I Think I Can Make It…
By Scott O’Sullivan, O’Sullivan
Law Firm
TURN! Probably is not good enough! Wait until you are
POSITIVE you can make it.
A friend called me this morning
after she had witnessed a horrible
motorcycle accident—that is the kind
of call a personal injury attorney gets
from his friends! She was shaken up,
describing the accident as “so violent”
and that it “looked like the motorcycle
exploded.”
Now, this sounds at first like it could be a rare, out of the
ordinary type of accident that was particularly violent--but
it wasn’t. I learned that it was caused by one of the most
common mistakes that both drivers and motorcyclists make a
left-hand turn in front of oncoming traffic.
My friend described the accident like this:
A southbound motorcyclist on Colorado Boulevard was in the
left-hand turn lane turning left onto 8th Avenue. A northbound
car slammed into the turning motorcycle and veered off into a
nearby bus stop. The turning motorcycle “exploded” from the
impact with car. Motorcycle and car parts, glass and liquids
were scattered across that intersection. She did not see where
the motorcyclist landed but said a slew of people jumped out
of their cars to help, so she stayed in her car with her kids and
called 911. The motorcyclist did not have enough room to
make that left turn.
I have only one reaction to this: If you’re in a left-hand turn
lane and you’re thinking, “I can probably make it.” DO NOT
www.thunderroadscolorado.com
We see this type of accident all the time. I literally help
victims of these kinds of accidents at somewhere between ten
and twenty times each and every year and in the majority of
these cases, the person making the left-hand turn is usually
found to be at fault. So, the motorcyclist in the above story
would probably be found at fault. The injuries from this kind of
accident are usually pretty bad for both drivers. The driver who
was going straight ends up with the equivalent of hitting a wall
and we see lots of broken wrists and broken ankles, as well as
much more severe injuries.
Now, let us say that you are the car driver or motorcyclist
who is going straight and someone turns in front of you. What
should you do? Assuming you are not injured too badly, gather
witnesses and take pictures! You need to have witnesses who
can corroborate that you had the green light and that the person
making the left-hand turn should have waited to proceed.
But again, I cannot urge everyone enough not to be the
driver or rider that turns without enough room to make it and
causes an accident like this. If you are not 100% sure that
you can make the turn, wait until you have enough room. The
extra time waiting is well worth it when you continue on your
way and avoid that accident!
If you have any questions about this article, don’t hesitate
to contact me: 303-388-5304 or https://osullivan-law-firm.com/
Scott
April 2016
Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado 9