Articles Posted in Motorcycle Accidents

Borrego Springs and San Diego Motorcycle Crashes

Last Friday, a Ranchita man was involved in a dangerous one-vehicle motorcycle accident when he lost control of his bike near Palm Canyon Drive, according to an article in U-T San Diego. The driver is 62 years old. How did the accident happen? Reports indicate that he had been driving his Harley Davidson motorcycle on Montezuma Valley Road when he hit a curve, which caused him to lose control of his bike. According to the newspaper, he was taken to a hospital in Palm Desert by a medical transport helicopter.

A California Highway Patrol Officer at the scene explained that the victim’s motorcycle “veered across both lanes and overturned.” The motorcyclist is listed as having sustained “major injuries.”

Earlier this week, a motorcycle accident in Pacific Beach led to a driver’s arrest and put a motorcyclist in the hospital. According to San Diego Talk Radio, this past weekend a number of DUI checkpoints were set up throughout San Diego. Over the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend, the city worried that celebrations from the holiday might lead to increased incidents of drinking and driving. The DUI checkpoints were intended to monitor for these drunk drivers.

However, the motorcycle accident in Pacific Beach actually happened in front of a police officer, according to a local CBS 8 station. The motorcyclist attempted to make a left turn when a driver in an automobile hit him from behind. The driver was taken into custody. He currently faces DUI charges for his role in the accident. While no specific information about the motorcyclist has been released, the California Highway Patrol expects to have more information in the coming days.

If you or a loved one have been involved in a motorcycle accident, you could be entitled to compensation. An experienced motorcycle accident attorney can discuss your case with you today. Although we can never be fully prepared for drunk drivers, the recent accident raises concerns about motorcycle safety here in California. Are you safe on your motorcycle?

It is commonly understood that motorcycles come with far more risks that other modes of transportation. The main reason is obvious: when involved in any sort of accident, motorcycles offer far less protection that most other vehicles save for bicycles. On top of that, because of their smaller size, it is more likely that a fellow traveler will miss seeing a biker. That makes it more likely that another driver will veer into their lane, turn in front of them, or otherwise act inappropriately to cause an accident.

Recently, a new study from Injury Prevention took a look at other factors that might affect injury after motorcycle accident. In findings that are not all that surprising, the researchers found that older motorcyclists–age sixty and above–were significantly more likely to be injured following a motorcycle accident. In particular researchers found these older travelers to have about three times more injuries after an accident when compared to their younger counterparts.

To reach their conclusions the researchers took a look at reports of serious crashes culled from the U.S. National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program. Over an eight year period earlier this decade that amounted to about 1.5 million motorcycle accidents.

San Marcos resident and San Diego Police Officer Bruce Byrd was injured this morning while traveling to work. At approximately 6:00 a.m. Byrd, riding his motorcycle, entered the intersection of Borden and Palo Alto when a woman driving a 2000 Honda Civic turned left directly into Byrd’s path of travel. Byrd was thrown from his bike and is reported to have suffered a dislocated hip, broken leg, hand injury, and a cut to his head.

According to reports, the driver of the vehicle, was not seriously injured, and was devastated by the accident. Witnesses say that driver Cynthia Kusimoto was leaving her boyfriend’s home when the accident occurred, and that she told officer’s at the scene that she didn’t see Byrd’s motorcycle.

Notably, Kusimoto was cited at the scene for not having proof of automobile insurance. That may be a clue as to whether she had liability insurance at all. Based on the news reports, Byrd would have a strong personal injury case against Kusimoto, assuming she has the insurance or the assets to pay. If not, Byrd may have maintained underinsured motorist coverage that would kick in in the event Kusimoto was uninsured or underinsured. It is also possible that Byrd would be entitled to benefits under a worker’s compensation policy, though such policies usually don’t cover individuals who are injured traveling to or from work.

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A two-year old lawsuit against the City of Carlsbad by a man who suffered brain injuries after a motorcycle accident on La Costa Avenue has settled his case for $2.9 million. In the lawsuit, plaintiff Frank Gaetani contended that conditions along La Costa Ave. were unreasonably dangerous, that the City of Carlsbad knew about, but failed to do anything about it. Carlsbad denied the allegations, stating that it could find no similar accidents like the one Gaetani suffered in the history of the road.

The accident was a serious one. Gaetani was riding his motorcycle near the 2700 block of La Costa Ave. near Calle Madero when he colloded with a large SUV being driven by a homeowner trying to exit her driveway. Gaetani suffered serious injuries, including permanent brain damage.

La Costa Avenue has been the subject of a long dispute between residents of the busy road and the City of Carlsbad. Residents have been lobbying for years to reduce the speed limit along the road, and Carlsbad has made some efforts to make the road safer. Because of development east of La Costa, the road has become a highly used artery for people trying to get to I-5.

Carlsbad says there will be several changes in the coming years to make the road even safer.

Source: North County Times

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It goes without saying that there are serious risks associated with riding a motorcycle that other automobile drivers don’t face. The San Diego Union Tribune is out with an article about motorcycle safety after the terrible tragedy last week where four motorcyclists were killed on a group ride out in East County.

Motorcycle experts say that the tragic accident underscores the reality that traveling by motorcycle carries with it significantly more risk than traveling by car, and highlights the importance of maintaining a safe distance among other vehicles in the road in case there is a sudden emergency. While the riders involved in last week’s accident were, by all accounts, innocent victims of a reckless driver, it does provide an opportunity to revisit driving laws. Statistically, motorcycling still remains the riskiest way to travel.

The California Vehicle Code requires that drivers of any vehicle, motorcycle or other, to “not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent,” depending on speed, traffic and road conditions. What is reasonable has been defined as maintaining at least a two-second gap from the nearest moving vehicle for cars, and at least three seconds for motorcycles.