Collision with Intoxicated Driver Takes Life of Motorcyclist
According to a newly-released report from the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA), motorcycle fatalities rose substantially between 2014 and 2015. The dangers of motorcycle riding were recently brought closer to home with the recent death of a local firefighter in a motorcycle accident.
Developments in safety improvements are slow to come to motorcycle riders, due to the inherent dangers involved in being unprotected by a vehicle body while on the road, and the instability of a two-wheeled vehicle. For these and other reasons, fatalities among motorcycle riders do not always decline from year to year, as do accidents among passenger vehicles. In fact, in the past two decades, while overall roadway fatalities have declined by 20%, fatalities among motorcycle riders have gone up by 50%. However, even considering the generally high rate of fatalities among motorcycle riders, last year stood out as one of the three worst on record. After a preliminary look at states’ accident fatality reports, the GHSA has found that 5,010 motorcycle riders lost their lives nationwide, making it one of only three years in which over 5,000 motorcycle rider fatalities were reported, and marking a 10% increase over the number of motorcycle traffic fatalities from 2014. The GHSA attributes the rise in fatalities to a number of factors, including a record number of overall miles driven by Americans, low fuel costs, dry and warm weather, and a weakening of helmet laws in a number of states. Additionally, many passenger vehicle operators are still unskilled at adequately scanning the roadway for motorcycles when turning or merging lanes, which is more likely to result in injury for the motorcyclist than the passenger vehicle driver should an accident result.
A recent accident has highlighted the dangers of motorcycles and caused the loss of a beloved figure in a local community. A member of the Tom’s River fire department was killed in a collision with a Plymouth Voyager on May 31. The two vehicles were traveling south on the Garden State Parkway near exit 82 when the Plymouth, traveling in front of the motorcycle, stopped abruptly in the center lane in an attempt to merge across traffic to exit the highway. Unable to avoid a crash, the motorcycle rear-ended the van, ejecting the rider. The man was pronounced dead at Community Medical Center. Police have indicated that the driver of the van was intoxicated at the time of the crash and will be charged with a DWI.
If you or someone you love has been injured in a motorcycle accident in New Jersey, contact the compassionate and trial-ready Wayne personal injury attorneys at Massood Law Group for a free consultation on your case, at 973-696-1900.
