Motorcyclists were about 22 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to die in a crash in 2022, with 6,218 riders killed that year nationwide, according to National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data cited by Martin and Helms, a Huntsville, Alabama firm led by attorneys Clay Martin and Tara Helms. In Alabama alone, state transportation data shows 1,865 motorcycles and mopeds were involved in crashes in 2022, resulting in 1,189 injuries and 95 fatalities.
The firm points out that Alabama is one of only 19 states with a universal helmet law, requiring every rider regardless of age to wear a helmet, and cites Insurance Institute for Highway Safety research showing helmets are 37 percent effective at preventing motorcycle deaths, while unhelmeted riders are three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries in a crash. Martin and Helms represents riders injured by common causes including speeding motorists, left-turning drivers who fail to see an oncoming motorcycle, defective roadway conditions, and debris in the road, and the firm notes that insurance adjusters often carry preconceived biases against motorcyclists that its attorneys work to overcome.
The firm handles cases involving traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and paralysis, road rash, and broken bones resulting from motorcycle crashes, in addition to broader personal injury, truck accident, and wrongful death practice areas.
Martin and Helms can be reached at 256-539-1990.