A motorcyclist faces a lot of hazards. If the weather turns, they have little protection. Their small bikes may be missed in blind spots. Many people don’t expect to see bikes and don’t understand how to drive around them.
The list goes on and on. One thing that is clear, though, is that one of the biggest hazards that any motorcyclist faces is when a car ahead of them has to turn left. This is an extremely dangerous situation and every rider needs to know how it can cause an accident.
How the accident plays out
Generally, this is an accident that happens on a two-lane road, with traffic lanes facing each other and without a median. The motorcycle is heading in one direction and the car or truck is heading in the other. That vehicle needs to make a left turn, which means it is going to cross the motorcyclist’s path. There’s no way to avoid that.
Now, the way to do this safely is for the driver to wait for the bike to go by and then turn. What often happens, though, is that the driver turns when there is not enough space. They cut off the bike. This causes an unavoidable impact for the motorcyclist, who had the right of way and didn’t know the other car was going to turn until it happened.
Why do drivers make this mistake? Some of them see the bike and wrongly assume that they have enough space to turn before it arrives. Others just do not see it at all and think they are making a safe turn without oncoming traffic — this often happens when there is other traffic and the motorcycle was hidden behind approaching vehicles.
What can you do next?
A driver who makes this error can seriously injure a motorcyclist. This can lead to extensive medical bills, life-altering injuries, lost wages and many other costs. Riders need to know what steps to take to seek out financial compensation for these costs.