It is a fact that motorcyclists in South Carolina are more vulnerable to serious injuries than other motorists. Not only do riders have no physical protection that is provided with an enclosed vehicle, but they are also susceptible to being thrown for significant distances as a result of an impact. And this is not to mention laying a bike down just to have it spin around and come back if the engine does not stop. They are indeed the most dangerous vehicles on the road. However, they can also cause serious injury to occupants of other vehicles as well, and especially when a bike or rider is catapulted through a windshield.
Rate of serious injury
While many typical car accidents do not always result in severe injuries to passengers inside a vehicle, this is not true of motorcycle accidents. Even a minor mishap can result in very serious long-term injuries for the biker regardless of involvement by other vehicles. Single-vehicle motorcycle accidents are very common. Studies have actually shown that three times as many bike accidents involve injury as opposed to injury rates for standard passenger car accidents, many of which are single-vehicle incidents. These accidents compound injury rates significantly.
Impact on damages
Attorneys who represent victims of car accidents understand well that lack of physical protection for motorcyclists is a direct contributor to medical treatment costs being generally higher than for injured passengers of enclosed vehicles. Injuries suffered by bikers are rarely just superficial, and they commonly suffer road rash and severe burn injuries along with internal damage such as broken bones or even paralysis.
The attorneys must be diligent in investigating the collision to ensure that clients not only receive as much compensation as possible, but they must also focus on comparative negligence as well. Even a slight degree of fault can result in reduced benefits, and there would be no financial compensation at all when clients have a comparative fault percentage above the bar to financial recovery as set by South Carolina law.
