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A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a crash on I-184 in Boise in September. When we saw the headline, the story seemed familiar. Was this old news being recycled? Then we realized why we had a sense of déjà vu about this accident: Something very similar had happened, not far away, just over a year before. When we looked into it, things felt even more familiar: A third crash had happened within a few hundred yards of that one last winter.
The most recent crash, near the Fairview exit in September, left the biker in critical condition at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center. He apparently lost control and hit a concrete barrier along the shoulder of the highway.
That man, from Grants Pass, Oregon, was fortunate to survive the crash. In another wreck, about thirteen months earlier and just over a mile farther east on the same road, a Boise man also crashed his motorcycle into a concrete barrier. Witnesses of that accident said he appeared to be moving at a high rate of speed, which might have contributed to the tragedy that followed.
Both the biker and his motorcycle went over the barrier and fell into the new Rhodes Skate Park below, which was still under construction at the time. In that case, the cyclist was not so lucky and died of his injuries at the scene.
The third crash along this stretch of I-184—very close to the site of last year’s fatal incident—happened in February. A man who police had earlier seen speeding, perhaps as fast as 100 miles per hour, lost control of his motorcycle near the River Street exit and crashed.
Boise Police had to close that exit for some time while the driver was moved to the hospital and the crash scene was investigated. The driver in that case, a nineteen year old from Eagle, survived the crash and was later ticketed for several violations, including reckless driving.
All of these crashes were single-vehicle incidents and did not cause injury to others. In general, that applies to nearly half of all motorcycle accidents in any given year. But that means that slightly more than half of all motorcycle crashes involved a second vehicle. In many of those cases, the crash was caused by the other driver.
Passenger car drivers often fail to notice that a motorcycle is nearby because they are looking out for other cars and not smaller vehicles. Or they might misjudge the speed or distance of a motorcycle and turn into its path, again because car drivers are used to thinking about how cars behave and they don’t always adjust for the differences of a motorcycle.
If you’ve been involved in a motorcycle crash, you may need help recovering compensation from the parties who caused your crash, whether that’s another motorist, a business, or a property owner.
Craig Swapp & Associates knows what needs to be done to help our clients successfully pursue motorcycle accident claims. Give us a call today at 1-800-404-9000 to set up a free discussion of your case. You can also reach us by submitting the form at the bottom of this page or by launching the LiveChat feature from any page of this website.
Written By: Ryan Swapp Legal Review By: Craig Swapp