Many people, including some of those who sit on juries during motorcycle accident cases, may not understand riders and what motivates them, especially riders who are older. While it is true that motorcyclists are more vulnerable to injuries than motorists who are inside vehicles, most have a built-in respect for the possibility of crashes and do what they can to protect themselves.
Getting older
The average age of motorcycle riders has increased over the past couple of decades, and older riders are prone to more severe injuries than their younger counterparts. For example, riders who are over the age of 60 sustain more head and chest injuries than those who are in their 20s and 30s. Younger riders are involved in more accidents by far than older riders. However, members of the over-60 set spend more time in the hospital recovering from their injuries. They also have more complex medical histories, which, when combined with the harm inflicted by a crash, makes survival a greater challenge.
The lure of the open road
Riders love the freedom their motorcycles provide, and the weather in Georgia enables motorcyclists to indulge that free and easy feeling for much of the year. Of course, crashes happen and injuries result. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention performed studies between 2001 and 2008 showing that 30 percent of all motorcycle injuries treated in emergency rooms across the country were those that affected the lower extremities; next were head and neck injuries followed by injuries to the chest, shoulders and back.
Taking negligence to court
Motorcyclists have the same rights as any other driver, but the types of injuries that riders sustain when a crash occurs are enough to make jury members wince. The job of a personal injury attorney is to help the jury relate to the person who suffered severe injuries, not because he or she was on a motorcycle, but because of the negligence of the driver who hit the rider.