Many people in the Reno area have probably heard that motorcyclists who wear helmets are making a valuable investment. Helmets do indeed save lives and prevent traumatic brain injuries. It is a good idea for a motorcyclist who wants to travel Nevada’s roads to wear one.

However, the research is a little less certain when it comes to whether helmets prevent spinal cord injuries and other injuries to the back and spine. On the one hand, one study tended to dispel the notion that helmets may actually increase the risk of spinal cord injuries because they add extra weight on to one’s head and thus increase the twisting force on the spine in an accident.

However, the study was not as crystal clear when it came to whether helmets actually reduced spinal cord injuries. There was some evidence that helmets prevented fractures and other injuries in the cervical vertebrae, that is, in one’s neck. However, with respect to other types of spinal cord injuries, the study showed helmets made no significant difference in frequency or severity.

It does bears repeating that helmets do not prevent all motorcycle injuries. One common misunderstanding some people may have is that if a motorcyclist gets seriously hurt in an accident and was not wearing a helmet, that somehow makes the accident the motorcyclist’s fault.

Such is simply not the case, as helmets really do nothing to stop motorcycle accidents; they merely prevent some types of injuries.

The best way other motorists can prevent motorcycle accidents is to follow the laws, pay careful attention to one’s driving and be courteous when one is near a motorcycle. When drivers fail to do this, it is ultimately their responsibility to pay for the damages they cause.

As this blog has discussed before, the victim of a car accident or other motor vehicle accident may be able to pursue compensation for their out-of-pocket losses as well as their non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. Ordinarily, it is appropriate for someone who caused an accident through human carelessness or oversight to pay for these damages. Sometimes, though, this just simply is not enough, because it does not reinforce how serious the misconduct of the person who caused the accident was.

For instance, drunk driving accidents really should never happen since, by now, anyone who gets behind a wheel knows how dangerous it is to do so while drunk. Someone who chooses to do so anyway is arguably more than just careless; that person has little regard for the safety and wellbeing of others.

Under Nevada law , punitive or exemplary damages may be sought following a drunk driving accident precisely because such accidents should never happen if a driver is being even remotely safety conscious. Punitive damages may be available following other traffic accidents as well. As the name implies, this extra compensation is not designed so much to cover a victim’s loss as it is to make an example out of or punish the person responsible for the accident for flagrantly poor choices.

Specifically, someone seeking out punitive damages has to show clearly and convincingly that the person who caused the accident did so either intentionally or with almost outright contempt for the rights of other people. Limits to how much one can get in punitive damages may apply, and victims should, on a more general note, discuss the possibility of obtaining punitive damages with their attorneys.

After meeting a victim and taking on their case, one of the steps a good commercial vehicle accident attorney may take is to start an independent investigation of the accident. Some people in Reno, Nevada, might see this as an unnecessary step, particularly if there is already a detailed police report on file.

However, it is important to remember that the police report is only one source of information when it comes to what caused a major truck accident. Other sources of information include photos or video from the scene of the accident, as well as results from on-site surveys.

Because police are primarily looking for evidence of a law violation when they respond to an accident, they might not investigate as thoroughly as one might think. For instance, they are not necessarily looking to determine the exact cause of the accident unless the result will determine whether or not the police will file charges.

On the other hand, an engineer or other expert who investigates the accident independently is going to look at the evidence carefully and apply the principles of math and physics to make a judgment on exactly what happened to cause an accident. Sometimes, these investigations may uncover facts and leads that the police simply missed, while in other cases, they can serve to clarify and amplify what already commonly accepted as the cause of the crash.

If they are blamed for an accident, truck companies and their insurers are often going to fight hard to avoid liability, or, at least reduce the degree of their responsibility. A good response on the part of a victim is to respond with a scientific and independent investigation in to the cause of the accident.

A wrong way crash on Interstate 80 left one person dead and another person seriously injured and having to be flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital. Sadly, this is not the first time this blog has reported on a recent wrong way accident in the Reno area.

Police say that they received reports of someone driving the wrong way on the interstate a few minutes before the crash occurred. They were not able to respond in time to prevent what some might have seen as inevitable car accident. The driver eventually struck another motorist who was traveling with the flow of traffic head on

The person who was driving the wrong way died in the crash. Another person, the driver of a Tahoe, suffered serious injuries and had to be life flighted from the scene to get immediate medical assistance. Authorities are still investigating the crash and have asked the public to come forward with any information they may have about it.

When people are involved in a car collision caused by a negligent driver who died in the crash, there might be some question as to whether they can still pursue claims for compensation. The answer to this question is often “yes,” but it may entail having to sue the estate of the driver in order to access any available insurance proceeds.

Other means of pursuing compensation may also be available to the injured driver. Drivers injured in wrong way crashes should consider evaluating legal options with the help of a personal injury attorney, as they will likely have substantial medical bills and may also be out of work for a long time.

There is no denying that wearing a proper helmet is a smart idea when riding a motorcycle. The statistics confirm that, to no small extent, they can save a rider’s life should that rider be involved in a motorcycle accident.

As of 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that when a rider wearing a helmet is involved in an accident, his or her chances of dying go down by more than one-third, that is, by 37 percent. It is estimated that helmets prevented over 1,800 fatalities in 2016. The CDC reports that in 2016 if all bikers wore helmets, approximately 802 fatalities could have been prevented. On a related point, a helmet reduced the chance of a traumatic brain injury by almost 70 percent.

In other words, while motorcycle helmets prevent injuries and save lives, the best prevention in such cases is to avoid the accident altogether. This is not surprising, given the difference in size between a car and a motorcycle and the fact a motorcycle just does not offer the same barrier of protection as a car.

This is the primary reason why it is so important for other drivers on Nevada streets and highways to pay careful attention to their driving, especially when they are around motorcycles. They must give motorcycles the same respect as they would cars and make sure to double check blind spots, especially when turning.

If they fail to take these steps, a driver can easily wind up killing or severely injuring a motorcyclist, even one who is wearing a helmet. If they do so, the motorcyclist or the motorcyclist’s family may be able to pursue compensation from the driver.

As a previous post on this blog discussed, oftentimes state governments or legal subdivisions of those governments operate large trucks and other big commercial vehicles. As much as residents of Reno, Nevada, would prefer to think otherwise, the drivers of these vehicles aren’t perfect. Like any other driver of a large commercial vehicle, they can cause a serious motor vehicle accident. In these sorts of situations, it is only fair that victims receive compensation.

However, there are extra hoops an injured person has to jump through in order to successfully sue a government entity. Moreover, there may be other important legal limitations and restrictions that apply to these sorts of cases as well.

As is the case with private companies, government agencies and their insurance carriers may try to deny responsibility for the accident. Even if they do admit responsibility, they may try to minimize their costs by trying to pay as little as possible, even to the point of questioning a victim’s legitimate costs and expenses.

For all of these reasons, particularly when a government vehicle is involved, victims of truck accidents need proper legal representation. In this respect, the attorneys at our law office have the knowledge and experience needed to help our clients navigate through the complexities of these sorts of accidents so that they can exercise their legal rights to the fullest extent. Also, as many of these accidents require the help of an expert to prove fault on the part of the trucker or to show the full extent of the victim’s losses, we have also developed a noted proficiency for identifying and working with expert witnesses.

Truck accident victims can suffer a wide variety of injuries, which can sometimes be severe. The thought of pursuing a lawsuit against a government agency can be intimidating. But, accident victims should understand that they still have legal rights in such situations. By seeking compensation from the responsible parties, truck accident victims may be able to find some closure and a sense that justice has been done.