1. According to the NHTSA, in 2006 4,810 people died in motorcycle accidents.

2.There were 6.2 million motorcycles on U.S. roads in 2005, according to the latest data available from the Federal Highway Administration, compared with 137.4 million passenger cars. Motorcycles accounted nearly 3 percent of all registered motor vehicles and 0.4 percent of vehicle miles traveled in 2006, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

3. The fatality rate for motorcyclists in 2006 was 5.5 times the fatality rate for passenger car occupants per registered vehicle, according to the latest data from NHTSA.

Motorcycle drivers or passengers are more exposed, both to general bodily injury and to head injury, and their injuries are often more serious than a comparable impact involving autos.

Added to the mix are road surfaces and obstructions in the road, which can be far more devastating to a motorcyclist. Uneven payment transitions and poor surface create hazardous risks. Bad road design and hazards (street lights, blind corners, low curbing, speed humps, cobble stones, ruts, debris, uncovered drainage pits) are all perils.

There is also the emotional trauma of the event itself, especially if one flies over the handlebars or is dragged over rough pavement or gravel.

For the above reasons, motorcycle injuries are expensive because they tend to be very serious and are typically awarded higher damages for pain and suffering beyond damages for actual medical costs or lost wages, where allowed by law.

Despite the validity of your claim, motorcyclists face an obstacle in the public perception that they are reckless drivers. It is important to address (and overcome) these negative prejudices. An insurance adjuster or opposing attorney may try to suggest that you at least share liability in causing the accident, and may try to put you on the defensive. In other words, regardless of whether there is a helmet law, if you didn’t wear one, they may try to paint a picture of you as being careless and contributing to your injuries.

A personal injury attorney who is a veteran in motorcycle accident cases will give you a good idea about making a legal attack on your injury and the pluses and minuses of your case.