Motorcyclist Who Fell Off 290 Flyover Identified
A middle-aged man who was killed recently when his motorcycle fell over the wall of the flyover between U.S. 290 and U.S. 183 has finally been identified. The man was riding his motorcycle heading toward U.S. 183 when he lost control, his cycle coming over the edge and landing on the lanes of U.S. 290 below. While this type of accident is not uncommon, it is unusual, and if you are involved in this sort of crash it can be deadly. If another driver is involved, it may give rise to an action for wrongful death – which is sadly too common, especially among motorcyclists, who have much less protection than drivers or passengers of automobiles in the event of a crash.
Motorcyclists 28 Times More Likely to Die
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that motorcyclists are 28 times more likely to die in an automobile accident than passengers in a vehicle, and this is for several different reasons. One of them is simply because a motorcyclist does not have a metal cage around them to absorb any impact; injuries like road rash are much more prevalent in motorcyclists because they are just more likely to make contact with the road. Vehicle occupants are much less likely to be thrown clear, and if they are wearing seatbelts, injuries may still be serious, but fatal much less often.
While obviously, user error can contribute to motorcycle crashes, it can equally be said that errors by automobile drivers cause just as many injuries and fatalities. Many drivers simply do not know how to share the road with cycles; it is all too common for an accident to result when a car’s driver does not check their blind spots, or when they merge before ensuring that the lane is free to do so. It can be difficult to apportion liability in these types of accidents, especially in wrongful death cases, because very often it may only be the surviving driver’s word for what happened. However, it is decidedly not impossible, and if you have lost a loved one in this type of accident, it is generally worth trying to seek compensation.
Seeking Compensation
In a wrongful death lawsuit, it can be confusing to know what you and the rest of the deceased person’s family can seek to recover for. Only certain family members can recover in a Texas wrongful death action – generally, the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased – and they are only able to try and recover for specific types of losses. Damages in this type of case are designed to compensate the family for their losses, rather than any kind of damages for what the deceased themselves experienced.
You may be able to seek compensation for losses such as loss of companionship or support, pain and suffering or mental anguish, lost inheritance, and many others. Be advised, however, that punitive damages are quite rare (damages that are assessed against a defendant for the sole purpose of punishing them, as opposed to making the family as ‘whole’ as it can be after the loss of a loved one), so unless the conduct of the defendant in your case is particularly outrageous, do not count on this type of damages being granted.
Can a New Braunfels Wrongful Death Lawyer Help You?
While as of this writing, it appears that the deceased person on the U.S. 183 flyover was killed in a single-vehicle accident, wrongful death happens when two or more people are involved in a crash. If you have lost a loved one in a motorcycle accident due to the negligence of another, contacting a dedicated New Braunfels wrongful death lawyer at the Bettersworth Law Firm can be the first step toward moving forward. Call our office today at 888-392-0039 for a free consultation.
Sources:
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/information-released-on-traffic-fatality-from-sept-11/
https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/motorcycle-safety
