Some motorcyclists feel that car drivers are inconsiderate towards them on the roads, and to be honest, the number of accidents involving cars and motorcyclist shows that this is probably true.
Although a car driver is not always at fault for an accident with a motorcyclist, most of the time they are due to the basic fact that car drivers do not look out carefully enough for motorcyclists when making a manoeuvre.
The most common circumstance is that of a car driver waiting at a junction to pull out onto a main road, not checking oncoming traffic sufficiently enough, and pulling out into the path of a motorcyclist, and causing a collision.
The liability here rests with the car driver; they have a duty to ensure that the main road is clear of all traffic before pulling into it, whether it is a car, lorry or a motorcyclist.
Another problem for motorcyclists is cars pulling out from lines of traffic and change lanes. One of the great advantages of riding a motorcycle must be the ability to ride through traffic with relative ease. The problem here occurs when the motorcyclist is correctly proceeding through the traffic and a car decides to pull out and try to get in another lane and ends up colliding with the motorcyclist. This is also usually caused by car drivers not checking their mirrors properly before beginning their manoeuvre.
The Highway Code states that “if you need to change lane, first use your mirrors and if necessary take a quick sideways glance to make sure you will not force another road user to change course or speed”.
Any other road users includes motorcyclists therefore, again, car drivers should ensure they have checked sufficiently for other vehicles and motorcyclists. It’s normally easy enough to see if there is a car to look out, for but the size of motorcyclists will make them harder to spot for obvious reasons.
These are just examples of scenarios where a motorcyclist is put in danger as a result of other road users not keeping an eye out for them – and it is just the tip of the iceberg.
Although there is a lot being done to make road users more aware of motorcyclists, such as the Think Bike! campaign, here at The Injury Lawyers, we still deal with a significant number of Road Traffic Accidents which involve a motorcyclist being injured as a result of carelessness on the part of other road users.
Given how often they occur, we specialise in motorcycle accident claims and have brought countless claims to a successful conclusion of the many years we have been pursuing personal injury claims. One of the most important things for us is helping our clients with private medical care that we can often arrange from the start of the case. It goes without saying that injuries to motorcyclists are often serious and need to be dealt with urgently.
If you have been injured in a Road Traffic Accident as a motorcyclist and it wasn’t your fault, call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75.
We deal only in claims for personal injury so we can provide you with expert advice over the phone on a no obligation basis.
