Los Angeles Motorcycle Accidents Law Blog

Passenger cars have come equipped with airbags and other safety features for several decades now. The introduction of innovative features that would keep motorcyclists safer has been lacking though. On August 1, that all changed. On that day, a Seattle company introduced an inflatable safety vest that they hope will make motorcycle riding safer than it's previously been before.

The newly released vest includes seven sensors including gyroscopes and accelerometers. It can also inflate in a mere 40 milliseconds. Previous safety vests required the motorcyclist to be tethered to their bike for them to work. It was only after they came up off of its seat, that it would activate.

On June 25, Burbank City Council members met to discuss progress being made on the Complete Streets Plan. The lawmakers expect that pedestrian and bicyclist safety will be improved once this plan has been implemented in the city.

At the meeting, the mayor and one council member who'd originally proposed the plan highlighted how major transit routes that area residents travel should be redesigned. They highlighted how those in the Media District, the Hollywood Burbank Airport area, Magnolia Park and downtown Burbank are particularly dangerous.

When you drive the streets here in Los Angeles, you probably see many motorcyclists along your path. Bikers tend to treat each other as if they belong to some type of brotherhood. They often tap their helmets to signal to each other that they're coming up on a police officer, so they'll know not to drive less recklessly. Some bikers have recently decided to stop giving others courtesy warnings though.

Data published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that more than 5,100 motorcyclists died in the U.S. in 2017. Those same statistics reveal that motorcyclists have 28 times the chance of becoming involved in a fatal crash than those riding in passenger cars.

Data compiled by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA) shows that approximately 450,000 people who have suffered spinal cord injuries (SCI) live in the United States. As many as 11,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Individuals affected by SCIs experience a variety of symptoms depending on the placement and severity of their injuries.

There are two primary types of SCIs, complete and incomplete ones. Although both of these are life-altering, most individuals would consider the latter to impact a person's life the least.