’ rights.

However, with lots of motorcycle safety events being planned for May, I am hopeful that these 31 days will help make both motorists and motorcyclists aware of the need to keep those crash death numbers down. In 2008, there were a record 5000+ motorcyclists killed in accidents. We can't afford to go back to those kinds of numbers again. It's great that we've managed to get fatality rates for 2009 down, but now we need to keep focused on this issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has lined up a series of events that state and local organizations can conduct to enhance motorcycle safety awareness. There will be a lot of focus on wearing helmets in order to reduce the risk of a serious injury or death in an accident. The agency is also offering a Share the Road planner to help these organizations plan for the month.

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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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New Jersey motorcycle riders continue to be involved in many deaths and serious injuries on our densely populated and over crowded roads.  As a matter of fact 87 deaths occurred between 2006 and 2007 according to a Trenton Times article which cites recent NJ motorcycle accident statistics from the New Jersey State Police. The good news is motorcycle fatalities decreased 15.5 percent – from 103 to 87. The bad news is 87 fatalities is the second-highest total recorded in the last 12 years. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2005, 27 percent of all fatally injured motorcycle operators had BAC levels of .08 g/dl. Forty-five percent of fatally injured motorcyclists did not wear helmets. Motorcyclists need to be more responsible with how much alcohol they drink and wearing helmets. Those two irresponsible acts can easily be avoided and help lower fatalities. New Jersey compared with recent national statistics has made some positive strides in reducing motorcycle fatalities but 87 deaths is still too many and we have a long way to go.

Who is at fault for this high number of deaths? Both the motorists and motorcyclists are at fault and need to be careful when sharing the road with each other. Motorists need to make sure they double-check their side and rearview mirrors for motorcycles passing by and motorcyclists need to take higher safety precautions when driving on busy roads.

Furthermore, motorcyclists need to become more aware of highway dangers and avoid making poor decisions. An example of a poor decision would be when there is heavy traffic on the roads so a motorcyclist decides they don’t want to wait in traffic so they drive in between lanes. Let’s say one of the cars decided to make a turn, that would put the motorcyclist in danger and at high speeds could result in a serious injury or even death. Motorcyclists do many things to cause their own danger. Other examples are speeding, making sharp turns, and driving too close to cars. Let’s make a better effort to become more aware of dangers and to make better choices.

While motorists make many mistakes on the road nothing is more deadly then a motorcyclist making a mistake. When driving a motorcycle you need to take extra precautions like driving the speed limit and always being aware of your surroundings.

Motorcycle fatalities have gone down statistically but what can we do to further reduce these incidents of serious motorcycle accidents in New Jersey? One idea is to further educate the public. May is now being recognized as the New Jersey Motorcycle Awareness Month in an effort to remind all motorcyclists and motorists to be responsible when sharing the road. Hopefully education will provide awareness of dangers on the road and what precautions drivers can take. Together we can lower the fatality numbers and make the road a safer place.

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