A groundbreaking new study that promises Atlanta motorcycle accident lawyers new insight into the causes of motorcycle accidents has just begun. Since motorcycle accidents result in some of the worst personal injury cases and wrongful deaths, any insights into the causes of these often catastrophic accidents is helpful. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has announced that the very first motorcyclist in a study of 100 motorcyclists has officially begun his one-year long experience.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s study is a naturalistic one, believed to be the first such study into motorcycle safety in the country.The study relies on the use of recording and tracking devices, like video cameras and GPS devices to record the motorcyclist on an everyday basis.One hundred motorcycles will be recruited as part of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation study.These motorcycles will be fitted with five color video cameras, a GPS tracker, and other devices that will help researchers track the motorcyclist’s riding experiences.
The researchers hope to get valuable information about the motorcyclist’s daily experiences on his vehicle.They also expect information about the environment just before and during the crash.A typical motorcycle accident study does not take into consideration such real-time data.A typical study will include a simple examination of accident scenes.Through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation study, researchers hope to capture information in the minutes just before a crash, to understand more about the causes of such accidents.
Besides video cameras and trackers, the motorcycles will also include brake pressure and accelerated readings.The data is all recorded and sequenced.This allows researchers to coordinate different types of data for a complete picture of the accident.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation had earlier decided to fund a study commissioned by the federal administration.That study is due to be conducted by the Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma Transportation Center.However, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation had serious questions about the reliability of the study after it emerged that the study would only consider about 300 motorcycle accidents, and not the 900 that had been originally planned.Further, the study would only be centered on a small section of Southern California.
This was not the kind of expansive, broad-ranging study that the Motorcycle Safety Foundation believed would result in useful or valuable insights into motorcycle cause prevention.The Motorcycle Safety Foundation had considered putting up $3 million for that study, but changed its mind after the study become vastly narrower in scope. Therefore, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation decided to fund its own study.
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have already conducted preliminary studies which will serve as a foundation for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s naturalistic study.
The last in-depth study into motorcycle accident causation was the Hurt Report which was published in 1981.However, that was more than three decades ago, and the kind of environment that a motorcyclist rides in 2011 is vastly different from the one in 1981.There are several challenges that motorcyclists now face, and this Motorcycle Safety Foundation study is likely to define these challenges more clearly.This will help federal and state transportation officials develop appropriate motorcycle safety policies.