While riding a motorcycle can be thrilling at the best of times, riders also know that there’s an incredible risk of injury. Motorcyclists are at risk from the moment they get on the roads until they’re back at home. Drivers are less likely to see them, more likely to misjudge distances between them and a motorcyclist, and to cause a collision.

There were 4,668 motorcyclists killed in 2013. While that’s a decrease of six percent from the year before, that is still a high number of people being killed in motor vehicle accidents. On top of that, you have to think about the people who are injured; there were around 88,000 motorcyclists injured that year alone.

In 2013, motorcyclists made up 14 percent of all traffic fatalities. Ninety-four percent of the people killed on motorcycles were riders.

With three percent of all vehicles in the United States being motorcycles, it’s important that the incidence of accidents continues to decrease. Motorcyclists face a 26 times higher risk of being killed in an accident than those in a passenger vehicle, but with increased safety standards and safer drivers, that number can drop.

It’s been found that 74 percent of motorcycle crashes take place when they hit another vehicle in a frontal collision. Why is that so common? It’s the angle most likely to happen if a car pulls out in front of a motorcycle. For example, if a car turns left out of a street to the right of the motorcyclist, the car has to cross his path. If there isn’t enough time, then the motorcyclist could collide with the car’s side or front.

It’s these cases that are most common, and if it seems familiar to you, know that you’re not alone. If you’re hurt, you have a right to seek out all the legal options open to you.

Source: Traffic Safety Facts 2013, “Motorcycles,” accessed July 01, 2016