(Transcript)

Jim Adler: Hello everybody out there in Hammer TV Land. How you all doing today? I’m Jim Adler, the Texas Hammer.

Bill Adler: And I’m Bill Adler, the Texas Hammer.

Jim Adler:  Hey, Bill. Tell the audience a little bit about how motorcycle claims are different from normal vehicles claims.

Bill Adler:  Well, in motorcycle claims, when you mention a claim, you’re talking about how you move forward with the insurance company. And what I find in motorcycle claims is oftentimes the defendant driver who impacts a motorcycle, they don’t have sufficient coverage, because, ultimately, as I’m sure you’ve seen, a lot of the people in motorcycle accidents, they get horribly injured, more so than an individual in a normal vehicle.

Bill Adler: So talk about why a person on a motorcycle would be much more injured than an individual in a car or truck.

Jim Adler: Well, isn’t it just the saddest thing that someone will have 100 or $200,000 in injuries, medical bills, hospital bills, surgeries, what have you, and there’s $30,000 lousy in insurance coverage.

Bill Adler: Yep, that’s for sure.

Jim Adler: The problem is that you have no protection on a motorcycle. Hopefully, people will wear their motorcycle helmets. I understand the freedom argument about I want to have the freedom not to wear my helmet, and feel the wind in my face.

Bill Adler: Sure.

Jim Adler: It makes sense from a liberties standpoint, but what your advice about wearing helmets, and why are motorcycles more dangerous than cars?

Bill Adler: Well, look, you made the liberty argument. I think it’s your right to chose to wear a helmet or not wear a helmet.

Jim Adler: Yeah.

Bill Adler: If you feel freer not wearing a helmet, just be aware that you’re probably going to have life altering injuries if you don’t wear a helmet. Even if you are wearing a helmet, the significance of these crashes that I see, they’re life altering. It doesn’t matter if you have a helmet on, or not, a lot of the times, but it does certainly protect a lot of people who wear a helmet from having worse injuries than they already would sustain.

Jim Adler: That’s right. I’ve seen so many cases with cracked helmets. I mean, the helmet, probably, saved their lives.

Bill Adler: Right, yep.

Jim Adler: But they still get injured.

Bill Adler:  That’s for sure.

Jim Adler: What I see a lot is there’s no protection of a person’s legs, so a person’s leg will get really badly broken. I remember a long time ago a young man came to me and so sad, he had lost his leg. He was 24 years old.

Bill Adler:  Dang.

Jim Adler: He lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. I’m just almost crying. What’s the rest of his life going to be like?

Bill Adler: Right. Yeah. I mean, I can’t ever imagine losing your leg, much less… The thing is, a lot of these people, you mention leg injuries, they have a rod in their leg for the rest of their life. They have pins and plates and things like that. They’re just nasty, nasty injuries when you get involved in a motorcycle type accident, because the injuries are just so life altering.

Jim Adler: Whereas, when you’re in an automobile, an automobile to be designed like a protective cocoon around you. It surrounds you with heavy metal, and it’s protecting all your bodily parts from your head to your toe. When you’re on a motorcycle… When you’re riding a motorcycle, you’re just out there and you just hope that people can see you on the road. So Bill, let’s talk about our next topic, which is what is the most common cause of motorcycle accidents?

Bill Adler: Well, the most common cause of motorcycle accidents are left hand turns. Essentially, left hand turns account for 42% of accidents involving motorcycles and a car. Often, there’s visibility issues for the car that’s at fault. They just really can’t see you. And also, in motorcycle accidents, there’s road hazards for instance. Huge potholes on the road, slick roads, individuals who, ultimately, leave parts in the middle of the road, where you got to swerve trying to avoid them.

Jim Adler: That’s just awful.

Bill Adler:  You’re trying to sometimes-

Jim Adler: Gravel.

Bill Adler: Yeah, gravel, loose gravel.

Jim Adler: Slide around in gravel.

Bill Adler: Absolutely, loose gravel. I’ve seen that a lot, where you just lose control of your bike. There’s also, I don’t know if you’ve seen this when you’re driving down the road, and it’s an individual splitting the lane. That’s just extraordinarily dangerous.

Jim Adler: Man, come on.

Bill Adler: And a lot of the time, you see that alcohol is involved, or drug use is involved, or someone’s really just speeding at the time.

Jim Adler:  Why do people split the lane? Are they in a hurry to get home?

Bill Adler: I think they’re just trying to get home quickly, but it’s just not a great idea. I’ve seen so many people who are badly injured in these accidents. The one thing I do want to talk about is most motorcycle riders, they’re safe. They’re wearing the proper equipment. They’re safe drivers. They’re ultimately operating their bike in a good fashion.

Jim Adler:   Got a leather jacket or strong protective gear on.

Bill Adler:  Right. And they have the gear on. They’re good riders. And then some idiot pulls out in front of them, and just does the wrong thing, when the rider’s not in the wrong. He’s doing everything right. And, a lot of times, motorcycle riders get a bad name. A lot of them, and most of them, are good riders. They’re not doing the wrong thing.

