Fort Dodge Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorneys

Motorcycle injury attorneys serve as unwavering defenders for riders when tragedy strikes. Specializing in motorcycle accidents, they expertly handle legal complexities to ensure injured riders receive fair justice and compensation.

Motorcycle Safety Tips to Be More Visible on Your Bike in Iowa

In addition to paying attention to one’s surroundings when on a motorcycle, a motorcyclist’s visibility to other motorists is essential for safety and protection while riding. It can be a key to avoiding an accident. If you’re a motorcyclist in Iowa, here are some motorcycle safety tips for making yourself more visible.

Wear Bright Colors

While the cliché look for motorcyclists involves black leather, dark colors can be hard to see and don’t increase your visibility. Try to wear something bright, as doing so will improve the ease with which other drivers can see you. Wearing something bright is especially important at night when visibility is especially bad.

Consider Reflective Gear

If you can’t bring yourself to wear a neon jacket while riding, no worries, reflective gear and/or reflective tape can help do the trick. You can add reflective tape to your bike, your helmet, and/or the back of a jacket to increase your visibility and decrease the chance of an accident.

Avoid Cars’ Blind Spots

Always avoid riding in a car’s, “no zone,” or blind spot. These blind spots are usually on the passenger side of the vehicle, but larger cars may have larger blind spots, especially trucks. Know where these blind spots are located and always pass other vehicles quickly and safely. Avoid lingering next to another vehicle.

Use Your Lights

Iowa law requires motorcyclists to have at least one lighted headlamp for any motorcycle that’s a 1977 model or later, according to Iowa Code Section 321.275(5). Not only does a headlight help to increase a motorcyclist’s ability to see what’s directly in front of a rider, it also helps the motorcyclist be more visible to other drivers, too.

Use Your Horn

While the use of a horn can be aggressive in some situations, it can also be an effective way to let a driver know that you’re there so they can avoid striking you. This can give you and your motorcycle some much-needed attention.

Tips to Avoid Some of the Most Common Motorcycle Accidents

Many motorcycle accidents are avoidable if the rider is knowledgeable about good riding techniques and safety measures. Today we talk about 8 common motorcycle crashes and how they can be prevented.

Drinking and Driving

According to the 1981 Hurt Report, the largest study ever conducted on motorcycle accident causation, alcohol is a factor in 50 percent of all bike wrecks. This is obviously preventable.

How To Avoid It: Don’t drink and ride. Alcohol affects skills that are fundamental to riding a motorcycle - balance and coordination. So drinking alcohol while riding plays a particularly big role in motorcycle accident deaths.

A Car Turns Left in Front of You

This is the most common motorcycle accident that occurs. A car doesn't see you or thinks you are going at a different speed and turns in front of you at an intersection. You can blame a lot of things, distraction, blind spots, or inattention, but most drivers looking for cars only notice the absence of cars, not that there is a motorcycle in the lane.

How To Avoid It: Look for signs that someone may turn in front of you:
- A car is at an intersection waiting to turn.
- There’s a gap in traffic near an intersection, driveway, or parking lot.

In either situation, slow down, cover your brakes and get ready to take evasive action. Also, consider the following:
- Is the driver clearly able to see you, without any obstructions?
- Is that person actually looking at where they are going?
- Are they looking at you? Can you see their eyes?
- Where are their wheels pointing?

Look at the wheels of the car, not the actual vehicle. The wheels will give you the first clue as to where the car is going. Under no circumstances should you “lay the bike down.” Your best chance of survival comes from shedding as much speed as possible before impact, and you’re going to be able to do that best with the bike completely upright, using both brakes. Even if you only have time to lose 10 or 20 mph, it could be the difference between going home with bruises and not going home.

You Hit Gravel in a Blind Corner

You’re out riding your motorcycle on curvy country roads when you come around a corner and hit a patch of sand or gravel. You lose control of the bike and wreck.

How To Avoid It: Ride at a pace where your reaction time and ability to take action match your range of vision. On winding roads, “Slow In, Fast Out” is a good rule to follow. Enter corners wide, to increase your vision and enter at an easy pace. You can pick up the speed on the way out, once you can see all the way through.

You Entered a Corner Too Fast

When you are riding your motorcycle and enter a corner too fast only to realize that you are not going to make the corner as it tightens.

How To Avoid It: Make sure to ride only as fast as you can see and use visual clues like telephone poles and signs to judge a road’s direction, even if that road is disappearing over a blind crest. You need to pay attention to cues from the road where you are going to end up.

If you do find yourself going too fast on a corner, the best approach is to trust the bike and try to ride it out. The bike is likely more capable than you are, so it’s really you that’s not capable of making the corner. Take as much lean out of the bike as possible by hanging off, looking where you want to go and being as smooth as possible on the controls. It is important to remain calm and try to ride through the corner rather than trying to stop the bike.

