Motorcycle accidents are never easy events. The resulting carnage often cuts short lives far too soon.
Whether you realize it or not, motorcycle deaths account for one out of every eight road fatalities. The interesting thing about a recent study done on this phenomenon is that the statistics reveal that African Americans are at a higher risk than Caucasians to be involved in a motorcycle crash. In fact, they show that for every two white bikers who die, three African Americans do not survive their crashes.
Johns Hopkins achieved these statistics by analyzing some 68,840 motorcycle crash accident files between 2002 and 2006 held by the National Trauma Data Bank. The results of their findings were startling in that the numbers clearly showed that African American bikers were more likely to die than their white counterparts, even though more African Americans tend to wear helmets. Statistics like these are often used in court cases by an Austin personal injury lawyer on behalf of an injured victim.
Researchers wanted to check their data and added controls for the numbers based on an accident’s severity, the biker’s gender and insurance status. What showed up was that white bikers who were not wearing helmets were less likely to die than African Americans wearing helmets, hence, the group at the highest risk are African Americans not using protective gear. The bottom line was that the study indicated that African Americans had more lethal injuries and that safety gear doesn’t always make a difference.
What accounts for the differences? The study was a bit vague on that, largely because they have yet to totally complete their analysis of all the figures. Initially, they speculated that the disparity may be because of the difference in levels of health care offered to African Americans before and after an accident. This presumption borders perilously on discrimination in access to quality health care.
Other suggestions were that many African Americans didn’t have health insurance, which meant less access to decent critical care and that many African Americans have a higher rate of pre-existing conditions that make recovery more difficult later.
Whatever the reason may be for you, if you have been involved in a car versus motorcycle crash, it’s best to discuss these issues, and your rights, with an Austin personal injury lawyer. If you need compensation to continue with your life and pay your medical bills, you will need the skilled assistance of an attorney.
Beverly Aylmer writes for The Lee Law Firm. If you need an Austin personal injury lawyer, contact an Austin personal injury attorney from The Lee Law Firm. Visit RWLeelaw.com.