Jim Adler: Let me ask you this. Why can’t people see motorcycles?

Bill Adler: Well, just think about it like this. They’re about one-tenth the size of a car, and sometimes they’re in a blind spot. They’re doing everything right, but they’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ultimately they get hit.

Jim Adler: People aren’t looking. They’re texting and they’re not paying attention. They got their radio cranked up too loud. The next thing you see, I call it a motorcycle left turn. That motorcycle makes a left turn and the car doesn’t even see the motorcycle left turn.

Bill Adler:  I’ve seen that.

Jim Adler: It’s just like cars have a blind spot for motorcycles. It’s just crazy.

Bill Adler: Well, in Houston, San Antonio, in Dallas, you got to think about people what they’re doing. They’re trying to get to and from work. They’re not really paying attention a lot of the time. And if you’re just that unfortunate rider, who’s doing the right thing, but at the wrong place, you’re going to get hit. And so, ultimately, in these cities where there’s a high amount of traffic, people are riding motorcycles and every day they’re sustaining really bad injuries and it’s just horrible.

Jim Adler: I understand why people look at motorcycles as a way to save on gasoline. They’re trying to be economical and a motorcycle will get a lot more mileage than a car. But do you think it’s worth it to save money on gasoline versus the risk of an injury?

Bill Adler:  Well, you got to-

Jim Adler: I guess everything’s a trade off in life.

Bill Adler:  Yeah. You got to look at it on the point of how it makes you feel. If you want to ride a motorcycle into work, and you want to just feel free, you want to save gas, that’s your thing. And that’s what you want to do, and that’s fine with me. But just be aware that, ultimately, you’re really putting yourself at risk, especially, if you’re riding during peak traffic hours that people aren’t paying attention.

Jim Adler: What if you get a bunch of bugs in your teeth? The bugs are hitting you in the face.

Bill Adler: Get a face guard.

Jim Adler:  Really?

Bill Adler:  Absolutely.

Jim Adler: What’s that?

Bill Adler:  That’s one of those guards on the front of your bike.

Jim Adler:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bill Adler:  A wind guard.

Jim Adler:  Like a windshield.

Bill Adler: Absolutely, yep.

Jim Adler:  Yeah.

Bill Adler: Keep those bugs out of your teeth.

Jim Adler:  Yeah. That’s not a good thing.

Bill Adler:  Absolutely not.

Jim Adler: Let’s talk about negligence and the other party’s at fault. What’s that all about and how do you determine if someone’s negligent? Because they’re just going to say… The people always blame the motorcycle rider.

Bill Adler:  Yeah.

Jim Adler:  How do you beat that wrap?

Bill Adler:  Well, ultimately you got to be truthful and honest. The person who’s truthful and honest wins the bout, and ultimately you mentioned negligence.

Jim Adler:  Yeah.

Bill Adler: Negligence is a term that a lot of people ask me about, and ultimately I know you know what negligence is, and it’s failure to act as a reasonable person in that type of situation.

Jim Adler: Yeah.

Bill Adler:  And so, if you have questions about negligence, we can answer those questions. I’m sure you can answer those questions. You’ve answered those questions a thousand, maybe even a million times.

Jim Adler:  We’re going to represent that motorcycle rider, no matter what the facts are. If someone’s badly injured, an attorney has to have his client’s back. We’re going to work hard to help motorcycle riders that get injured.

Bill Adler: Absolutely.

Jim Adler: Isn’t that right?

Bill Adler: Absolutely.

Jim Adler: I mean, we’re going to prove that fault, regardless. Well Bill, what are the motorcycle laws in Texas? I want to know, because I forget sometimes. There’s so much. We’re expert attorneys and we practice personal injury law. There’s so many Texas laws. Tell us about that.

Bill Adler: Well, you mentioned motorcycle laws. A lot of the time, people have questions about whether you have to wear a helmet, or whether you don’t have to wear a helmet.

Jim Adler: Right.

Bill Adler: If you’re 21 years or older, you do not have to wear a helmet in Texas. It’s not required. However, you have to complete approved courses on motorcycle operation and training courses.

Jim Adler:  All right. Bill, go ahead and tell the motorcycle riders out there how we can help them.

Bill Adler:  Well, we can help them because we have a lot of experience in this area. I know I’ve handled, personally, hundreds and hundreds of motorcycle claims. You’ve probably handled thousands of motorcycle claims.

Jim Adler: I have.

Bill Adler:  So that’s how we can help people with our amount of knowledge that we’ve gained throughout handling all these claims. So if you’ve been involved in a motorcycle accident, the number to call is (800) 567-7575, or contact us on the web at www.jimadler.com. I appreciate everybody watching and stay safe on your bike when you’re riding around town, if that’s what you choose to do, because that’s your right. Leave us some of your comments, your questions, tell your friends what type of topics you’d like for us to cover on other shows. We’d really love to hear from you. This Jim and Bill Adler signing off today, the Texas Hammers, call us, if you need us.

Jim Adler: And keep watching Hammer TV all. We appreciate it.

https://www.jimadler.com/motorcycle-accidents/