New data shows that motorcycle accidents causing fatalities and serious injuries have reached a 10-year high. This alarming trend highlights the danger faced by motorcycle riders every time they take their bikes out onto the province’s roads and highways.
Motorcycle riders are among the most vulnerable of all road-users. With only a helmet and wearable safety gear protecting them from the dangers of the road, motorcycle riders who are involved in a collision with a larger passenger vehicle could easily suffer fatal or severe, catastrophic injuries.
Safely riding a motorcycle requires an abundance of caution, experience, and vigilance. However, even the most safety-conscious motorcycle rider could lose their life or sustain serious injuries as the result of another driver’s negligence.
In accordance with Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act, all motor vehicle operators must exercise a reasonable degree of caution behind the wheel and take the safety of all other road-users into consideration by obeying local traffic laws. If they fail to uphold the duty of care they legally owe other road-users by engaging in any form of unlawful or otherwise wrongful conduct, they could be considered negligent.
Common examples of driver negligence that could seriously injure a vulnerable motorcycle rider include:
If a driver’s negligence leads to a collision in which a motorcycle rider is injured, the at-fault driver could be liable for damages they incur as a result. The negligent driver’s insurance provider could be required to pay for an injured accident survivor’s injury-related economic and non-economic costs.
The lifetime costs of accident-related injuries can be unmanageable. Oftentimes, survivors of motorcycle accidents require costly medical expenses including prolonged periods of physical therapy, ambulatory assistive equipment, live-in attendant care from a personal support worker, and other drastic lifestyle adjustments. Furthermore, motorcycle accident survivors whose overall quality of life has been significantly diminished could incur non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and emotional distress as a result of the injuries they have sustained.
Unfortunately, even if a driver’s negligence was responsible for a collision in which a motorcyclist was injured, it can be very difficult for the accident victim to get the settlement they deserve from the at-fault motorist’s insurer. Insurance companies often try arguing that the motorcyclist’s own actions on the road contributed to the circumstances that led to the collision in an attempt to reduce the damages they should be awarded.
However, by working with our Airdrie motorcycle accident lawyers, bikers who have been injured in a collision caused by another person’s negligence may be able to recover the maximum amount of damages to which they might be entitled. To learn more about working with our motorcycle accident lawyers serving Airdrie, book your free initial consultation with Preszler Injury Lawyers today.
Our Airdrie motorcycle accident lawyers are standing by to offer you personalized, case-specific legal advice. To take advantage of your free initial consultation and learn about options for financial recovery that might be available to you, contact us today and speak with our motorcycle accident lawyers serving Airdrie.
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