A truck driver who hit a biker on a DC street had his actions captured on film as the cyclist was wearing a helmet camera ! Watch this film clip and you will see what bicycle commuters and athletes training on their bikes have to contend with all too frequently. I have been ridden off the road, the victim of things thrown from moving cars and cursing and "the finger." Road rage, rude drivers, people in a hurry in the DC metro area have exposed all of us trying to get some 2-wheel exercise or commuting to work on bicycles to unsafe actions on local roads and Interstate Highways in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The helmet camera recording of a truck driver riding a biker off the road and then driving off should give everyone pause.

What this truck driver did was dangerous. No one can seriously argue otherwise, since he saw the bicycle commuter, who was riding to the motorist's left at a speed slower that the cars around him, in broad daylight, yelled at him and then pushed him over into the asphalt. But Herndon bike injury lawed Doug Landau also adds, "what the driver behind the wheel, and in the safety of his truck, demonstrated, is that he is not any an unsafe driver, but a coward as well. A truck is essentially a small tank. Against a small tank, a bicycle has no chance in any impact at speed. Any driver who uses his truck, car or motorcycle as a weapon, should lose their license to operate any motorized vehicle for a very long time." If you or someone you know or care for has been injured as the result of a bike crash (or "near miss") with a truck, car or motorcycle and there are questions about what laws apply, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once, as Virginia, Maryland and DC have legal time limits for these cases.

The NFL has been in the news quite a bit recently over a number of lawsuits brought by retired players claiming the NFL didn’t do enough to protect them from head injuries while playing. Some of the cases even extend to the helmet manufacturers, with one of the issues being whether players were given the safest, most effective helmets available. Football helmets have definitely come a long way since the days of strapping on what today would be considered a flimsy leather or plastic cap.

And moving outside just the context of football, we see the same sort of advances in helmet design and effectiveness for other activities as well. Take motorcycling. It wasn’t all that long ago that motorcycle helmets were made of padded leather and weren’t actually all that effective at protecting bikers from serious head injury. Today’s motorcycle helmets, by comparison, are technologically impressive—an extremely effective. NHTSA has estimated that helmets are 37% effective in preventing fatal injuries to riders and 41% effective for passengers. In 2008 alone, helmet use saved the lives of 1,829 motorcyclists.

So what is it about motorcycle helmets that make them so effective? What sort of advances are we talking about?

First, according to the Snell Foundation, helmets work like a brake or a shock absorber. Brain injuries happen because in an accident the brain absorbs a large amount of energy. If the helmet can reduce that amount of energy, then a brain injury is less likely. There are two ways a helmet does this: (1) with a hard, outer shell that “disperses” the energy. In other words, it takes all the energy of the impact and spreads it over a larger surface area so your brain doesn’t have to absorb it all; and (2) with foam lining that will crush and break during a crash, absorbing energy so your brain doesn’t have to.

The big advances in helmet technology have meant that both of those parts—the hard lining and the foam inserts—are better at doing their jobs. Motorcycle helmets today aren’t leather or cheap plastic. They are made of complex materials like polycarbonate, a fiber-reinforced material that is stronger than steel by weight, Kevlar or fiberglass. Significant research and testing has gone into striking the right balance between the strength of this shell and its ability to compress when necessary.

Meanwhile, the inside impact-absorbing liner, is generally made of polystyrene or Styrofoam, effectively cushioning and absorbing shock during a crash. Here again, technology has been developed to provide just enough padding to help the head come to a smooth stop instead of suddenly being jolted against a hard surface. Now, aside from getting the padding “just right” there’s even a helmet out there now that claims to provide a sort of immediate medical attention—by using technology that kicks into cool the brain and prevent brain swelling in the seconds right after crash.

Other advances such as improved chin straps, more precise helmet sizing, and increased range of visibility also mean that today’s helmets are more effective—and constantly improving—for individual riders. And building comfortable helmets is not to be ignored. Providing appropriate ventilation, built-in communication devices, making them lightweight and padded on the inside all means that riders are more likely to put the helmet on in the first place. And that, after all, is the most important part: no matter how advanced a helmet is it doesn’t do much good if it’s sitting in the garage at home when a crash happens.

Regardless of whether you’re an occasional or avid motorcycle rider, make sure that you get a helmet that works for you and that you put it to use.

Our motorcycle accident attorneys in Michigan recently filed a motorcycle passenger injury lawsuit on behalf of a 56 year old woman who was injured while riding as a passenger on her husband’s motorcycle. An uninsured driver turned left in front of the motorcycle causing the motorcycle crash. The bike accident resulted in significant injuries to our client including injuries to her right knee, right ankle, elbow, back, neck, thigh, right foot, right shoulder, and right arm.   She underwent surgery on her knee.  In addition to the orthopedic injuries, the knee surgery resulted in a serious permanent disfigurement.

We filed a lawsuit against our client’s insurance company for uninsured motorist benefits.  The suit was filed in the Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit, Michigan.  No trial date has been set for the case.

Our motorcycle accident lawyers in Michigan recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the husband and the estaste of a 43 year old mother of two. The mother was struck and killed in a car accident. She was a passenger on her husband’s motorcycle when a deer ran into the highway and collided with the motorcycle. As she laying in the roadway and attempting to get to her feet, the negligent driver struck and killed her. Despite the fact that it was clearly avoidable, the Defendant driver failed to slow down or stop his vehicle.

Deer accidents in Michigan is a serious danger and all motorists and bikers should be aware of these dangers. In fact, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTI), there were a total of 55,867 reported vehicle-deer accidents in Michigan in 2010. These were just accidents that were reported. November proved to have the highest number of fatal motor vehicle-deer crashes, with a total of 9,558 accidents in 2010, 17 percent of the total.

The Michigan wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Ionia County, Michigan in the City of Ionia. It seeks all damages permissible under the wrongful death statute. No trial date has been set by the court.

As an avid motorcycle rider and motorcycle attorney I have to say that I have heard way too many motorcycle fatality stories lately. There seem to be more bikers who are crashing and more car drivers who are hitting motorcycles, with often deadly consequences. So, once again it is my sad duty to blog to the motorcycle community about another life lost, and the facts are not readily available.

Sadly, on Thursday evening, January 5th, a 34-year-old motorcyclist riding in East Oakland hit a car and was killed. The details as to the cause or causes of this fatal East Oakland motorcycle accident are not all in. If you or someone you know witnessed this Oakland motorcycle accident, please call the Oakland Police Department at your very earliest opportunity.

The fallen motorcycle rider was identified as Oakland resident Jeffery Alexander, according to the Alameda County Coroner's Office.

The motorcycle car accident occurred about 5:30 p.m. at 98th Avenue and Olive Street when the motorcycle was apparently hit by a small white sedan. Although several emergency personnel responded to the accident scene, they were unable to save the life of this latest fatal Oakland motorcycle accident victim.

My heartfelt condolences go out to the family of Mr. Alexander.

About the author: Claude Wyle is an aggressive advocate for San Francisco Bay Area motorcle riders. Claude has decades of experience representing those harmed by the wrongful conduct of others, and, as a San Francisco and Oakland motorcycle accident attorney, has fought to protect the rights of injured motorcyclists throughout his legal career.