Motorcyclists - Know Your Rights

If you want to learn about negligent driving, you'll learn plenty on a motorcycle. If you ride a motorcycle, you're probably accustomed to having some very close calls with other drivers on a fairly regular basis. Car drivers pull out in front of you, try to push you off the road when they're making right turns, fail to see you at intersections and cause other problems that can result in serious injuries or death. You have as much right to the road as they do, so contacting a motorcycle accident attorney is a good idea if you've been hurt.

Your Rights

Motorcyclists have the exact same rights that other drivers have on the road. They do not need to surrender the right of way when other vehicles do not. They have the right to the entire lane in which they're driving and simply because a car could fit alongside them does not mean that the driver of such a vehicle is in the right if they infringe on a motorcyclist's road space. In fact, it's illegal for a driver to knowingly crowd you out of your lane. Unfortunately, motorcyclists face these types of problems every single day. There are drivers out there who have no regard for their rights and who run roughshod over them at every opportunity.

Your Obligations

As a motorcyclist, you have the same responsibilities on your shoulders that other drivers have when they're on the road. It's important to remember that actions such as lane splitting may not be legal in your jurisdiction. In some states, they are. The best way to go if you're on a motorcycle is to assume that you don't have a right to split lanes. It's dangerous, anyway, and it can cause accidents that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
If you're injured because a driver neglected to recognize your rights, you can sometimes file a lawsuit and seek damages. You can always file a lawsuit, technically, but you need to make sure that you weren’t doing anything reckless or illegal before you do. A Dallas personal injury lawyer can help you to figure out whether or not you have good grounds for filing a lawsuit against a driver who injured you. If they believe that you do, they may want to represent you in court.