A collision between a vehicle and a motorcycle can be a serious personal injury incident, usually for the rider of the motorcycle. This is because motorcycles are not designed with structural protections around their riders; unlike cars and other personal vehicles that may have roll bars, airbags and seatbelts, motorcycles do not have many built-in safety features to keep their riders from suffering harm in crashes.
When a motorcycle accident happens on a Texas road it is usually because of negligence. Motorcyclists are expected to follow the rules of the road and abide by traffic laws, but even when they do they are often the victims of collisions due to mistakes made by other drivers. One of the most common ways that crashes occur between cars and motorcycles is through the failure of drivers to look for motorcycles on the roads.
Visual recognition is the term given to this phenomenon and it involves the difficulties that drivers can experience when they are not used to seeing or not expecting to see motorcycles near them while operating their vehicles. A driver who fails to use their mirrors, who does not check their blind spot or who elects not to use their turn signals may negligently cause a crash with a motorcycle that was approaching them legally from behind.
Drivers must act reasonably and meet their duties of care to others when they get into their vehicles. This includes being aware of motorcycles and avoiding collisions with them. Motorcyclists who have suffered harm in collisions should be aware that they may have rights, though, and that compensation may be available to them through civil claims for damages.