May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. As a New Jersey motorcycle accident lawyer who rides, this month carries significant weight in both my personal and professional life.
I understand why people ride. There is nothing quite like being on a motorcycle. Cruising through backroad twisties may be the closest feeling to being a fighter jet pilot that most people will ever experience. You are connected to the road, your senses are heightened, and you are fully exposed to everything happening around you. That is part of what makes riding so enjoyable, but it is also what makes motorcycle crashes so devastating.
As a lawyer, I am often asked why I ride when I have seen what happens after the ride goes wrong. I see the hospital records, the surgeries, the fractured bones, the traumatic brain injuries, the road rash, the spinal injuries, and the families and friends trying to make sense of a crash that happened in seconds.
But as a rider, I understand the freedom riding brings. No matter how hard I try to explain it, people who do not ride may never fully understand it. I also understand how frustrating it is that many motorcycle accidents happen not because the rider did something wrong, but because another driver simply failed to see them.
That is why Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month matters. It is a reminder that every motorcycle has a rider, and every rider has family, friends, a career, responsibilities, and a life that can be permanently changed because someone made a careless turn, drifted into a lane, opened a door, or looked down at a phone.
Our firm has represented motorcyclists throughout New Jersey who have sustained life-changing injuries and in some cases, families who have lost loved ones in motorcycle accidents. New Jersey’s roads are among the most congested in the country, and that congestion creates even more danger for riders. In heavy traffic, a single moment of another driver’s inattention, an unsafe lane change, or a careless left turn can lead to a lifetime of recovery for the rider or a tragic loss for the rider’s family.
It is well known that a motorcycle accident is vastly different from a passenger car accident. When two cars collide, there are seatbelts, airbags, steel frames, crumple zones, and other safety systems that help absorb and mitigate the impact. On a motorcycle, the rider is far more exposed, and the rider’s body often absorbs much of the force of the crash. While protective gear and wearable airbag systems can help reduce the risk of certain injuries, they do not protect riders to the same degree as the safety systems built into passenger vehicles.
This is why motorcycle crashes so often lead to catastrophic injuries. Although motorcycles make up only approximately 3% of all registered vehicles, motorcyclists remain dramatically overrepresented in fatal crashes. In 2024, 6,228 motorcyclists were killed in traffic accidents, representing 15% of all traffic fatalities. Motorcyclists are also 28 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash and five times more likely to be injured.
One of the most common things drivers say after hitting a motorcyclist is “I did not see them.” As riders, we hear this too often. This phenomenon is often referred to as “inattentional blindness.” Inattentional blindness occurs when a person fails to notice an object that is in plain sight because their brain does not fully process the visual information in front of them.
In the motorcycle context, this may happen because drivers are conditioned to look for larger vehicles, such as cars, SUVs, and trucks, while overlooking smaller vehicles like motorcycles. A driver may scan the road, check for traffic, and still fail to truly register the presence, distance, or speed of an approaching motorcycle. Sometimes, it is because the driver was distracted or simply not paying enough attention to their surroundings.
As riders, we know the all too common scenario where a vehicle makes a left turn directly in front of a motorcycle. This is often referred to as the dreaded “left cross.” A left cross collision can leave the rider with little or no time to brake, swerve, or otherwise evade the crash. It is one of those situations that many riders try to anticipate whenever there is even a possibility that an oncoming vehicle may turn left across their path.
Riders often respond to that risk by taking extra precautions such as identifying an escape path, adjusting lane position to increase visibility, reducing speed, or watching the front wheels of the turning vehicle/body language of the driver. But even careful defensive riding cannot eliminate the danger created when another driver fails to look, yield, or accurately judge the motorcycle’s speed and distance.
Other common causes of motorcycle accidents include:
As riders, we have to be honest about our role in our own safety. We cannot control every driver, road condition, or hazard around us. But we can control how prepared we are, how visible we make ourselves, how well we maintain our bikes, and how responsibly we ride.
Riders often say, “all the gear, all the time,” or ATGATT. There is a reason for that, and it is not just because motorcycle gear usually looks pretty good. It is because we need to dress for the slide, not the ride.
A helmet, jacket, gloves, pants, and proper riding shoes/boots can make a major difference if you go down. Reflective strips, bright colors, and reflective decals can also help make you more visible to drivers, especially at night, in the rain, or in heavy traffic. Gear does not make anyone invincible, but it can reduce the risk of certain injuries and may be the difference between walking away with bumps and bruises and suffering a far more serious injury.
While New Jersey allows new riders to obtain a motorcycle permit and then take the road test through the Motor Vehicle Commission, I highly recommend taking the Basic Rider Course (BRC) through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF).
If you have never sat on a motorcycle before, the course teaches you the basics in a controlled environment. But even beyond that, it starts building the foundation for safe and responsible riding. You learn critical skills like clutch control, braking, turning, swerving, scanning, and low-speed maneuvering. You also get to meet other new riders who may eventually become riding buddies.
