Motorcycle Accident Information & Motorcycle Accident Lawyers In Mississippi

To be allowed to legally ride a motorcycle in Mississippi, you must earn and carry a motorcycle endorsement on your regular driver’s license. You must go to your local DMV and pass a written knowledge test based on information contained in a Motorcycle Foundation Operator's Manual. Once you pass this test, you will obtain your learner’s permit, which is good for one year. If you possess only a learner’s permit, you must have someone 21 years old or older, who already posses a valid endorsement, accompany you while you are riding. They may either be on another bike or following in another automobile. This process is used to help make sure that riders are at least minimally trained and to help reduce the number of motorcycle accidents in Mississippi.

Mississippi is on the low end of the number of fatalities that result from motorcycle accidents. In 2005 there were 39 fatalities that involved motorcycles. This was only 4.2 percent of the total number of accidents that occurred in Mississippi. In 2006 that number increased to 55 or six percent of the total. Nationally, these numbers are a bit higher. There were 4,576 fatalities on motorcycles that made up 10.5 percent of the total in 2005, and in 2006 there were 4,810 deaths which is 11.3 percent of the total. Motorcycle accidents all over the country have been on the rise for the past nine years.

Motorcycle accidents occur for many different reasons. About one-fourth of the accidents involve only the bike and no other vehicles. A great majority of these are caused by an under trained or inexperienced rider. These riders will often enter a corner at too high a rate of speed and either dump the motorcycle or under-steer and leave their designated lane of traffic. Once a rider looses control of the bike, it becomes very possible to fall over and slide along the roadway. If the rider and any passengers slide into oncoming traffic or into some other barrier, injuries will be high. 98 percent of these single vehicle accidents result in some sort of injury and 45 percent of these result in more than just a minor injury.

The other three-fourths of motorcycle accidents involve another vehicle of some sort. A motorcycle is one of the smallest vehicles on the road. They present a much smaller profile than four wheeled vehicles and can be much harder to see. Most drivers of the other vehicle that have a part in a motorcycle accident claim not to have seen the rider and bike at all or to have seen the motorcycle too late to avoid the accident. Intersections are the most likely place for these types of occurrences, with the other vehicle violating a motorcycle rider’s right-of-way. It is believed that riding with a headlight on at all times will make a rider more visible to other traffic. Wearing brighter clothing is also believed to help, but a rider must always be aware of what other drivers are doing.

There are many other variables that may contribute to an accident and to how much damage and injury occurs. About fifty percent of all motorcycle accidents involve alcohol. Potholes, ridges in the pavement, crumbling asphalt and other roadway imperfections contribute to about two percent of the wrecks. Animals in the roadway are involved in only about one percent. Surprisingly, weather seems to only be a major contributing factor in only about two percent. It is believed that a rider has a total of about two seconds to avoid an accident. With that small an amount of time, experience and training are needed to be able to make a quick decision regarding where to go to get out of the way. Statistics show that a little more than half of the riders in these accidents have less than five months of experience on their bike. Furthermore, 92 percent of these riders have no formal training and learn how to ride from family and friends, or are self-taught.

Safety helmets are required gear for all riders in Mississippi. The most dangerous and damaging injuries occur to the head and chest of riders in accidents. It is believed that 1,658 lives were saved nationally in 2006 by wearing a helmet. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) further estimates that another 752 lives might have been saved if those individuals had been wearing protective head gear.

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