May Is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) is launching the “Get Up to Speed on Motorcycles” campaign, according to a press release. The release noted that NHTSA data shows motorcyclists accounted for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities in a single recent year even though motorcycles made up only 3 percent of all registered vehicles in the United States.

Motorcycle Awareness Month is designed to help other motorists better understand motorcycles and learn how to safely drive around them. NHTSA videos include topics such as motorcycles in blind spots, awareness about motorcycle braking, and the difficulty of judging motorcycle distances.

May was selected as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month because this is the time of the year when motorcycles start making much more regular appearances on roads in Missouri, Illinois, and across the country. It is only logical that all drivers be reminded of how to drive safely and share the road with motorcycles.

Motorcycle Safety Tips

EHS Today reported that the National Safety Council (NSC) found that the mileage death rate for motorcyclists was 37 times greater than for passenger car occupants. During the course of a recent decade, the NSC reported that fatalities involving cars and motorcyclists increased 131 percent.

The NSC provides certain safety tips for both drivers and motorcyclists. These include:

• Drivers should allow greater following distance behind motorcycles.
• Drivers should show extra caution in intersections.
• Drivers should never attempt to share a lane with a motorcycle.
• Drivers should also be aware that distracted driving is an increasingly common cause of accidents, and even a momentary distraction could result in a driver not seeing a motorcycle on the road and causing a catastrophic crash.
• Motorcyclists should avoid riding in bad weather.
• Motorcyclists should avoid other vehicles’ blind spots.
• Motorcyclists should use turn signals for all turns and lane changes.

NHTSA encourages all riders to wear helmets, and it is important for motorcyclists to avoid driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

How Can Sansone & Lauber Help Me?

The motorcycle accident attorneys of Sansone & Lauber represent people who have been hurt in accidents caused by negligence in St. Louis and surrounding areas. We have seen firsthand the severe and life-altering injuries that bikers and their passengers suffer in collisions. We are committed to seeing your case through to the very end and making sure that you are made whole again.

Our firm has a record of success that includes a $1.75 million verdict in a St. Louis motorcycle injury case and $260,000 in an Illinois motorcycle accident case. You can have a compassionate, knowledgeable lawyer from our firm answer all of your legal questions as soon as you call or contact us online to receive a free consultation.