Sometimes there is simply no way to be safe when riding a bicycle. Bicyclists often are exposed to bike accident risks in Mississippi because of a lack of visibility so that they are difficult to observe. A bike rider can compensate for this lack of visibility by wearing bright colored clothes, riding in groups and using rear and front lights at all times. Unfortunately, there is little a bicyclist can do to avoid a serious Mississippi bicycle accident when a driver crashes into a group of over a hundred bicyclists traveling in a large group. The Barrett Law Office was founded in 1933 and has learned through many years of experience that bicyclists are inherently vulnerable to the risk posed by unsafe drivers.
A recent bicycle accident in California speaks volumes about the degree of exposure of bicyclists to bike accident risks caused by negligent drivers. A group of a hundred riders were stopped at an intersection when a driver traveling at sixty miles per hour jumped the curb and ploughed into the group of riders. Seven bicycle riders were injured in the bike riding accident and four suffered serious injury. The police are investigating the incident to determine if the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.
This bicycle accident is a tragic example of the degree of exposure faced by bicyclists. The large group means that they were as visible as bicyclists can be to a motorist. The bicyclists were also stopped so they should have been easy to see and could not have unexpectedly maneuvered so that the driver could not see them. The bicyclists also had no opportunity to take evasive precautions to avoid the accident because they were stopped at an intersection when the car ran the cyclists down.
This tragedy shows not only the inability of bicyclists to avoid serious bike accidents in Mississippi when drivers are negligent but also the potential danger of suffering severe injuries. When even a small passenger vehicle weighing 3,000 pounds ploughs into a bicyclist, the person riding the bike has absolutely no protection from injury. When the vehicle is traveling sixty miles per hour like the one in the California collision, the result is typically catastrophic injury and even wrongful death.
While it is unclear at this point why the driver jumped the curb driving 60 miles and hour and collided with the group of bicyclists, driver impairment or distraction are common reasons for such accidents. Despite efforts to curb the deadly practice of drunk driving, Mississippi drunk driving (DUI) arrests increased by more then thirty percent in 2010 compared to just a few years ago. Over 12,000 people per year are arrested for DUI in Mississippi. Because of the vulnerability of Mississippi bicyclists, drivers under the influence of alcohol pose a deadly risk to cyclists.
A driver who ploughs into a group of bike riders may also be distracted and fail to focus on the roadway. Distracted driving accidents are on the rise and rival drunk driving accidents as the leading threat to cyclists in Mississippi. While many states have moved to prohibit texting while driving and restrict cell phone conversations by drivers, Mississippi has been slow to take such steps. Although texting while driving is prohibited for new inexperienced drivers, it is permitted for experienced drivers. Studies have shown that the reaction times of drivers who are texting while driving are comparable to those who are legally intoxicated while driving.
The bottom line is that drivers of motor vehicles have a responsibility to exercise reasonable care for others with whom they share the roadway including Mississippi cyclists. At Barrett Law Office PLLC, we represent bicycle accident victims throughout Mississippi. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a Mississippi bicycle accident, we offer a free initial case evaluation so contact us today at (662) 834-2376 to see how we can help.