The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been looking at the best way to prevent motorcycle accidents. They have looked at the issues you may suspect, such as safety gear, helmets, and preventing drinking and driving. However, they have also looked somewhere that may seem relatively unrelated: Passenger vehicle crash avoidance technology.
How does this affect motorcycle accidents? Could it help reduce the ever-growing number of fatal motorcycle accidents? Keep reading to get the facts and then reach out to Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 if you have a legal case.
The Objective of the Study
The study was completed by the IIHS and had a simple purpose: To identify what amount of the motorcycle rider population could benefit from passenger vehicles have additional or improved crash avoidance technology.
The Methods of the Study
The study looked at two-vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle. Data from 2011 – 2015 as considered, and those involved classified the accident by the type of crash and what kind of crash avoidance technology was available in the passenger vehicle: Lane maintenance, blind spot detection, or front crash prevention.
The results were shared as percentages of crashes that could have been prevented by each of these three types of technology, based on information from all known types of two-vehicle crashes, and by looking at all crashes that involved motorcycles.
What the Study Found
The study determined that front crash prevention has the best chance of helping to prevent two-vehicle accidents involving motorcycles. 4% of all fatal crashes and 13% of accidents serious enough that the police got involved could have been prevented with this technology. They also found if all technologies were used, about 10% of fatal two-vehicle crashes and 23% of accidents reported to police would have had a good chance of being avoided.
However, it is important to note that less than half of fatal motorcycle accidents involved accidents with passenger vehicles so the overall impact would be a reduction of 4% in all motorcycle fatalities and 10% of all police-reported motorcycle accidents.
Steps to Take After a Motorcycle Accident
Hopefully, new technologies will continually be released to help people on motorcycles – and everyone else on the road – stay as safe as possible. Until that time, motorcycle accidents continue to occur and continue to cause both injury and death. If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident then we encourage you to contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 to request a free legal consultation.
Likewise, if you have lost a loved one in a motorcycle accident, you can contact us to learn more about wrongful death lawsuit options. Call us now – we know how difficult this is and we are here to help.