All in all, it is a weekend dedicated to learning a new skill the right way. And, if you successfully complete the course, you will be eligible for a motorcycle endorsement waiver, which can allow you to skip the NJMVC road test. A list of New Jersey BRC course providers can be found here.
Everyone wants to get out on the open road, find the backroad twisties, or just cruise. That is part of the fun of riding. But practice matters.
Riders should spend time practicing emergency braking, swerving, slow-speed control, tight turns, quick stops, and other maneuvers in a safe environment. These are not skills you want to figure out for the first time when a car suddenly turns left in front of you or traffic comes to an unexpected stop. One of the best safety measures a rider can take is being proactive about training, practice, and skill development.
The more comfortable you are controlling your motorcycle, the more prepared you will be when something unexpected happens.
One of the most important things riders can do is ride their own ride, especially in group settings. Do not let another rider pressure you into riding faster, leaning harder, passing when you are uncomfortable, or pushing beyond your skill level.
Responsible riding also means keeping your motorcycle properly maintained. Check your tire pressure. Inspect your tires. Make sure your brakes are working properly. Keep up with basic chain maintenance. Check your lights. Make sure your headlight is working and on during the day and night. Periodically inspect your bike so small issues do not become dangerous problems.
It also means riding sober, avoiding unnecessary risks, and remembering that it is better to arrive alive than not arrive at all.
Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month should not only be directed at riders. Drivers have a huge role in preventing motorcycle crashes. If you drive a car, truck, SUV, or commercial vehicle, here are simple things you can do that may save a rider’s life:
Riders do not need special treatment, we just need drivers to pay attention.
New Jersey riders need to understand that a motorcycle accident claim is very different from a standard car accident claim. This is not only because of the severity of injuries commonly experienced, but because New Jersey law treats motorcycle accidents differently.
In a typical New Jersey car accident, your auto insurance policy’s Personal Injury Protection, commonly known as PIP, will usually cover medical bills regardless of who caused the crash. But under New Jersey law, motorcyclists are generally excluded from the same PIP protection under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-2.
In plain English, this means that if you are riding a motorcycle and someone hits you, your own auto PIP coverage usually will not step in and pay your medical bills the way it would if you were injured in a car. This creates a serious problem. Motorcycle injuries are often more severe, treatment is often more expensive, and yet the rider may have fewer immediate insurance benefits available to pay for that treatment.
As a rider myself, I cannot stress this enough: carry as much uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, known as UM/UIM coverage, as you can reasonably afford. Many New Jersey drivers carry low insurance limits. A driver who causes a catastrophic motorcycle crash may have nowhere near enough coverage to pay for the catastrophic injuries they caused. This is where UM/UIM coverage can become critical.
If the at-fault driver does not have enough insurance, your own UM/UIM coverage may provide an additional source of recovery. Without it, a rider may have a serious case and serious injuries, but limited ability to collect full compensation. This is not just lawyer talk. It is practical rider advice. If you ride in New Jersey, review your motorcycle insurance policy and make sure you have the highest UM/UIM limits you can reasonably afford.
As riders know, bias against motorcyclists is real. Some people hear the word “motorcycle” and immediately assume the rider must have been speeding, riding recklessly, weaving through traffic, splitting lanes, stunting, or otherwise taking unnecessary risks. But that stereotype is unfair and often unsupported by the facts.
Most riders I know are extremely aware of their surroundings. They understand that even a minor mistake by themselves or someone else can have major consequences. Good riders are constantly scanning traffic, watching tires, reading driver behavior, evaluating escape routes, and anticipating bad decisions before they happen.
New Jersey is a comparative negligence state. This means that if you are injured in an accident, your own negligence does not automatically bar recovery so long as your negligence is not greater than the negligence of the person or parties against whom recovery is sought. However, any damages you recover are reduced by your percentage of fault.
In general, this means that if an injured motorcyclist is found to be 50% or less at fault, they can still recover compensation, although the recovery is reduced by that percentage of fault. If they are found to be more than 50% at fault, they cannot recover.
That is why insurance companies often try to put as much blame as possible on the rider. They may claim the rider was speeding, riding too aggressively, not visible enough, too close to traffic, or failed to react properly. Sometimes those arguments are supported by the evidence. Many times, they are not. A motorcycle crash should be evaluated based on the facts, evidence, and law, not stereotypes about riders.
Motorcycle accidents are not just car accidents on two wheels. They involve unique safety issues, unique insurance problems, serious injuries, and real bias against riders.
As a rider myself and a New Jersey motorcycle accident attorney, I understand both sides of the issue. I understand why people ride, and I also understand how quickly a careless driver can take that freedom away from someone.
If you or a loved one was injured in a motorcycle accident in New Jersey, speak with an experienced New Jersey motorcycle accident lawyer as soon as possible. The earlier an attorney can investigate the crash, preserve evidence, identify available insurance coverage, and push back against unfair blame, the stronger the case may be.
Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month is a good reminder for everyone: riders have the same right to the road as anyone else. Look twice, share the road, and help save a life.