Motorcycle Insurance Articles
The Need For Robust Injury Coverage In Motorcycle Insurance Quotes
2010-12-07
Riders looking for motorcycle insurance quotes online have a long list of options to consider, above and beyond which company to engage. To satisfy the legal requirements nearly every state has in place they must, as a minimum, obtain liability coverage for both bodily injury and property damage. Beyond these required minimums, however, there many other 'add-on' policy options to consider. These include, among others, injury coverage, collision and comprehensive coverage, as well as protection from being involved in an accident through no fault of one's own but where the at-fault driver is uninsured.
A basic motorcycle insurance policy is strictly liability coverage and only protects the policyholder from his or her liability in causing an accident where someone else suffers a loss by either being injured or sustaining property damage. While it is the minimum coverage required by law, is does nothing for the covered rider to pay for his own bodily injuries or for damage to his own vehicle. In order to receive benefits in these areas a policyholder requires additional coverage, namely collision coverage to pay for his vehicle damage and injury coverage to pay for medical treatment required to deal with his injuries.
Unlike being involved as a driver in an automobile accident, being involved as a rider in a motorcycle accident is almost always associated with some type of physical injury. Operating a motorcycle on the roads is statistically much riskier than operating a four-wheeled vehicle. Motorcycles are much less stable and have virtually no protection, whereas a car is surrounded by a metal cage, is heavier and sturdier and often has seatbelts and airbags that add to passenger safety.
According to recent studies, taking into account the number of cars on the road versus the number of motorcycles, a motorcycle rider is more than five times more likely to be involved in a vehicle accident. According to a University of Southern California study, approximately 3/4 of these accidents involve the bike hitting or being hit by another vehicle, usually a passenger car. It was also determined that in about 2/3 of these accidents involving motorcycles versus another car it was the car violating the motorcycle's right of way that was the cause. In most cases this was simply because the driver of the car was not aware of the motorcycle's presence.
Because of the fact that motorcycle riding has the potential for being so dangerous it's a prudent idea to make sure, when looking into motorcycle insurance quotes, to consider obtaining a large amount of injury coverage. Even an accident causing only minor damage to a car can be responsible for causing major bodily injury to a motorcycle rider.