Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Whether helmets prevent death in a motorcycle crash is an interesting question and one that, statistically speaking, is answered in the negative.
While numerous states have mandatory helmet laws and some do not, the whole argument about wearing or not wearing a noggin protector mostly boils down to whether they prevent death. The interesting answer is not likely. The helmets protect the skull from serious injury, but often the cause of death in a motorcycle versus car accident is due to other reasons. In fact, existing federal data shows that most bikers who die would have been killed even if they had been wearing helmets.
On the other side of the coin, if a biker lives to tell his Atlanta personal injury lawyer about the crash, you can assume they have sustained some fairly serious injuries that would lay them up long-term or permanently. This brings us back to the argument about wearing helmets to prevent death. In reality, the risk a rider takes, whether they wear a helmet or not, is crashing. If you get into a head-on collision while doing 80 mph, your head is not the only part of your body that will take a beating.
This is not to say that wearing helmets will not help you, because they will. But remember, helmets are not magic medallions that can save you from catastrophic injury or death. Unfortunately, those in power, including insurance companies, seem to lump all the evils of the world on the biker, pointing to motorcycle accidents as the reason for higher health care costs because the injuries are, in a sense, self-inflicted by taking the risk to ride. Don’t look now, but smoking causes self-inflicted cancers, drinking causes self-inflicted liver failure and unprotected intercourse causes STDs and/or AIDS. All of those behaviors/actions result in costs to the health care system. Why focus on motorcycle riders and accidents?
If people have the self-determination to smoke, drink or have unprotected sex, then surely the biker has the choice to ride or not. Freedom is what America is all about. It is our choice to do what we do, our choice to live with the consequences, our choice to live or die.
Should you live after a wreck, hiring an Atlanta personal injury lawyer is the only way you will secure enough compensation to pay for your medical bills, pain and suffering, property damage and a host of other wreck related expenses. Do not assume you can settle with the insurance company on your own. Their only goal is to settle fast and low. If you take a lesser amount of money than you may actually be entitled to, you may not be able to pay your bills or live a relatively normal life.
You have the choice to obtain the settlement you deserve, just as you have the choice to try and deal with the insurance company. An experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer can lay out the advantages and disadvantages for you when you make your first appointment for a free consultation.
Tim Anderson writes for Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.