The joy of riding motorcycles is the freedom of the open road, but that freedom leaves riders even more vulnerable to the hazard posed by dangerous car and truck drivers.
At Holland & Usry, we reject the notion that any wreck is automatically your fault because you choose two wheels instead of four. In our years helping motorcycle accident victims, we’ve found these crashes are caused by the same factors as any other car wreck; it’s just the consequences are often much more devastating for the victim.
And we're here to answer your questions about your South Carolina motorcycle accident. Do what's best for you: call toll free at 888-230-1841 or fill out a Get Help Now form.
Here are common causes of South Carolina motorcycle accidents we’ve seen:
- Failure to yield right-of-way. Your bike is rolling through a green light and a driver from the opposite direction whips left, trying to beat you through the intersection. He slams right into you. Or you’re cruising down the interstate at the speed limit in the slow lane when a car comes flying up the entry ramp, clipping you and flinging you from your bike to the deadly highway pavement. In these cases, we reject the idea responsible car drivers can’t see you when you’re obeying the rules of the road. “I didn’t see you” is no excuse—if you can’t see a motorcyclist, it’s because you’re not looking. This simple choice can have disastrous results, as revealed by this case where we helped a remarkable single father recover a multimillion-dollar settlement from a motorcycle accident casused by a company driver in Spartanburg.
- Speeding. No driver is more of a menace than the speeder. Speed kills because it decreases available time to respond to a motorcyclist’s legal movements. A speeding car or truck is responsible for an enormous percentage of motorcycle crash fatalities and serious, life-altering injuries, like this client we helped who sustained a brain injury in a Spartanburg motorcycle accident.
- Following too closely. This is often paired with speeding. The rules of the road entitle motorcyclists to expect other drivers will maintain a safe distance and anticipate them to make turns or stop suddenly, just like a car. Car drivers just don’t respect this rule. You’re rolling down the street at the speed limit, then execute a proper turn by slowing down and putting on your blinker when you hear the squeal of brakes. You look in your rearview mirror to discover a car bearing down you at what seems like light speed. The horrifying rear-end collision crushes the back of your bike and throws you 50 feet down the road onto the pavement.
- Distracted driving. Car drivers are probably more likely to get distracted, since a car offers the ability to use the most dangerous distraction: a cell phone. Car drivers distracted by gadgets in the car, fiddling with the radio, looking at GPS, or becoming overly involved in a conversation with a passenger can cause grave motorcycle crashes.
Motorcycle riders are as entitled as any car passenger to be kept safe by fellow drivers. When another driver fails to look out for a rider’s safety, the result can be a motorcycle crash with grievous injuries.
At Holland & Usry, we take motorcyclists’ safety seriously, because the consequences of ignoring it can be devastating for the rider. If you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident, check out our free report on South Carolina car accident cases. It applies to you just as anyone else.
If you’ve been seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident in Spartanburg, Cherokee, Greenville, or Union Counties—or anywhere in South Carolina—you likely need a lawyer because insurance companies are primed to deny or devalue your claim due to unjustified biker bias, which can be overcome with the right help. You can contact us by email or live chat. Let’s see if we can help you present convincing evidence of the car driver’s fault to help get you properly compensated by his insurance company. You can always call us to schedule your free meeting to discuss the cause of your South Carolina motorcycle wreck toll-free at 888.230.1841.
