Motorcycle Stablility and Crashworthiness

The experienced personal injury and wrongful death lawyers at the Law Offices of Barry Novack have significant expertise representing individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries due to defective products, including in cases involving motorcycle stability and crashworthiness.

Although riding any motorbike involves some degree of risk, every motorcycle must conform to minimum safety standards.  Designers, manufacturers, and distributors of motorcycles have a duty to ensure that the vehicles they place on the market are safe for normal use.  Similarly, mechanics have a duty not to be negligent or careless in their vehicle repair. 

Motorcycle Stability

Even with proper training, a motorcycle driver can occasionally lose stability and crash.  "Wobbling" and poor stability can be caused by:

• Improper loading
• Unsuitable accessories
• Incorrect tire pressure
• Carrying a heavy load
• Improperly allocated weight, such as carrying weight too high or too far back on the bike
• Spring pre-load problems
• Improper settings on air shocks and dampers
• Improperly-mounted windshields and fairings
• Poorly adjusted steering
• Worn steering parts
• Bent, misaligned, or imbalanced front wheels
• Loose wheel bearings or spokes
• Swing arm bearings

Motorcycle Crashworthiness

Whether a motorcycle is "crashworthy" depends on whether it sufficiently protects the driver and passenger from injury in a collision.  In a car, air bags and seatbelts improve crashworthiness, but crashworthiness is more difficult to achieve in a motorbike, where the driver is more exposed to harm in the event of an accident.  Nevertheless, all motorcycles should have safety features that take steps to protect riders from serious injury or death on the road.  The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) provides a handbook for motorcycle drivers covering many of these issues. 

The Law Offices of Barry Novack represents individuals who have been injured in motorcycle crashes in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California.  Firm Principal Barry Novack has extensive engineering expertise, giving clients an advantage in products liability and motorcycle accident litigation, in which proving fault can often hinge on highly technical issues. 

For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury and wrongful death attorney, contact the Law Offices of Barry Novack today.