Georgia Motorcycle Injuries and Accidents

Just this past week, clients retained our firm’s services with respect to a serious motorcycle injury. As is often the case, because motorcycle riders are unprotected except for the helmet they wear, whenever an accident occurs involving a motorcycle, typically, serious injuries are involved.
The worst case we handled was about 3 years ago when one of our partners represented a motorcycle rider who was hit by a drunk driver and almost killed. This drunk driver not only ran over the motorcycle driver, the motorcycle driver got caught underneath the drunk driver’s truck and was dragged down the road for about 1000 yards before he became disentangled. Virtually every bone in the client’s body was broken and it was truly miraculous that he survived his serious injuries. While we obtained a verdict in excess of $13 million for this client after a trial on the merits, unfortunately, the insurance recovered was insufficient to compensate our seriously injured client.
What we see in these cases is that if one chooses to drive a motorcycle or to be a passenger on a motorcycle, one should be extremely cautious about all safety issues in connection with this activity. Motorcycles are great fun and can be a tremendous recreational activity. It gets people outdoors and provides a great deal of freedom on the road. Nonetheless, it is extremely dangerous. It is well documented that many drivers simply are not accustomed to seeing motorcycles and somehow develop a blindness to their presence as they fail to yield so often to them particularly from a left turn situation.
While we always strive to do our very best to represent innocent victims of the negligence of third parties, it is always emotionally tough when we see motorcycle accident cases in Georgia because we know from prior experience that even though most motorcycle riders today do wear their helmets, nonetheless, their bodies are completely exposed to the pavement and to the automobiles involved in any collisions with them. Regrettably, we have also seen many wrongful death cases arising from motorcycle accidents in Georgia.
As always, the watchword is “safety first, last and always.” For all those who do wish to ride on motorcycles, we would encourage you to read one of our other blogs concerning the importance of uninsured/underinsured coverage. In Georgia, the majority of drivers have minimum limits of $25,000.00 (if they are insured at all). In a motorcycle accident case, typically, this amount of coverage is woefully insufficient to compensate for medical expenses much less pain and suffering and lost wages. Thus, not only must motorcycle drivers and passengers be extremely prudent and careful when operating their bikes, they should also plan in advance by purchasing as much uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage they can afford. Again, it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.