Each year, many Oklahoma residents are killed or seriously injured in motorcycle accidents. Data released by the Insurance Information Institute shows that the fatality rate for people in motorcycle collisions in on the rise.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 4,976 people died in motorcycle accidents around the country in 2015. This was an 8.3 percent increase over the number of fatalities in 2014. The rate of injuries decreased from 2014 to 2015, however. In 2014, 92,000 motorcyclists were injured while 88,000 were injured in 2015.
Multiple factors contribute to accidents. Older motorcyclists are likelier to be seriously injured or killed in accidents. In 2015, 54 percent of all of the fatalities were to people who were ages 40 or older. Brown University researchers attribute this to several things, including the decreasing visual acuity and reflexes of older people, increasing fragility of older motorcyclists and the fact that they tend to drive larger bikes. Larger bikes tip over more easily than smaller bikes do. Other factors that contribute to many accidents include alcohol use by either the motorcyclists or the other motorists, inattentive driving and speeding.
Motorcycle accidents claim the lives of thousands of people every year. Unlike other motorists, people on motorcycles do not have the protective frames that cars and trucks provide to their occupants. When they are in crashes, they thus have very little to protect them from the physical forces involved in the collisions. People who are seriously injured in motorcycle accidents that resulted from the negligence of other motorists may want to consult with experienced personal injury lawyers in order to see how they can seek compensation for the losses that they have sustained.