Los Angeles County California is well known for its traffic. With over seven million vehicles registered within the county, it is no surprise that the roadways get a little congested occasionally! It is also no surprise that many people choose to ride a motorcycle that live in Los Angeles. Motorcycles can be less expensive to buy, less expensive to maintain and are much better on gas than a car or truck. Additionally, the weather in Los Angeles is normally conducive to riding year around making the choice to ride a motorcycle more practical. Sadly, riding a bike is also more dangerous.
Even if you take all the legally required safety precautions, you still stand a much better chance of being involved in an accident through no fault of your own than your four wheel driving counterpart says Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates. National statistics tell us that motorcycles account for about 1% of all the vehicles on the road, yet account for more than 5% of all accidents. In Los Angeles County, the numbers are even more sobering. Of the over seven million vehicles registered in Los Angeles County as of 2008, just under 150,000 of those were motorcycles. That means that in Los Angeles County, just over 2% of all registered vehicles are motorcycles – more than double the national average. This is not surprising considering what a wonderful place it is to ride. What is shocking though is that of the 52,229 injury accidents reported for the year 2008 in Los Angeles County, 2,934 of those involved motorcycles and 114 of those were fatal accidents, according to the California Highway Patrol. What those figures tell us is that although motorcycles only account for about 2% of all vehicles on L.A.’s roadways, they are involved in almost 6% of all accidents. What makes it even more frustrating for bikers is that at least two-thirds of the time, the accident was caused by someone other than the biker. The most common cause of all motorcycle accidents is another driving violating your space – usually turning in front of you. The sad truth is that despite efforts to warn drivers to look out for motorcyclists, they just don’t do it. Most drivers will tell you that they never saw the motorcycle that they hit. Unless you are a biker yourself, it may be that drivers are just not mentally trained to look for motorcycles on the roadways – they look for what they are used to seeing and riving themselves.
If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident and you believe that someone else was at fault, you may be entitled to compensation for any injuries that you suffered in the accident. Medical bills, lost wages and repairs to your bike are just a few of the things that you may be entitled to receive compensation for in a motorcycle accident case. If you would like more information, please contact Los Angeles motorcycle accident attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates online at www.ledgerlaw.com or at 1-800-300-0001.