A Car Changes Lanes into You

While you are riding your bike on a multi-lane road, a car in another lane suddenly swerves into your lane without seeing you. Motorcycles are often in drivers' blind spots and the drivers don't notice them because they are looking for cars.

How To Avoid It: Be aware of where other drivers' blind spots are and stay out of them as much as possible. As the signs on many semis say, "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you." If you can't see the driver in their own mirror, they probably can't see you next to their car.

Beware of situations where lane changes become more possible. If highway traffic is slowing down and one lane is moving faster than others, cars are going to try to move into the faster-moving lane and probably won't look to see if there is a motorcycle next to them.

Watch for cues that a car is going to change lanes:
- The car has its turn signals on.
- The car's wheels are turning.
- The car is swerving in its own lane while the driver checks his mirrors.
- The driver’s head is moving around, looking at traffic.

A Car Hits You From Behind

You are stopped at an intersection and the car behind you doesn't see you and runs into the back of your motorcycle. If you were in a car, it wouldn't be a huge accident, but on a motorcycle, you might be killed.

How To Avoid It: When you come to an intersection, try to stop to the side rather than in the center of a lane. It is a good idea to flash your brake light rapidly by tapping the brake lever. Also, be prepared to move the bike by keeping the bike in gear and having your right hand on the throttle in case you see that you need to get out of the way. Pay attention to what’s behind you so you can move to avoid the car hitting you from behind if possible.

Your Riding Buddies are Careless

You’ve seen it happen. A group is out for a ride together when one of them stops suddenly. The person riding behind him is too busy daydreaming to notice that he stopped and hits him from behind.

How To Avoid It: Make sure everyone is aware of proper group riding etiquette and knows to ride in a staggered formation. You’d be amazed how many people are unaware of this simple technique. Riding in staggered formation increases vision and moves bikes out of line with each other so a temporary lapse in attention won't cause a wreck.

You Locked Up the Front Brake

You have to stop quickly due to traffic and you grab the front brake in a panic.

How To Avoid It: Learn to use your front brake. It might seem counterintuitive, but the front brake is the most powerful and difficult-to-master component on your motorcycle. It can change your speed much quicker than your engine.

If you’re learning to ride, haven't mastered this skill or bought a new bike and need to become familiar with it, find a big, empty parking lot and start practicing. From a set speed (say 30 mph), start braking at a certain mark, then repeat over and over until you’ve reduced your braking distance as much as possible. You should be able to feel the tire on the very edge of locking up and the rear wheel lifting off the ground. Then go and practice at higher and higher speeds until you can use the maximum braking ability of your motorcycle reliably and safely.

Can I File a Motorcycle Accident Claim if I Did Not Have a Valid Motorcycle License?

If you were involved in a motorcycle accident in Iowa and did not have a valid motorcycle license at the time, you may still file a motorcycle accident claim against the other driver. Not having a valid motorcycle license doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with fault in an accident and does not preclude you from filing a claim if the other driver caused the wreck.

While you might face penalties for operating a motorcycle without a license, filing a motorcycle accident claim should follow the same procedure as filing any other accident liability claim.

How do I Establish that I’m not at Fault?

Thankfully, Iowa is a modified comparative fault state. According to Iowa’s modified comparative fault law, each driver involved in an accident may recover damages unless he or she is more than 51 percent responsible for the accident. So even if you were unlicensed, if your motorcycle accident claim establishes the other driver was mostly responsible for the accident, you can recover damages.

Documentation of your motorcycle accident can help you prove fault, at the scene of the accident, you may have:
- Taken photographs
- Collected witness testimony
- Jotted down witness contact information
- Made note of the other driver’s contact information
- Gotten the name of the driver’s insurance company

All of these items will come in handy when you file a claim against the other driver. Afterward, the first thing you must do when you are involved in a motorcycle accident is fill out an Iowa Accident Report if the accident resulted in death, personal injury, or total property damages of at least $1,500. If law enforcement investigated the accident, the report is not required. If you’re filling out the report, return it via mail to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Be sure to return the report

Consulting a Motorcycle Accident Attorney

The toll from severe motorcycle injuries can encompass substantial medical expenses and long-term care costs for victims and their families. Lost wages may compound matters, especially if employment becomes unrealistic for an extended period. Getting help from a motorcycle accident attorney allows the pursuit of comprehensive compensation, from financial damages and emotional distress such as pain and suffering.

Victims of these accidents should seek consultation with a motorcycle accident attorney, as damages may be extensive and recovery of compensation is important.

At Walker, Billingsley & Bair, our motorcycle accident attorneys can represent you in dealings with your insurance company, or when filing a personal injury claim. Set up your consultation now by calling 641-792-3595.